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THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

PKESENTED  BY 

PROF.CHARLESA.KOFOIDAND 
MRS.  PRUDENCE  W.KOFOID 


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MARVELOUS 

Wonders  of  me  Whole  World 

BEING  AN   ACCOUNT   OK 

THRILLING  ADVENTURES,  FAMOUS  SIGHTS,  CELEBRATED 

VOYAGES,  AND  RENOWNED  EXPLORATIONS  AND 

DISCOVERIES  IN  ALL  PARTS  OF  THE  GLOBE 

CONTAINING 

Wonders  of  the  Dark  Continent ;  the  Land  of  the  Pyramids ; 

the  Flowery  Kingdom  of  the  Celestials;  the  Ancient 

Empire    of    the    Mikado ;    the    Sea-Girt 

Isles  of  the   Pacific,  etc. 

AND    INCLUDING 

THE   DISCOVERIES   OF   LIVINGSTONE,  STANLEY,  BAKER,   SPEKE,    DU   CHAILLU,  AND 

OTHER   RENOWNED  TRAVELERS  IN  THE  TROPICS  ;   THE  EXPLORATIONS  OF 

FRANKLIN,  KANE,    GREELY,  AND  OTHER   FAMOUS   NAVIGATORS   IN 

THE  POLAR   REGIONS,  WITH  WORLD-RENOWNED  SCENES 

AND    OBJECTS    OF    INTEREST    IN    ALL    LANDS  ; 

TO   WHICH    IS    ADDED 

A   FULL  AND  GRAPHIC    DESCRIPTION   OF    THE  WONDERS   OF  THE  OCEAN   AND   OF 

THE  ATMOSPHERE  ;   THE  WONDERS   OF  ANIMAL,  INSECT  AND   VEGETABLE 

LIFE  ;     THE  WONDERS   OF  ASTRONOMY,    GEOLOGY,    LIGHT, 

HEAT,   ELECTRICITY,   ETC.,  ETC. 

THE    WHOLE    COMPRISINO    A 

Vast  Museum  of  all  that  Is  IVIarvelous  and  Wonderful 

IN    THE    EARTH,  SEA,  AIR,  AND    SKIES. 


CAREFULLY    EDITED    BY 


HENRY  DAVENPORT  I  NORTHROP,  D.D., 

THE  WELL-KNOWN  AUTHOR. 


Spleyididly  Embellished  with  7nore  thati  300  Fine  E?tgravings  of  Scenes  in 

the  lives  of  Livingstofie,   Stanley,  and  other  Great  Explorers,  and 

with  Illustrations  of  the  most   Remarkable  Objects  in 

Nature,  Science,  and  Art. 


BOSTON,    MASS.: 

JAMES  BERGEN, 

No.  44   BROAT)    STREET. 


<>-^^(\f- 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1886,  by 

J.    R.    JONES, 

In  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington,  D.  C. 


Nc 


PREFACE. 


There  was  a  time  when  men  spoke  of  the  Seven  Wonders  of  the 
World,  and  these  were  celebrated  in  the  finest  productions  of  prose 
and  poetry.  That  time  has  long  since  passed,  and  the  number  seven 
would  now  have  to  be  multiplied  many  fold  to  enumerate  the  marvels 
of  the  globe.  To  set  these  forth  in  attractive  form  is  the  object  of  the 
present  volume. 

As  might  be  expected,  therefore,  the  book  is  very  comprehensive. 
The  first  part  is  occupied  with  wonders  brought  to  light  by  explorations 
in  many  countries.  Almost  every  land  beneath  the  sun  presents  us 
with  something  of  thrilling  interest.  In  all  parts  of  the  globe  we  have 
but  to  lift  the  veil  of  mystery  to  meet  with  revelations  which  excite 
our  astonishment.  In  this  book  the  reader  is  made  the  traveler.  He 
is  transported  from  clime  to  clime,  from  country  to  country,  and, 
through  artistic  illustrations  and  picturesque  descriptions,  becomes 
acquainted  with  the  marvelous.  He  is  conducted  through  the  Dark 
Continent,  the  Land  of  the  Pyramids,  the  Empires  of  China  and 
Japan,  the  sea-girt  isles  of  the  Pacific,  the  icy  regions  of  the  Poles, 
the  renowned  countries  of  North  and  South  America,  and  while  the 
scene  changes  at  every  step,  the  wonders  never  cease.  A  book  of 
mere  commonplaces  would  have  little  interest  for  the  general  reader. 
The  aim  has  been  to  make  this  volume  true  to  its  title.  To  realize 
that  aim,  the  records  of  research  and  discovery  have  yielded  their  most 
valuable  treasures. 

While  the  world's  knowledge  has  been  enriched  in  recent  times 
through  the  great  achievements  of  such  celebrated  explorers  as  Liv- 
ingstone, Stanley,  Du  Chaillu  and  others  in  the  Tropics,  and  Franklin, 
Kane,  Greely  and  their  compeers  in  the  Polar  realm,  it  is  also  true  that 
new  names  have  been  added  to  the  roll  of  heroes,  and  the  history  of 

M313368 


IV  PREFACE. 

their  enterprise,  their  courage,  sufferings  and  successes,  forms  one  of 
the  most  thriUing  pages  in  the  annals  of  time.  In  this  book  the  reader 
becomes  the  companion  of  these  heroic  souls,  and  is  made  a  partici- 
pant in  their  wonderful  adventures  and  discoveries. 

The  second  part  of  the  book  vividly  presents  the  myriad  wonders 
of  Natural  History,  Science,  Art,  Ethnology,  etc.  Every  Kingdom 
of  Nature  is  explored  and  made  to  disclose  its  Marvelous  Secrets.  The 
Atmosphere  contributes  its  snowy  crystals,  gorgeous  pictures  of  the 
sun,  cyclones  and  auroral  splendors.  The  Ocean  is  fathomed,  and 
whatever  of  special  interest  is  to  be  found  among  its  flowery  growths, 
its  strange  fishes,  and  buried  treasures,  is  minutely  described.  Even 
Subterranean  mysteries  are  lighted  by  the  torch  of  investigation.  The 
Animal  Kingdom  is  also  largely  represented,  and  whatever  is  curious 
and  interesting  in  animal  life  finds  here  a  place.  The  most  attractive 
specimens  of  Birds  are  described,  and  interesting  lessons  are  drawn 
from  the  habits  and  instincts  of  the  feathered  tribes.  Under  the  micro- 
scope the  Insect  World  is  seen  to  be  an  extraordinary  part  of  creation, 
presenting  something  to  entertain  and  instruct  the  reader  at  every 
glance. 

Special  attention  has  been  given  to  the  minute  forrr\s  of  life,  for  these 
have  the  truly  marvelous  wrapped  up  in  them  as  well  as  the  planets 
and  star-clusters  of  Astronomy.  The  skies  contribute  their  swift 
comets,  meteoric  showers,  and  wonders  of  infinite  space.  Some  of  the 
most  remarkable  discoveries  of  our  day,  and  some  of  the  most  ingeni- 
ous mechanical  inventions,  have  been  in  connection  with  Electricity. 
These  are  plainly  described,  without  the  use  of  abstruse  scientific  terms. 
Light — the  swiftest  traveler  in  the  universe — illuminates  these  pages  ; 
in  fact,  no  department  of  science  is  omitted.  Search  has  been  made 
for  the  Wonderful  in  every  nook  and  corner  of  the  globe. 

Special  pains  have  been  taken  with  the  engravings  which  accompany 
the  book  ;  and  these,  by  their  great  variety  and  artistic  merit,  form  a 
very  striking  and  valuable  feature. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER   I. 

TRAVELS    IN    THE    TROPICS. 


Livingstone's  Early  Days — Among  the  Dark  Races  of  a  Dark  Land — Proofs  of  Cour- 
age— Adventure  with  a  Lion — Rain  Doctors — Journey  in  the  Desert — The  Mako- 
lolo  Chief — Smoke-resounding  Falls — Exploring  the  River  Shire — Lost  to  the 
World — Reported  Death  of  Livingstone — A  Savage  Demand, 17 

CHAPTER   II. 

Livingstone's  discoveries. 

Arrival  at  the  Mouth  of  the  Zambesi — The  Ma-Robert — War  betwreen  the  Half-casts 
and  the  Portuguese — Livingstone's  Old  Makololo  Servants — Their  Sufferings  in 
his  Absence — Excursion  to  Kebrabasa — First  Visit  to  Manganja  Land — On  Foot 
to  Lake  Shirwa — Bad  Behavior  of  Ma-Robert — Up  the  Shire  again  and  Dis- 
covery of  Lake  Nyassa — Journey  to  Makololo  Land — Rescue  of  Baldwin  at  the 
Victoria  Falls — News  of  Sekeletu's  Leprosy  and  the  Misery  of  his  People — Arri- 
val at  Sesheke — Interview  vvfith  Sekeletu — His  Lady-Doctor  superseded  by  Kirk 
and  Livingstone — Over  the  Rapids  and  Narrow  Escapes — On  Foot  to  Tete — The 
Last  of  the  Ma-Robert — Arrival  of  Pioneer  and  of  Bishop  Mackenzie — A  Strug- 
gle with  Ajawa — New  Expedition  Resolved  on — Desertion  of  Johanna  Men — 
Report  of  Livingstone's  Death — Search  Expedition  under  Young — The  Mazitu — 
Further  Desertions  and  Loss  of  Medicine  Chest — Arrival  at  Tanganyika — Off  for 
Lake  Moero  at  Last — Down  the  Lake  to  Cazembe's — War  and  Rumors  of  War- 
Flight  to  the  North  with  the  Arabs — Back  to  Tanganyika  and  Awful  Sufferings  by 
the  Way — Across  the  Lake  to  Ujiji — Back  Again  to  the  Western  Shores — Start  for 
Manyuema — Desertion  of  all  the  Men  but  Five — Awful  Massacre  of  Native 
Women — An  Ambush  and  Narrow  Escape — Cannibalism — Arrival  at  Ujiji  in  an 
Exhausted  State — Opportune  Arrival  of  Stanley, 43 

CHAPTER   III.  .1 

travels   of   STANLEY   IN   THE   TROPICS. 

Expedition  in  Search  of  Livingstone — Getting  Ready  for  the  Start — A  Sultan's  Curious 
Palace — Incidents  of  Travel — Crossing  the  Turbid  Kingani — Hippopotami — A 
Tropical  Garden — Adventures  of  the  Chase — African  Beauties — Tidings  of  Liv- 
ingstone— Punishing  a  Runaway — Excitement  at  Ugogo — Stanley  Resists  Extor- 
tion— The  Arabs  and  their  War — Mirambo — Ammonia  and  Laughter — A  Formid- 
able Donkey — Arrival  at  Ujiji  and  Success  of  the  Expedition, 80 


VI  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER   IV. 

Stanley's  adventures  and  discoveries. 

Finding  Livingstone — On  an  African  Lake — Illness  and  Death  of  Livingstone — 
Burial — Stanley's  Expedition — Cannibals — A  Fighting  Journey — A  Brave  Chief — 
Rescuing  a  Follower — Cameron's  Expedition — A  Strange  Deity — A  King's 
Burial — Legend  of  Lake  Kassala — Cameron's  Adventures,  .     .  113 

CHAPTER   V. 

EXPLORATIONS    OF    DU  CHAILLU,    SPEKE,    GRANT   AND    OTHER    CELEBRATED 

TRAVELERS. 
Handsome  Savages— Penetrating  the  Wilderness — The  Muni  Men— Horrible  Cus- 
toms— A  Stampede  of  Gorillas — King  of  the  Cannibals — Monkey  Ingenuity — 
Slaughter  of  Witches — King  Du  Chaillu — A  Chimpanzee — Boa-constrictors — 
Small-Pox — Otando  Land — A  Race  for  Life — Speke  and  Burton — A  Strike — Rob- 
bers— "A  Stumpy  Old  Dame" — Grant's  Exploits — Wife  Fattening — Mtesa,  the 
Greatest  of  African  Kings — Human  Sacrifices — Great  King  Munza, 140 

CHAPTER  VI. 

NORTH    AND    SOUTH    AFRICA. 

The  Pyramids,  One  of  the  "Seven  Wonders  of  the  World" — Their  Use — Ascending 
the  Pyramids — Egyptian  Mummies— Ruins  of  Thebes — Mamelukes — Diamond 
Fields — Kimberly  Mine — Mode  of  Operations — "Claims" — A  Fight  with  Ba- 
boons— Ostrich  Farming — The  Hunter's  Paradise — Dangers  of  Elephant  and 
Buffalo  Hunting — Adventures  of  the  Chase, 198 

CHAPTER  VII. 

WONDERS   OF   CHINA.  ^ 

The  Great  Wall — Pekin — Pagodas — Chinese    Mottoes   and    Signs — Curious   Convey- 
ances— Puppet  Shows — Imperial  Navy — Temples  and  Idols — Veneration  for  the 
Aged — Wonderful  Porcelain  Tower — Vases  and  Screens — Small  Feet  of  Chinese 
Ladies — Social  Customs — Treatment  of  Foreigners — Chinese  Wedding— Dress- 
Treatment  of  Criminals — Punishment  by  Decapitation, 231 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

WONDERS    OF    JAPAN. 

Personal  Appearance  of  the  Japanese — Fruits  and  Food — Theatrical  Plays  and  Jug- 
glery— Shops  and  Markets — Fortune  Telling — Art — Social  Customs — Dinner  to 
General  Grant — Musicians — Royal  Reception  and  Court  Manners — Potteries — 
Modes  of  Traveling — Forms  of  Religion — Shintoism  and  Buddhism, 232 

CHAPTER  IX. 

WONDERS    OF    THE    PACIFIC    ISLES. 

New  Zealand — Rare  Products — Tattooing — Strange  Customs — Reception  of  a  King — 
Volcanoes  and  Boiling  Springs — The  Bread  Tree — New  Caledonia — Supersti- 
tions— Dances — Coral  Islands — New  Guinea — Description  of  the  Natives — Savage 


CONTENTS.  vii 

Fijians — Island  of  Tahiti — Excitement  over  a  Horse — Sandwich  Islands — Vol- 
canic Eruption — Captain  Cook  and  His  Death — Surf  Swimming — Pitcairn's 
Island — Singular  Monuments — Handsome  Marquesians — Island  of  Java — Mar- 
velous Natural  Beauty — Volcano — Animal  Life — A  Gem  Set  in  the  Sea,      .     .     .  258 

CHAPTER  X. 

WONDERS    OF    SOUTH    AMERICA. 

History  in  Stone — Peru  and  its  Marvels — Dangers  of  Exploration — Grandeur  of 
Mountain  Scenery — Ancient  Temples — Dress  of  the  Natives — A  City  of  Wealth — 
Warriors — Brazil  and  its  Palace — Negro  Women — Medical  jugglers — Cotton — 
Sugar-Cane — Magnificent  Forests — Products  of  the  Country — Volcanic  Flames — 
Wild  Horses — Birds  and  Animals — The  Matamata — The  Spider  Crab — The 
Wasp — Wonderful  Lilies — The  Patagonians — Strange  Customs  and  Manners,  .     .  297 

CHAPTER  XL 

A    WONDERFUL    COUNTRY. 

Wonders  of  the  Great  West — Niagara  Falls — Buffalo  Hunting — "  Dog  Town  " — 
Wonders  of  Vegetation — The  Marvelous  Yellowstone  Region — Geysers  and 
^P'alls — Masterpieces  of  Sublime  Scenery — The  Celebrated  Canons — The  Roman- 
tic Colorado — The  Mountain  Cross — Utah  and  the  Great  Salt  Lake — The 
Mormons — Polygamy — Strange  Extinct  Animal  Life — Rivers  of  Ice — Yosemite — 
Awful  Abysses — Towering  Falls — Nature's  Prodigal  Magnificence — The  Trav- 
eler's Astonishment — Immense  Trees — Untold  Mineral  Resources — Imdians  — A 
Crow  Chief — Indian  Characteristics — Red  Man  as  a  Farmer — Indian  Wars  and 
Ambushes — Indians  not  Dying  Out — Life  in  the  Forest— Wigwams  and  their 
Inmates, 341 

CHAPTER   XII. 

WONDERS    OF    THE    POLAR    WORLD. 

Daring  Attempts  to  Reach  the  North  Pole — Early  Explorations — Sir  John  Ross — Cap- 
tain Parry — Sir  John  Franklin — Snow-Bound  Heroes — A  Famous  Journey — ^The 
Grinnell  Expedition — Search  for  Franklin — Startling  Tale  of  Discovered  Relics — 
Doctor  Kane — Dogs  and  Sledges — Terrible  Cold — Bears  and  Their  Young — In- 
credible Hardships  and  Perils — Homeward  Start — Scientific  Results — Wonderful 
Frozen  Sea — The  Whale'  and  his  Capture — Adventures  of  an  Austrian  Hero — 
Crystal  Mountains  —  Diamonds  in  Ice — A  Remarkable  Exploration  —  Captain 
Nares — Hall  and  his  Comrades — The '-Vega" — Cutting  Through  the  Ice — ^Tlie 
Hut  of  Barentz — De  Long  and  his  Celebrated  Adventures — Polar  Night,  Misery 
and  Death — The  Lost  "  Jeannette  " — Dividing  the  Last  Scrap — The  Walrus — A 
Fierce  Attack — Esquimaux — Strange  Villages — Brilliant  Auroral  Splendors — 
Greely  and  Cannibalism, 395 

CHAPTER   Xni. 

WONDERFUL    MOUNTAINS    AND    MOUNTAINEERING. 

Burning  Peaks  of  Iceland — Fiery  Vesuvius — Frightful  Chasms  of  Mont  Blanc — Gigantic 
Shadows  on  the  Brocken — A  Fantastic  Cascade — The  Harz  Mines  and  Miners  — 
Mount  Etna — An  Immense  Tree — Far-Famed  Ararat — The  Peter  Botte — Sublim- 
ity of  American  Scenery — The  White  Mountains — A  Rock  with  an  Open  Mouth — 
Majestic  Summits  of  the  Southern  Rockies, 446 


Till  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER   XIV. 

WONDERS    OF    THE    ATMOSPHERE. 

A  Storehouse  of  the  Marvelous — No  Such  Thing  as  Cold — Beautiful  Vapor  Crystals — 
Gorgeous  Pictures  of  the  Sun — The  Wonderful  Mirage — Striking  Effects  of 
Frost — Aerial  Navigation — The  Great  Voyage  Across  Europe — A  World  Far 
Below — The  Balloon  in  Warfare — Despatch  from  a  Balloon  to  President  Lincoln — 
The  Dreadful  Cyclone — Theory  of  the  Whirlwind — Trade  Winds — Snow  and  Rain 
in  Colors — A  Rain  of  Ink — Marvelous  Showers  of  Dust  and  Fishes — Brilliant  Sun- 
sets— The  Barometer  and  Thermometer — Men  Who  Thought  They  Could  Fly,     .  471 

CHAPTER   XV. 

WONDERS    OF   THE   OCEAN. 

The  Ocean  a  World  in  Itself — Wonderful  Sea-Plants — Mermen  and  Maids — The 
Famous  Nautilus — The  Devil  Fish — Immense  Poulpe — Crabs  that  Seem  to  Rea- 
son— Nest-Building  Fishes — Curious  Barnacles — Sponges — The  Saw-Fish — The 
Torpedo — Rainbow  Beauty  of  the  Sea — Colored  Waters — The  Flying-Fish — Dol- 
phins— The  Sea-Serpent — Ocean  Flowers — Sea  Anemones — A  Crab  with  a  Pack 
on  his  Back — The  Wonderful  Star-Fish — The  Medusoe — The  CoftVe-Fish — Crea- 
tures in  Armor — A  Thieving  Crab — Marvelous  Corals — A  Strange  Fan — The 
Brain  Stone — Singular  Fishes — The  Sea-Porcupine — A  Fish  that  Travels  on 
Land — Gems  of  the  Ocean — The  Gulf  Stream — Bay  of  Naples  and  Vesuvius — 
Wonderful  Depth — Sea  Cucumber — Female  Pirates — Strange  Tales  of  the  Ocean.   501 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

SUBTERRANEAN    WONDERS. 

The  Inside  World — The  Earth  a  Mass  of  Fluid  Crusted  Over — Marvelous  Caves — Bone 
Relics — The  Famous  Mammoth  Cave — Mysterious  Caverns — The  Splendid  Star- 
Chamber — A  Cave  with  Human  Bones — The  Celebrated  Luray — A  Strange  Bridal 
Chamber — Various  Comjiartments — Astounding  Limestone  Formations — Exquisite 
Flowers  in  Stone — Fingal's  Cave — Wonderful  Coal-Beds — A  Man  Fifty  Years  in 
a  Swedish  Mine — Water  Under  Ground — Artesian  Wells, 546 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

WONDERS    OF    ANIMAL    LIFE, 

Thoughtful  Provision  for  Animal  Wants — Fur,  Nails  and  Feathers — Beautiful  .Vrabian 
liorses — War  Chargers — Equine  Intelligence — His  Majesty  King  Leo — The  Polar 
Reindeer — Great  Irish  Deer — The  Musk  Ox — The  Yak — The  Spry  Syrian  Goat — 
The  Fleet  Kangaroo — Wild  Animals  of  the  West — "The  Ship  of  the  Desert" — 
The  Wild  Ass — The  Long-Clawed  Aye-Aye — Sly  Reynard — A  Four-Footed  Fish- 
erman— The  Jerboa — A  Long-Nosed  Animal — White  Monkeys — The  Odd  Man- 
drill— White  Elephants — The  Elephant's  Sagacity — The  Huge  Mammoth— A 
Gigantic  Tortoise — Polar  Bears — Grizzly  Bear  of  California — The  Seal — An 
Animal  Charmed  with  Music — The  Monstrous  Sea-Horse — The  Alligator — The 
Hard-Shelled  Armadillo — A  Wonderful  Dog — Intelligent  Cats — An  Animal  That 
Dies  From  Its  Own  Bite — Leeches  in  Ceylon— Darwin's  Crab— Construction  of 
Animals, 566 


CONTENTS.  ix 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

WONDERFUL     BIRDS. 

Enormous  Birds  of  Ancient  Time — The  Condor — The  Famous  Dodo — Eagle  and  Fish- 
hawlv — Rooks  Holding  a  Convention — Wonderful  Bird  of  Paradise — The  Hum- 

ming-Bird — The   Curious   Moth — A   Bird  that  Rings  a   Bell — Ingenious  Nests 

The  Flamingo — The  Frigate  Bird — Mysterious  Butter  Bird — The  Hornbill — The 
King  Penguin — Talking  Birds — Parrots — The  Handsome  Hoopoe — The  Cuckoo — 
The  Pretty  Fly-Catcher — The  High-Flying  Kite — The  Lanner  Falcon — The  Java 
Bat — The  Bittern— The  Thrush — Nests  that  are  Eaten — Turtle  Dove — Ring  Dove — 
The  Marvelous  Cockatoo — Interesting  Lessons  from  Bird  Life, 6i6 

CHAPTER   XIX. 

WONDERS    OF    THE    INSECT    WORLD. 

Extraordinary  Strength  of  Insects — Their  Jumping  Power — The  Sprightly  Flea — The 
White  Ant — Ants'  Intelligence — Insects  that  Keep  a  Dairy — The  Brilliant  Lantern- 
Fly — The  Wonderful  Bees — The  Venomous  Scorpion — The  Ruinous  Weevil — A 
Fly's  Mouth — Butterfly  Wonders — The  Palmer  Worm— The  Painted  Lady_A  Singu- 
lar Fly-Trap — The  Sagacious  Spider — Doctor  Livingstone  Poisoned — The  Bloated 
Chego — Educated  Fleas — The  Mail-Clad  Beetle — Destructive  Locusts — The  En- 
terprising Silkworm — A  Great  "  Bore  " — The  Poppy-Cutter — Poisonous  Insects — 
The  Gad-Fly — The  Leaf  Insect — Insects  Counterfeiting  Death, 645 

CHAPTER   XX. 

WONDERFUL    INVENTIONS. 

Machine-made  Birds  and  Animals — Jewels  that  Play  Drums  and  Fiddles — the  Won- 
derful Microscope — The  Famous  Printing  Press — The  Big  Corliss  Engine — The 
Strasburg  Clock — Agricultural  Machines — The  Enterprising  Chicken-Hatcher — A 
Dog  Carriage — A  Strange  Vehicle — The  Locomotive — Elegant  Parlor  Car — Post 
Office  on  Wheels — Ice  Yacht — The  Life  Boat — Swimming  Apparatus — Money 
Box — The  Clock  Lamp — -The  Two- Wheeled  Steed — A  Titanic  Hammer,     .     .     .  678 

CHAPTER   XXI. 

WONDERS  OF  ARCHITECTURE. 
The  Moquis  and  Their  Rude  Habitations — The  Mound  Builders — Aztecs  and  Zunis — 
"  Dead  Town" — Solomon's  Gorgeous  Temple — A  Famous  Temple  in  India — A 
Noble  Palace  in  Nineveh — The  Metropolitan  Post-Ofifice — Grand  Public  Build- 
ings and  Post-Office  in  Philadelphia — -The  Imposing  Capitol  at  Washington — 
The  Roman  Coliseum  and  Trajan's  Renowned  Column — Arches  of  Trajan  and 
Napoleon^The  Bridge  of  Sighs — Marvelous  Palace  of  the  Escurial — The 
Golden  Palace  of  Nero — Architectural  Grandeur  Spoiled  by  War, 707 

CHAPTER   XXII. 

WONDERS    OF    ELECTRICITY. 

The  Marvelous  Magnet-  Professor  Morse  and  His  Great  Discovery — The  Atlantic 
Cable — Broken  and  Lying  at  the  Bottom  of  the  Sea — Successful  Grappling — 
"The  Cable  Speaks" — The  Electric  Light — Edison's  Incandescent  Burner — 
Lighting  Gas  by  Electricity — Talking  by  Lightning — Electro-Plating  and  Gild- 
ing— Magnetic  Locomotive — A  New  Method  of  Utilizing  Waterfalls,     ....  735 


X  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER   XXIII. 

WONDERS    OF    ASTRONOMY. 

Vastness  of  Space — Curious  Sun  Spots — Amazing  Distance  and  Bulk  of  the  Sun — 
Brilliant  Constellations — Distances  of  the  Fixed  Stars — Falling  Fire-Balis — Mys- 
terious Nebulae — Singular  Freaks  of  Comets — The  Immense  Comet  of  1843 — The 
Farth  Passing  Through  the  Tail  of  a  Comet, 750 

CHAPTER   XXIV. 

WONDERS    OF    LIGHT    AND    HEAT. 

Light  Defined — Immense  Number  of  Vibrations — The  Marvelous  Prism — Polished 
Reflectors — The  Swiftest  Traveler  in  the  Universe — Method  of  Ascertaining  the 
Velocity — Hidden  Heat — A  Practical  Application  of  Heat — Human  Power  to 
Bear  a  High  Temperature — Walking  Over  Red-Hot  Iron, 768 

CHAPTER   XXV. 

MISCELLANEOUS    WONDERS. 

Earthquakes — The  Great  Brooklyn  Suspension  Bridge — The  Mont  Cenis  Tunnel — 
Tunnel  Under  the  Hudson  River — Ruins  in  Bolivia — Diversity  of  Human  Faces — 
Forms  of  Sound — Sounding  Stones  and  Speaking  Heads — Power  of  Sound — 
Famous  Bells — A  Cherished  Relic — Dancing  Snakes — Adventures  of  a  Diamond — 
Greek  Fire — Vegetable  Curiosities — The  Mute  Alphabet, 777 


WONDERS 


OF 


EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 


CHAPTER  I. 
TRAVELS  IN  THE  TROPICS. 

Livingstone's  Early  Days — Among  the  Dark  Races  of  a  Dark  Land — Proofs  of  Courage—' 
Adventure  with  a  Lion — Rain  Doctors — Journey  in  the  Desert — The  Makololo  Chief— 
Smoke-resounding  Falls — Exploring  the  River  Shire — Lost  to  the  World 
— Reported  Death  of  Livingstone — A  Savage  Demand. 

HE  tropics,  which  were  once  a  realm  of  mystery,  have 
been  made  to  reveal  their  startling  wonders.  No  part 
of  the  globe  in  our  day  can  remain  shrouded  in  darkness. 
Travelers  who  were  not  to  be  turned  back  by  the  greatest 
dangers  and  hardships,  have  explored  the  polar  regions, 
and  penetrated  to  the  very  heart  of  Africa.  By  their 
discoveries,  which  have  attracted  the  attention  and  ex- 
cited the  interest  of  the  whole  civilized  world,  they  have 
made  known  to  us  marvelous  regions,  of  which  we  had 
heard,  but  with  which  we  were  almost  as  little  acquainted  as  we  are 
with  the  depths  of  the  sea.     Great  wonders  have  been  revealed. 

One  of  the  best  known  and  most  illustrious  of  modern  travelers  in 
Africa  was  Dr.  Livingstone.  His  adventures  read  like  the  story  of  the 
Arabian  Nights.  They  have  increased  our  geographical  knowledge, 
opened  up  the  portions  of  the  great  African  continent  before  unknown 
to  the  world,  and  made  a  pathway  for  the  spread  of  civilization  and 
Christianity.  His  coolness  and  presence  of  mind  in  danger,  his  courage 
and  power  of  endurance  ;  the  tact,  kindness  and  firmness  exhibited  in 
his  intercourse  with  friendly  or  hostile  natives,  have  made  his  name 
revered  and  honored,  and  gained  for  him  a  place  in  the  affections  of 
the  benighted  people  of  Africa,  such  as  no  traveler  ever  before  won. 

Little  did  the  "  factory  hands  "  at  the  old  Blantyre  Cotton  Works, 
standing  on  the  banks  of  the  river  Clyde  just  above  Glasgow,  ever 
imagine  that  the  quiet,  industrious  lad  called  "  Davie,"  working  in 
their  midst,  would  one  day  attain  to  world-wide  fame,  and  find  a  final 
resting   place  among  the  illustrious  dead  of  his  country :    but  such 

indeed  was  to  be  his  destiny. 

2  17 


18  WONDERS    OF    EXPLORATION    AND    ADVENTURE. 

At  the  aije  of  ten,  Livingstone  commenced  to  work  as  "piecer"; 
his  hours  of  labor  were  long,  beginning  at  six  in  the  morning  and 
lasting  till  eight  in  the  evening,  and  one  would  suppose  left  little  time 
for  self-improvement ;  but  the  desire  for  knowledge  was  strong  in  the 
lad,  and  he  employed  hours  that  should  have  been  devoted  to  sleep  to 
the  acquiring  of  useful  information.  With  part  of  his  first  week's 
wages  he  purchased  a  book,  "  The  Rudiments  of  Latin,"  and,  with  the 
steady  earnestness  which  characterized  all  his  actions,  commenced  the 
study  of  that  language.  At  work,  his  studies  were  not  neglected. 
Placing  his  book  on  the  "  spinning  jenny,"  he  would  read  sentence 
after  sentence  as  he  passed  to  and  fro,  and  so  imprint  them  on  his 
memory  as  never  to  forget  them.  The  noise,  stir  and  buslie  in  the 
mill  never  apparently  disturbed  him  ;  for  he  had  the  power  of  abstract- 
ing and  concentrating  his  thoughts  so  as  to  be  indifferent  to  what  was 
going  on  around. 

When  Davie  attained  to  the  high  dignity  of  "  cotton  spinner "  he 
found  the  labor  severe,  but  endured  it  willingly,  as  he  earned  good 
money ;  by  carefully  saving  which  he  was  enabled  during  the  winter 
months  to  attend  the  Greek,  divinity,  and  medical  classes  at  the  Glas- 
gow University.  His  home  training  had  been  deeply  religious,  and 
as  he  grew  older  his  religious  convictions  .strengthened  and  deepened  ; 
so  that  it  is  no  wonder  he  resolved  to  become  a  missionary  to  the 
heathen,  and  devote  life  and  energies  to  the  welfare  of  those  who  sat 
in  the  darkness  of  ignorance  and  superstition.  With  this  object,  in 
the  year  1838,  he  presented  himself  for  examination  before  the  directors 
of  the  London  Missionary  Society ;  by  them  he  was  approved  and  sent 
to  the  training  college  at  Chipping  Ongar,  in  Essex.  In  1840  he  left 
England  for  Cape  Town. 

The  station  to  which  the  young  missionary  was  appointed  was  that 
founded  thirty  years  before  by  Messrs.  Hamilton  and  Moffat,  called 
Kuruman,  or  Lattakoo,  and  was  about  seven  hundred  miles  inland 
from  Cape  Town.  A  long  and  toilsome  journey  was  necessary  before 
reaching  it,  through  tangled  forests,  over  desolate  and  barren  wastes, 
rugged  hills,  and  rocky  ravines,  beneath  the  burning  tropical  sun,  and 
surrounded  by  fierce  and  savage  beasts  of  prey  ;  but  at  the  end  a  sight 
met  the  traveler  which  amply  repaid  all  privation  and  danger.  There 
stood  the  mission-house  surrounded  by  its  neatly-kept  garden,  .stocked 
with  fruits  and  vegetables ;  there  stood  the  church,  solidly  built  of 
stone,  and  the  cottages  and  huts  of  the  natives,  while  over  all  reigned 
an  air  of  peace  and  contentment.  This  is  what  the  labors  of  the 
devoted  missionaries  had  effected  during  the  years  they  had  been  exiles 
from  their  own  native  land. 


^^?^. 


20  WONDERS    OF    EXPLORATION    AND    ADVENTURE. 

After  a  short  stay  at  Lattakoo,  Livingstone  pushed  farther  into  the 
wilds  of  the  African  continent,  with  the  object  of  founding  a  new 
mission  station.  He  went  northward  as  far  as  the  country  of  the 
Bachuena  or  Bakwains,  a  section  of  the  great  Bechuana  nation. 
SettUng  at  a  spot  called  Lepelole,  so  called  after  a  cavern  of  that  name, 
he  devoted  some  time  to  studying  the  native  language,  and  then  made 
a  journey  still  farther  northward  to  the  Bakaa  Mountains.  Only  one 
European,  a  trader,  had  ever  before  penetrated  so  far ;  and  when  it 
was  understood  that  Livingstone  meant  to  undertake  the  journey  on 
foot,  the  natives  laughed  at  him. 

Livingstone  was  a  man  of  undoubted  courage,  and  during  his 
adventurous  life  gave  many  proofs  of  intrepidity  in  times  of  danger. 
On  one  occasion,  a  party  of  natives  were  traveling  with  an  ox-wagon 
about  ten  miles  from  his  house,  when  a  rhinoceros  charged  into  their 
midst,  inflicting  a  severe  injury  upon  the  driver.  A  messenger  was 
immediately  sent  for  the  missionary,  who,  in  spite  of  the  remon- 
strances of  his  friends,  mounted  his  horse,  and,  in  the  darkness  of  the 
night,  rode  in  all  haste  to  the  scene  of  the  accident.  But  the  wounded 
man  was  dead,  and  there  was  nothing  to  be  done  but  to  ride  back 
again  through  the  forest,  risking  attacks  from  the  fierce  animals, 
whose  cries  could  be  heard  on  every  side. 

The  Bakatla  tribe  was  troubled  by  lions,  who  at  night  leaped  into 
the  cattle-pens,  and  even  by  day  would  sometimes  attack  the  herds. 
Great  was  the  consternation  of  the  natives,  who  firmly  believed  that 
a  neighboring  tribe  had  given  them  into  the  power  of  these  merciless 
animals.  Their  attacks  upon  them  were  feeble  and  half-hearted,  so 
that  hitherto  the  lions  had  come  off  victors.  Livingstone  now  came 
to  their  aid,  and  the  cry  was — 

"  Mount !  mount  for  the  hunting  !  the  lion  is  near ! 
The  cattle  and  herdsmen  are  quaking  with  fear. 
Call  the  dogs  !  light  the  torches  !  away  to  the  glen  ! 
If  needs  be,  we'll  beard  the  fierce  brute  in  his  den." 

They  discovered  their  game  on  a  small  tree-covered  hill.  The 
circle  of  hunters,  at  first  loosely  formed  around  the  spot,  gradually 
closed  up,  and  became  compact  as  they  advanced  toward  it.  Mebalwe, 
a  native  schoolmaster,  who  was  with  Livingstone,  seeing  one  of  the 
lions  sitting  on  a  piece  of  rock  within  the  ring,  fired  but  missed  him, 
the  ball  striking  the  rock  by  the  feet  of  the  animal,  which,  biting  first 
at  the  spot  struck,  bounded  away,  broke  through  the  circle,  and 
escaped,  the  natives  not  having  the  courage  to  stand  close  and  spear 
him  in  the  attempt,  as  they  should  have  done.  The  circle  re-formed, 
having  yet  within  it  two  other  lions,  at  which  the  pieces  could  not 


TKAVEIJ3    IN    THE   TROPICS. 


21 


he  fired,  lest  some  of  the  men  on  the  opposite  side  should  be  hit. 
Again  there  was  a  bound  and  a  roar,  and  yet  again ;  and  the  natives 
scattered  and  fled,  while  the  lions  went  forth  free  to  continue  their 
■devastations. 

But  they  did  not  seem  to  have  retreated  far,  for  as  the  party  was 
going  round  the  end  of  a  hill  on  their  way  home  to  the  village,  there 
was  one  of  the  lordly  brutes  sitting  upon  a  piece  of  rock,  as  though 
he  had  purposely  planted  himself  there  to  enjoy  their  defeat,  and  wish 


R.     DAVID     LIVINGSTONE. 


Ihem  "  Good-day."  It  was  about  thirty  yards  from  Livingstone,  who, 
raising  his  gun,  fired  both  barrels  into  the  little  bush,  behind  which  the 
creature  was  crouching.  "  He  is  shot !  He  is  shot !  "  is  the  joyful  cry, 
and  the  people  are  about  to  rush  in  ;  but  their  friend  warns  them,  for  he 
sees  the  tail  raised  in  anger.  He  is  just  in  the  act  of  ramming  down 
his  bullets  for  another  fire,  when  he  hears  a  shout  of  terror,  and  sees 
the  lion  in  the  act  of  springing  on  him.     He  is  conscious  only  of  a 


22  WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 

blow  that  makes  him  reel  and  fall  to  the  ground,  of  two  glaring  eyes,, 
and  hot  breath  upon  his  face ;  a  momentary  anguish,  as  he  is  seized 
by  his  shoulder,  and  shaken  as  a  rat  by  a  terrier;  then  comes  a  stupor, 
which  was  afterward  described  as  a  sort  of  drowsiness,  in  which  there 
was  no  sense  of  pain  nor  feeling  of  terror,  although  there  was  a  per- 
fect consciousness  of  all  that  was  happening. 

Being  thus  conscious,  as  one  in  a  trance  might  be,  Livingstone  knew 
that  the  lion  had  one  paw  on  him,  and,  turning  round  to  relieve  himself 
of  the  pressure,  he  saw  his  companion  at  a  distance  of  ten  or  fifteen 
yards  aiming  his  gun.  All  this  occurred  in  a  few  moments ;  the  death- 
blow had  been  inflicted  by  Livingstone  before  the  lion  sprang  upon 
him  in  the  blind  fury  of  his  dying  efforts.  No  less  than  eleven  of  his 
te(^th  had  penetrated  the  flesh  of  his  assailant's  arm,  and  crushed  the 
bone ;  it  was  long  ere  the  wound  was  healed,  and  all  through  life  the 
intrepid  missionary  bore  the  marks  of  this  deadly  encounter,  and  felt 
its  effects  in  the  injured  limb.  The  tartan  jacket  which  he  had  on, 
wiped,  as  he  believed,  the  virus  from  the  lion's  teeth,  and  so  preserved 
him  from  much  after-suffering,  such  as  was  experienced  by  the  others 
who  were  bitten  and  had  not  this  protection. 

It  was  from  Kolobeng  that  Livingstone  started,  in  the  year  1849, 
with  two  white  companions,  Colonel  Steele  and  Mr.  Oswell,  to  cross 
the  great  Kalahari  Desert,  for  the  purpose  of  ascertaining  the  exact 
position  of  Lake  Ngami.  A  long  and  toilsome  journey  it  proved. 
Sekomi,  chief  of  the  Bamangwato,  through  whose  lands  they  were 
compelled  to  pass,  would  give  them  no  assistance ;  he  was  afraid,  he 
said,  of  incurring  the  enmity  of  the  Makololo,  but  really  because  he  did 
not  wish  the  white  man  to  know  how  prolific  the  lake  country  was 
in  ivory.  In  spite  of  this,  however,  the  travelers  set  out,  undaunted 
by  the  perils  which  awaited  them.  Their  way  lay  through  a  flat  sandy 
country,  open  forests,  bush  and  grass  lands  ;  and  then  came  a  soil  of 
soft  white  sand,  into  which  the  wheels  sunk  so  deep  that  the  wearied 
oxen  found  it  difficult  work  to  move  the  w^igons.  Water  became 
scarce,  while  the  fierce  beams  of  the  sun  poured  down  on  the  sand, 
burning  the  feet  if  they  rested  too  long  in  one  place.  Thirst  was  felt 
by  all.  In  vain  the  e\'c  roved  over  the  barren  waste  in  search  of 
water  ;  nothing  rewarded  the  effort,  and  the  weary  travelers  toiled  on, 
with  parched  tongue  aud  hanging  heads,  feeling  life  to  be  indeed  an 
irksome  burden.  Search  was  made  for  the  Icroshua,  a  small  plant 
with  long  narrow  leaves,  and  a  stalk  not  thicker  than  a  crow's  quill, 
but  at  the  root  of  which  is  a  tuber  as  large  as  an  infant's  head,  and 
filled  with  a  pulpy  mass  of  cellular  tissue  containing  a  sweet  fluid 
delightfully  cool  and  refreshing.     Sometinies  the  search  was  rewarded 


24  WONDERS    OF    EXPLORATION    AND    ADVENTURE. 

by  finding  the  kengwe,  or  water-melon,  which  proves  -equally  welcome 
and  refreshing.  Whole  tracts  of  the  desert,  in  certain  jparts,  are 
covered  with  this  plant,  to  which  wild  animals  of  all  kinds  resort,  to 
enjoy  a  repast  of  juicy  richness  which  the  absence  of  water  makes 
doubly  precious. 

There  are  a  few  human  inhabitants  in  this  desert,  the  most  degraded 
of  all  African  tribes,  who  burrow  in  the  .sand  or  hide  in  holes  of  the 
rocks,  or  in  wretched  huts  made  of  grass  and  vegetable  fibres.  These 
are  called  Bosjemen,  or  Bushmen,  being  small  of  stature,  and  finding 
a  precarious  subsistence  in  the  carcases,  often  putrid,  of  animals  which 
die,  in  insects,  roots,  or  anything  that  can  be  eaten.  Their  language, 
if  such  it  can  be  called,  consists  of  a  series  of  uncouth  sounds :  a 
strange,  wild  people,  apparently  more  akin  to  the  fierce  animals  which 
surround  them  than  to  human  beings. 

After  two  months  of  this  weary  traveling  Livingstone  arrived  on 
the  banks  of  a  large  and  beautiful  river,  running  northeast,  and  natives 
dwelling  there  informed  him  that  it  flows  from  the  great  lake,  and  is 
called  the  Zouga;  and  shortly  after  his  eyes  were  gladdened  by  the 
sight  of  the  broad  and  unbroken  expanse  of  the  waters  of  Lake 
Ngami. 

The  people  dwelling  about  this  lake  called  themselves  Bayei\-s,  or 
"  men,"  but  their  enemies  called  them  Bakoba,  or  slaves,  because  they 
will  not  fight.  They  received  the  travelers  with  great  friendliness, 
and  answered,  as  far  as  they  were  able,  all  the  questions  put  tt)  them. 
Several  large  rivers  had  been  observed  flowing  into  the  lake,  which, 
they  said,  came  from  a  country  full  of  rivers,  and  full  also  of  large 
trees.  There  lived  the  warlike  Makololo  natives — ruled  over  by  a 
great  chief  named  Sebituane — whom  Livingstone  greatly  desired  to 
visit;  but  the  difficulties  in  the  way  were  too  many  for  him  to  sur- 
mount at  this  time,  and  he  was  compelled  to  return  to  Kolobeng. 

In  the  following  year  he  again  set  forth,  with  the  purpose  of  penetrat- 
ing as  far  as  the  Makololo  people.  This  time  he  was  accompanied  by 
his  wife  and  three  of  his  children.  In  this  journey  he  kept  more  to  the 
eastward,  crossing  the  Zouga  at  its  lowest  extremit>'.  But  difficulties 
again  prevented  him  accomplishing  his  purpose.  He  lo.st  many  of  his 
oxen,  which  fell  into  pits  dug  to  entrap  wild  animals  ;  then  he  found 
he  was  approaching  a  part  of  the  country  where  the  dreaded  tsetse 
abounded :  "  a  poisonous  fly  which  .stings  the  cattle  so  that  they  lose 
all  power  of  exertion,  become  emaciated,  and  soon  die ;  it  abounds 
chiefly  on  the  banks  of  rivers,  and  in  most  marshy  places."  Once 
again  did  our  traveler  retrace  his  steps  back  to  his  station,  his  intentions 
frustrated. 


26  WONDERS    OF    EXPLORATION    AND    ADVENTURE. 

But  the  great  chief  of  the  Makololo,  Sebituane,  having  heard  of 
Livingstone's  attempts  to  reach  him,  sent  presents  of  cows  to  various-, 
chiefs,  desiring  they  would  do  all  they  could  to  aid  the  missionar}^  in 
his  journey  to  his  country.  Encouraged  by  the  e\ident  desire  mani- 
fested by  Sebituane  that  the  white  man  should  visit  him,  our  traveler, 
for  the  third  time,  set  out,  again  taking  with  him  his  wife  and  children. 
And  now  he  was  successful.  Crossing  the  Zouga,  he  soon  reached 
the  banks  of  the  Chobe,  and  in  a  canoe  floated  down  to  the  temporary 
residence  of  the  Makololo  chief,  who  had  himself  traveled  more  than 
one  hundred  miles  to  give  the  missionary  a  welcome. 

This  celebrated  chief  was  found  by  Livingstone  encamped  upon  an 
island,  his  principal  men  seated  around  him  ;  as  the  visitor  approached 
a  song  of  welcome  was  raised.  Sebituane  received  the  traveler  with 
every  mark  of  friendliness,  promised  him  cattle  to  replace  those  lost 
by  the  tsetse  fly,  and  said  he  would  show  him  his  country,  that  he 
might  select  a  spot  on  which  to  settle.  Meantime,  an  ox  and  a  jar  of 
honey  were  presented  to  him,  to  supply  his  immediate  wants. 

Sebituane  had  acquired  great  fame  as  a  powerful  A\arrior,  always 
himself  leading  his  men  to  battle.  He  never  forgave  one  that  fled 
from  the  fight,  but  on  reaching  home  would  order  him  to  be  brought 
into  his  presence,  and  would  then  quietly  tell  him  that  as  he  preferred 
dying  at  home  to  being  slain  in  battle  he  might  do  so,  and  the  man 
was  led  to  immediate  execution.  His  life  had  been  one  of  varied  for- 
tune, for  he  had  fought  his  way  from  Kuruman  to  the  Makololo 
country,  where  he  succeeded  in  conquering  all  the  various  tribes  of 
that  vast  region,  and  reigning  as  sole  monarch.  He  had  long  wished 
to  have  white  men  settle  in  his  country,  to  make  himself  and  his- 
people  more  powerful ;  and  now,  just  as  his  wish  was  about  to  be 
gratified,  he  fell  sick  with  inflammation  of  the  lungs,  brought  on  by  an 
old  wound  received  in  one  of  his  many  battles.  His  sickness  proved 
fatal.  Seeing  that  death  was  likely  soon  to  ensue,  Livingstone  wisely 
refrained  from  using  his  own  skill  on  the  dying  man's  behalf,  fearing 
lest  his  death  should  be  attributed  to  him. 

But,  with  his  son  Robert,  he  paid  the  dying  Sebituane  a  visit.  He 
found  tlje  native  doctors  gathered  around  him,  hopeful  that  their 
enchantments  would  successfully  ward  off  the  fatal  blow. 

"  Come  near,"  said  the  dying  chief  to  the  missionary,  "and  .see  if  1 
am  any  longer  a  man  ;  I  am  done !  " 

Livingstone  spoke  of  the  hope  after  death,  but  was  interruj:Jted  by 
the  doctors  exclaiming,  "  Sebituane  cannot  die  ;  speak  not  of  death  to- 
him." 

The  white  man  stood  silently  looking  on,  when   the  chief  noticed! 


TRAVELS    IN    THE    TROPICS. 


2r 


that  he  ncld  his  Httlc  boy  by  the  hand.  He  had  been  pleased  with  the 
child,  and  now,  fixing  his  eyes  kindly  upon  him,  said  faintly,  "  Take 
Robert  to  Maunku  (one  of  his  wives),  and  tell  her  to  give  him  some 
milk."  These  were  the  great  chief's  last  words  ;  shortly  after  he  died. 
"  Never,"  says  Livingstone,  "  was  I  so  much  grieved  by  the  loss  of  a 
black  man  before  ;  and  it  was  impossible  not  to  follow  him  in  thought 
into  the  other  world,  and  to  realize  somewhat  of  the  feelings  of  those 
who  pray  for  the  dead."  The  remains  of  Sebituane  were  buried  in  the 
cattle-pen,  and  o\'er  and  around  the  spot  the  cattle  were  driven  for  sev- 
eral hours,  that  no  distincfuishincr  mark  should  be  left  to  tell  where  the 


ENCHANTMENTS     OF    SEBITUANE'S     MEDICINE    MAN. 

great  warrior    reposed,  and  that    no   indignity  should  be    offered  to' 
the  body. 

Sebituane  was  succeeded  by  his  daughter  Ma-mochisane,  who  gave 
Livingstone  permission  to  visit  any  [)art  of  the  country  he  chose — 
a  privilege  of  which  he  was  not  slow  to  avail  himself;  and  he  carried 
his  explorations  more  than  one  hundred  miles  to  the  northeast,  until 


:28  WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 

he  discovered  that  magnificent  river  which  will  ever  be  associated  with 
his  name,  the  Zambesi.  When  he  first  saw  its  waters  it  was  in  the  dry 
season,  but  even  then  its  breadth  at  that  particular  spot  was  fi-om  three 
to  six  hundred  yards.  It  rises  annually  thirty  feet  of  perpendicular 
height,  and  floods  fifteen  or  twenty  miles  of  land  adjacent  to  its  banks. 
At  such  times  the  whole  basin  through  which  it  flows  has  the  appear- 
ance of  a  vast  lake,  the  towns  and  villages — which  are  built  on 
the  spots  which  rise  here  and  there  above  the  surrounding  level — 
standing  out  like  islands.  On  these  little  hills,  and  amid  the  swampy 
tracts  between  them,  live  the  Makololo,  secured  by  the  nature  of  the 
ground  from  the  attacks  of  enemies,  against  whom,  in  the  higher  and 
more  healthy  districts,  there  is  no  such  defense. 

The  natives  spend  their  time  in  war,  in  hunting  the  elephant  and 
hippopotamus,  in  fishing,  or  in  shooting  the  birds  which  abound  in 
the  woods  and  swamps.  Launching  their  canoes  on  the  broad  rivers, 
they  engage  in  conflict  with  the  dreaded  crocodile.  At  night  "they 
gather  round  the  fire,  and  boast  of  their  gallant  exploits. 

Upon  the  women  devolve  the  tillage  of  the  ground,  the  cultivation 
of  maize  and  cotton,  yams  and  pumpkins ;  but  the  labor  required  is 
not  heavy,  for  a  great  deal  is  left  to  nature ;  the  heat  and  moisture  of 
the  ground  stimulating  the  growth,  so  that  they  have  only  to  sow  and 
gather. 

But  in  these  marshy  districts  fever  proved  a  deadly  foe,  especially 
to  strangers ;  so  that  Livingstone  was  fearful  if  he  effected  a  settlement 
here  it  would  prove  hazardous  to  the  health,  if  not  the  lives,  of  his 
wife  and  family.  He  therefore  conveyed  them  to  Cape  Town,  that 
they  might  embark  for  England,  while  he  himself  turned  his  back  on 
friends  and  civilization,  and  once  more  plunged  into  the  depths  of  the 
untrodden  African  wilds. 

When  Livingstone  again  .saw  the  waters  of  the  Chobe  it  was  at  the 
time  of  its  annual  overflow.  The  whole  country  round  was  flooded, 
so  that  it  was  impossible  to  find  a  pathway  through  the  watery 
wilderness  for  his  wagons.  Many  of  his  men  were  down  with  fever, 
the  destructive  tsetse  fly  had  destroyed  several  of  his  oxen,  and  his 
Bushmen  guides  had  deserted  him.  Leaving  his  goods  behind,  he 
launched  his  canoe,  and  with  but  one  follower  endeavored  to  strike 
the  main  channel  of  the  river,  and  so  make  his  way  to  the  Makololo 
chief's  residence.  It  proved  an  adventure  of  no  small  danger,  and 
the  difficulties  he  had  to  surmount  would  have  daunted  a  less  resolute 
man.  Frequently  he  found  himself  compelled  to  wade  along  with 
the  water  up  to  his  neck  ;  the  brambles  tore  his  body,  while  a  serrated 
kind  of  grass,  whose  edges  were  as  keen  as  that  of  a  razor,  cut  his 


30  WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 

clothes  into  ribbons.  Reachin<^  the  village  of  Moremi,  he  was  there 
recognized,  and  the  tidings  forwarded  to  the  chief,  who  immediately 
sent  a  party  to  convey  him  to  Linyante,  the  principal  town  of  the 
country.  The  wagons  which  had  been  left  behind  were  speedily  taken 
to  pieces  and  lashed  to  canoes  ;  the  oxen  were  made  to  swim,  while 
the  natives  guided  them  by  keeping  by  their  side.  All  the  inhabitants 
of  Linyante  turned  out  to  welcome  the  traveler,  and  to  behold  such  a 
Avonderful  sight  as  a  wagon  in  motion. 

The  new  chief  of  Makololo  was  the  son  of  Livingstone's  former 
friend,  Scbituane.  The  daughter  had  resigned  her  power  to  her  brother 
Sekeletu,  \\ho  professed  a  great  regard  for  the  missionary.  Finding 
no  present  prospect  of  founding  a  mission  station  among  the  Mako- 
lolo, Livingstone,  accompanied  by  Sekeletu  and  many  under-chiefs, 
departed  from  Linyante  to  make  further  explorations  of  the  Zambesi 
river.  Never  before  had  he  passed  through  a  country  so  teeming  with 
animal  life — countless  herds  of  the  graceful  antelope,  the  lion,  the 
elephant,  the  rhinoceros,  rivers  with  the  huge  hippopotamus  and  the 
scaly  alligator,  and  trees  thronged  with  varieties  of  the  monkey  tribe, 
and  birds  of  all  sizes  and  colors.  At  every  village  the  caxalcade 
halts,  and  the  chief  is  welcomed  with  shrill  cries  of  "  Great  lion ! 
mighty  chief!  sleep,  my  lord  !  "  while  beer  and  milk  in  abundance  are 
brought  forth  to  refresh  himself,  his  white  friend  and  his  followers. 

In  November,  1853,  Livingstone  left  the  town  of  Linyante  to  fnid 
his  way  to  the  Portuguese  settlement  of  Loanda,  on  the  western  coast. 
A  long  and  toilsome  journey  it  proved.  Pathless  forests  were  traversed, 
through  which  a  road  had  to  be  cut  with  axes;  and  rivers  infested  with 
hipi^opotami,  swimming  lazily  about,  with  their  enormous  snouts  just 
above  the  water. 

These  animals  are,  when  not  molested,  usually  harmless,  with  the 
exception  of  the  old  males,  which  are  expelled  from  the  community  and 
doomed  to  lead  a  solitary  life.  To  come  upon  one  of  the  former  class 
proves  dangerous,  for  it  rushes  open-mouthed  at  everything,  and  has 
been  known  to  rend  a  canoe  to  pieces  with  its  enormous  jaws.  The 
crocodile  and  alligator,  which  the  natives  will  sometimes  attack  by 
diving  beneath  them  and  plunging  their  knives  upwards  into  their 
l^odies,  proved  only  too  plentiful  on  the  voyage.  Huge  trees  grew  on 
the  very  edge  of  the  river's  bank,  from  which  gaily-plumaged  birds 
sang  to  the  passing  strangers.  From  the  overhanging  branches  huge 
lizards  were  seen  basking  in  the  warm  sunshine,  and  as  the  canoes 
approached  they  fell  into  the  water  with  a  splash,  to  be  speared  and 
eaten  as  a  great  delicacy  by  the  natives.  At  the  villages  on  the  route 
they  met  with  a  friendly  reception,  and  presents  were  made  of  oxen, 


32  WONDERS    OF    EXPLORATION    AND    ADVENTURE. 

with  the  singular  saying,  "  Here  is  a  bit  of  bread  for  you."  After 
leaving  the  noble  Zambesi  at  its  confluence  with  the  Leeambye,  they 
pursued  their  journey  up  the  latter  river  to  the  northwest,  while  the 
rain  poured  down  upon  them  for  days  and  weeks  in  such  torrents  as 
can  only  be  seen  in  a  tropical  country. 

CURIOUS    RITES    AND    CEREMONIES. 

Amongst  the  Kaffir  tribes  at  the  villages  south  of  the  Zambesi, 
Livingstone  found  several  very  curious  rites  performed  at  intervals, 
but  the  details  were  most  carefully  concealed.  Our  hero,  however, 
witnessed  the  dance  called  "  koba,"  in  which  a  row  of  naked  boys  of 
about  fourteen,  after  answering  several  questions,  such  as  "  Will  you 
herd  the  cattle  well  ?  will  you  guard  the  chief  well  ?  "  were  plied  with 
blows  from  long,  thin,  and  tough  wands,  wielded  by  full  grown  men. 
Each  blow  brought  blood,  and  the  scars  would  remain  for  life.  This 
was  supposed  to  harden  the  youths,  and  render  them  fit  for  service  as 
soldiers.  Another  curious  ceremony  was  the  so-called  "  boyale,"  for 
drilling  young  girls  for  the  duties  of  womanhood,  in  which  the  neophytes, 
clad  in  dresses  of  rope  made  of  alternate  pumpkin  seeds  and  bits  of 
reed,  were  made  to  carry  large  pots  of  water  under  the  surveillance  of 
an  old  hag,  often  after  having  bits  of  burning  charcoal  applied  to  the 
forearm,  probably  with  a  view  to  testing  the  poor  creatures'  power  of 
bearing  pain.  Judging  from  the  manner  in%vhich  the  women  discharge 
their  duties  this  process  of  discipline  is  an  unhappy  failure.  It  requires 
more  than  a  savage  custom  to  transform  savages,  and  produce  the 
higher  forms  of  character. 

An  exhausting  journey  in  a  northwesterly  direction,  was  succeeded 
by  a  pleasant  rest  at  the  Motlatsa  wells.  With  the  help  of  some  wan- 
ering  Bushmen  they  were  able  to  reach  the  Chobe.  The  Sanshureh,  a 
water-course  filled  by  the  inundations  of  the  Chobe,  long  baffled  their 
attempt  to  cross  it,  but  at  last  Livingstone  and  one  man  got  over  in  a 
pontoon,  and,  climbing  a  high  tree,  caught  sight  of  the  Chobe,  which 
was,  however,  flanked  on  both  sides  by  an  impenetrable  belt  of  reeds 
and  serrated  grass,  only  to  be  traversed  by  bending  it  down  and  creep- 
ing over  it  on  hands  and  feet.  All  difficulties  bravely  conquered,  a 
Makololo  village  was  entered,  and  the  natives,  gathering  round  our  hero, 
exclaimed,  "  He  has  dropped  among  us  from  the  clouds.  We  Makololo 
thought  no  one  could  cross  the  Chobe  without  our  knowledge,  but  here 
he  drops  among  us  like  a  bird." 

Next  day  Livingstone  returned  to  his  party  in  a  canoe  across  the 
flooded  land,  and  was  soon  joined  by  some  headmen  from  Linyanti, 
the  capital  of  Makololo  Land,  who  escorted  the  party  over  the  river 
in  fine  style,  swimming  and  diving  amongst  the  oxen  more  like  alliga- 


TRAVELS    IN    THE    TROPICS. 


33 


tors  than  men,  and  taking-  the  wagons  to  pieces  to  cany  them  across 
on  a  number  of  canoes  lashed  together. 

On  the  23d  May,  1853,  Livingstone  entered  Linyanti,  which  he 
found  to  be  but  a  very  Uttle  distance  from  the  furthest  point  reached 
in  his  journey  of 
185 1.  The  whole 
population,  num- 
beringbetween  six 
and  seven  thou- 
sand, turned  out 
to  gaze  at  the 
stranger,  and  a 
messenger  soon 
arrived  from  the 
reigning  chief  Se- 
keletu,  son  of  Se- 
bituane,  in  whose 
favor  Ma-mochis- 
ane  had  resigned. 

An  interview 
with  Sekeletu 
himself  soon  fol- 
lowed, in  which 
the  chief,  a  mere 
lad  of  eighteen, 
begged  Living- 
stone  to  tell  him 
what  he  wished 
him  to  do  for  him ; 
and  on  the  mis- 
sionary explaining 
that  his  aim  was 
to  convert  him 
and  his  people  to 

Christianity,      he  w  xkriok    wi'^    vtitR    hajiii 

replied  he  did  not  wish  to  read  the  Bible,  for  he  was  afraid  it  might 
change  his  heart,  and  make  him  content  with  only  one  wife.  He 
made  no  objection,  however,  to  his  people  being  taught,  and  Liv- 
ingstone held  several  semces,  at  which  the  Makololos  who  attended 
behaved  with  surprising  decorum  and  reverence. 

Livingstone  next  made  an  excursion,  with  Sekeletu  and  some  one 
hundred  and  sixty  attendants,  to  the  capital  of  the  Marotse  country, 
3 


34  WONDERS    OF    EXPLORATIOX    AND    ADVENTURE. 

crossing  a  remarkably  flat  district,  dotted  with  gigantic  ant-hills,  the 
work  of  the  ingenious  termites,  and  embarking  on  the  Zambesi. 

A    BEAUTIFUL   TROPICAL   COUNTRY. 

The  fleet  consisted  of  thirty-three  canoes,  of  which  Livingstone  had 
the  best,  and  Sekeletu  the  largest.  The  river,  here  and  there,  more 
than  a  mile  broad,  dotted  with  beautiful  islands,  wound  through  a 
country  exceeding  in  beauty  any  part  of  South  Africa  yet  visited  by  a 
European.  Date  palms  alternated  with  palmyras,  and  every  variety  of 
large  game,  native  to  the  tropical  forests  of  Africa  came  down  to  drink, 
showing  no  signs  of  fear  at  the  sight  of  the  canoes.  The  villages, 
which  were  numerous,  and  inhabited  by  a  people  called  Banyete,  sent 
out  delegates  with  presents  of  food  and  skins  for  Sekeletu,  and  Living- 
stone was  able  to  note  at  his  ease  the  happy  relations  existing,  between 
the  chief  and  his  people,  Sekeletu's  aim  was  to  govern  by  moral 
suasion,  proving  him  to  be  different  from  most  African  chiefs. 
Soon  the  tsetse,  which  alighted  even  on  the  canoes,  disappeared,  and 
the  lofty  reedy  banks  were  exchanged  for  densely-wooded  ridges 
stretching  away  to  the  Barotse  valley,  dotted  with  villages  built  on 
mounds,  and  resembling  in  its  general  character  the  valley  of  the  Nile. 
In  the  Barotse  valley  itself  trees  arc  scarce,  though  the  soil  is  extremely 
fertile,  supporting  large  herds  of  cattle,  and  is  capable  of  being  rendered 
ten  times  as  productive  by  judicious  cultivation. 

Arrived  at  Nariele,  a  village  built  on  an  artificial  mound  close  to  the 
Zambesi,  the  course  of  which  is  here  partially  obstructed  by  a  rocky 
barrier,  the  party  were  very  heartily  received  by  the  Barotse,  and  great 
festivities  were  held  in  honor  of  the  chief  Before  returning  to  Lin- 
yanti,  Living.stone  walked  to  the  town  of  Katongo,  on  the  ridge 
bounding  the  valley  of  the  Barotse  on  the  north,  and  found  it  sur- 
rounded by  well-cultivated  gardens,  in  which  large  quantities  of  maize, 
millet,  yams,  sugar-cane,  sweet  potatoes,  etc.,  were  raised.  Our  hero 
also  ascended  the  Zambesi  for  some  little  further  distance,  reaching 
the  junction  first  of  the  Loeti,  and  then  of  the  Leeba  with  the  Zambesi, 
the  Loeti  flowing  apparently  from  the  west  north-west,  and  the  Leeba 
from  the  north  northwest. 

Back  again  in  September,  1853,  ^^  Linyanti,  after  this  preliminary 
trip,  Livingstone  now  lost  no  time  in  preparing  for  his  great  journey  to 
the  west,  and  in  November  started  up  the  Chobe,  escorted  by  twenty- 
seven  men  of  different  tribes  charged  by  Sekeletu  to  protect  him,  and 
to  open  up  free  trade  between  the  Makololo  country  and  the  white  men 
of  the  coast. 

The  30th  November  found  the  party  at  the  Gouye  Falls,  where  the 
canoes  were  carried  over  the  rapids  slung  on  poles,  and  a  few  days 


36  WONDERS    OF    EXPLORATION    AND    ADVENTURE. 

later  Nariele  was  again  entered.  Between  it  and  Libonta,  the  next 
stopping-place,  Livingstone  was  delighted  by  the  sight  of  hundreds  of 
birds,  including  some  thirty  different  species,  such  as  the  speckled  and 
blue  and  orange  kingfishers,  the  religious  ibis,  the  v/hite  pelican,  the 
scissor-bills,  the  sand-martins,  etc.  Large  black  geese  were  to  be  seen 
stalking  here  and  there  on  the  bank. 

MARVELOUS    ESCAPE    FROM    AN    ALLIGATOR. 

In  the  river,  savage  alligators  abounded,  at  the  sight  of  which  Living- 
stone owns  to  being  unable  to  repress  a  shudder,  after  having  seen  the 
narrow  escape  of  one  of  his  men  who  was  dragged  down  under  water 
by  the  thigh,  but  escaped  by  stabbing  his  scaly  antagonist  in  the 
shoulder  with  a  short  javelin.  The  alligator,  writhing  with  pain,  left 
his  victim,  who  swam  back  to  the  canoe  with  the  blood  gushing  from 
his  wounds.  The  natives  are  so  accustomed  to  these  attacks  that  they 
are  seldom  taken  off  their  guard. 

Leaving  the  Zambesi  on  the  28th  December,  the  party  embarked 
on  the  Leeba,  and  ascended  it  for  some  distance,  till  the  Balonda 
country,  the  first  village  of  which  was  governed  by  a  woman  named 
Manenko,  was  entered,  where  our  hero  was  rather  coldly  received,  as 
he  was  supposed  to  have  profited  by  the  capture  of  some  of  the 
natives  as  slaves  a  short  time  previously.  The  fact  that  he  brought 
with  him  two  or  three  of  the  victims  sent  back  by  Sekeletu,  however, 
produced  something  of  a  reaction  in  his  favor,  and  Manenko  prom- 
ised to  visit  him,  but  kept  him  waiting  so  long  for  an  interview  that 
he  lost  patience,  and  went  on  without  seeing  her. 

On  the  6th  January,  however,  just  after  the  arrival  of  the  party  in 
the  village  of  another  female  chief,  Manenko  made  her  appearance. 
A  tall  strapping  woman  about  twenty,  with  her  body  smeared  all  over 
with  a  mixture  of  fat  and  red  ochre,  and  no  clothing  but  a  profusion 
of  ornaments  round  her  neck,  her  sable  highness  conducted  herself  in 
a  very  overbearing  manner,  and  announced  her  intention  of  accom- 
panying Livingstone  to  the  residence  of  her  uncle  Shinte  or  Kabompo, 
the  greatest  Balonda  of  the  country.  This  intention  she  carried  out, 
and  Livingstone  gives  a  pathetic  account  of  his  sufferings  in  conse- 
quence. First  she  could  not  be  induced  to  start,  and  when,  after 
several  days'  delay,  she  trusted  her  precious  person  on  a  canoe  to 
cross  a  little  stream,  having  first  had  some  charms  repeated  over  her 
by  her  doctor,  she  enlivened  the  journey  with  perpetual  scoldings. 
Leaving  the  river,  a  tract  of  forest  land  was  traversed  beneath  heavy 
rain,  Manenko's  escort  keeping  up  an  unceasing  clatter  with  their 
weapons. 

Disdaining  to  ride,  Manenko  trudged  along  on  foot  at  a  pace  which 


TRAVELS    IN    THE   TROPICS.  37 

few  men  could  equal,  and  Livingstone,  being  on  ox-back,  rode  leisurely 
beside  her.  Once,  bending  down  to  his  lady  leader,  he  ventured  to 
inquire  why  she  did  not  protect  herself  from  the  rain  with  a  little 
clothing,  and  was  answered  that  it  would  be  effeminate  for  a  chief 
to  do  so. 

Again  and  again  delayed  at  Balonda  villages  by  the  incessant  rain 
or  by  Manenko's  manoeuvres,  and  as  they  advanced  further  north 
compelled  to  cut  their  way  with  an  axe  through  the  dense  tropical 
forests  here  lining  the  banks  of  the  Leeba,  the  party  did  not  reach 
Shinte's  village  until  the  17th  January,  but  the  cordial  reception  there 
met  with  did  much  to  atone  for  the  troubles  of  the  journey. 

RECEPTION    IN    HONOR    OF    LIVINGSTONE. 

Shinte  declared  himself  greatly  honored  by  Livingstone's  visit,  and 
gave  his  guests  a  reception  rivaling  in  barbaric  magnificence  any 
ceremony  of  the  kind  yet  witnessed  by  our  hero.  The  "  kotla,"  or 
place  of  audience,  about  a  hundred  yards  square,  overlooked  by 
numerous  well-built  conical-roofed  houses,  was  lined  with  warriors, 
including  many  Mambari,  or  half-caste  Portuguese  slave  traders  from 
the  west.  Two  trees  of  the  banyan  species  stood  at  one  end,  and 
beneath  one  of  them  sat  Shinte,  wearing  no  clothing  but  some  scanty 
drapery  about  the  loins,  and  numerous  bracelets  on  his  arms  and  legs. 
Opposite  to  him  and  beneath  the  second  tree  Livingstone  seated  him- 
self on  his  own  camp-stool,  his  attendants  grouping  themselves  behind 
him.  Filing  before  their  host,  Manenko's  party  saluted  him  by  clap- 
ping their  hands,  and  the  headmen  of  Shinte's  tribe  answered  by 
making  obeisance  and  scattering  ashes.  Then  the  soldiers,  all  armed 
to  the  teeth,  made  a  kind  of  dash  at  the  strangers,  which  they  bore 
unmoved,  and  the  preliminaries  were  over.  The  explorers  were  highly 
amused  at  their  singular  greeting. 

Behind  Shinte  sat  some  hundred  women,  all  gorgeous  in  red  baize 
drapery,  and  in  front  was  his  chief  wife,  a  Matabele  woman,  distin- 
guished by  a  curious  red  cap  on  her  head.  All  having  made  their 
salutations,  a  good  deal  of  springing,  dancing,  and  so-called  music 
ensued,  succeeded  by  speeches,  between  each  of  which  the  women 
sang  a  plaintive  ditty.  Nine  orations  were  delivered  with  the  greatest 
decorum,  and  then  Shinte  rose  as  a  signal  for  the  breaking  up  of  the 
meeting.  The  soldiers  discharged  their  guns,  and  the  company  dis- 
persed. 

Livingstone  was  detained  some  little  time  in  Shinte's  town  by  fever 
and  his  host's  unwillingness  to  allow  him  to  depart,  but  on  the  26th 
February  he  managed  to  get  off,  his  escort  augmented  by  six  Balonda 
men  to  help  to  carry  his  luggage.     Crossing  the  southern  part  of 


38  WONDERS    OF    EXPLORATION    AND    ADVENTURE. 

Loanda,  and  halting  at  various  villages — at  one  of  which  the  inhabit- 
ants carried  their  hospitality  so  far  as  to  hurry  to  meet  him,  carrying 
the  roofs  of  huts  for  his  accommodation  on  their  heads — then  fording 
the  river  Lotembwa,  he  entered  the  town  of  the  great  chief  Katema, 
one  of  the  largest  yet  visited. 

Katema,  on  Livingstone's  arrival,  was  giving  audience,  in  the  pres- 
ence of  some  three  hundred  men  and  thirty  women,  to  a  party  of 
young  men  who  had  fled  from  the  neigboring  chiefdom  of  Lobale,  on 
account  of  its  ruler  selling  their  relations  for  slaves  to  the  Portuguese,^ 
a  fact  significant  of  the  approach  to  the  western  coast. 

The  history  of  the  white  man's  journey  and  intentions  in  coming 
to  the  country  having  been  duly  stated  by  an  interpreter,  Katema 
bade  him  welcome,  and  presented  him  with  sixteen  baskets  of  meat. 
He  also  promptly  provided  three  guides  to  conduct  his  visitor  to  the 
coast,  and  proved  himself  in  every  respect  most  courteous  and  friendly. 
On  Livingstone  asking  him  what  he  would  like  from  Loanda,  Katema 
replied,  that  everything  of  the  white  people  would  be  acceptable,  and 
he  would  receive  anything  thankfully,  but  the  coat  he  had  on  was  old, 
and  he  would  like  another. 

THE  SAVAGES  DEMAND  TRIBUTE. 

Coming  to  the  valley  of  the  Quango,  the  Chinji,  as  the  natives  of 
the  most  easterly  portion  of  the  valley  were  called,  made  a  demand  to 
which  Livingstone  had  now  become  accustomed,  of  a  man,  an  ox,  or 
an  elephant's  tusk  for  right  of  passage  through  their  country ;  and  on 
our  hero's  assuring  their  host  that  his  supplies  were  exhausted,  they 
were  anxious  that  he  and  his  attendants  should  be  killed  and  his 
property  seized.  A  personal  interview  with  the  chief,  Sansawe  by 
name,  fortunately  somewhat  changed  the  aspect  of  affairs.  Living- 
stone showed  him  his  hair — always  a  cause  of  astonishment  to  the 
negroes — his  watch,  and  his  compass,  and  Sansawe  went  off  without 
exacting  the  tribute  asked  for.  A  little  later  he  sent  a  message  to  say 
that  the  white  man  must  either  give  him  some  pounds  of  meat  and 
copper  rings  or  return  by  the  way  he  had  come.  To  this  our  hero 
replied  simply  that  he  should  go  on  the  next  day,  and  his  interpreter 
added  of  his  own  accord,  "  How  many  white  men  have  you  killed  in 
this  path  ?  "  which  meant,  "  You  have  never  killed  any  white  man,  and 
you  will  find  ours  difficult  to  manage."  On  more  than  one  occasion 
it  was  found  that  a  bold  front  was  the  best  defense,  and  any  appear- 
ance of  timidity  would  have  worked  disastrous  to  the  whole  party,  in- 
volving serious  consequences. 

Expecting  from  this  interchange  of  courtesies  to  have  to  cut  his  way 
through,   Livingstone  broke   up   his  camp  before   daylight   the   next 


SHOOTING     THE     RAPIDS    OF     THK     LOWER    CONGO. 


40  WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 

morning,  but  he  was  allowed  to  depart  unmolested.  His  men,  wjio 
could  scarcely  believe  their  good  fortune,  pressed  on  cheerfully  beneath 
a  heavy  downpour  of  rain,  till  they  were  brought  to  a  stand  near  the 
Congo,  here  one  hundred  and  fifty  yards  wide  and  very  deep,  with  dis- 
colored waters,  a  psculiarity  never  noticed  in  any  river  of  Makololo 
or  Loan  da. 

Anxious  to  cross  the  river  as  quickly  as  possible,  Livingstone  en- 
deavored to  obtain  canoes  from  the  natives  on  its  banks,  but  their 
chief  forbade  them  to  lend  any  without  the  payment  "  of  a  man,  an 
ox,  or  a  gun."  Our  explorer's  blanket  was  the  only  article  he  had 
left  which  he  could  possibly  spare,  but  he  was  ready  to  sacrifice  it 
rather  than  waste  any  time  so  near  the  first  Portuguese  settlement, 
where  his  difficulties  would  probably  end.  Doubting  alike  the  honesty 
and  power  of  the  river  chief,  however,  he  tried  to  persuade  his  men  to 
seize  the  canoes  before  he  gave  up  the  blanket,  but  they  were  afraid  of 
being  attacked  by  the  natives.  Meanwhile  the  chief  repeated  his  de- 
mands, and  Livingstone's  men  were  stripping  off  their  own  copper 
rings  in  the  hopes  of  satisfying  him,  when  a  young,  half-caste  Portu- 
guese sergeant  of  militia  came  up  and  urged  our  hero  to  move  on  to 
the  bank  in  spite  of  chief  and  people,  for  he  could  get  the  ferryman  to 
take  them  over  the  river.  Repeatedly  did  our  hero  find  fortune  favor- 
ing him  as  he  pressed  on  through  the  wilds  of  this  dark  country,  pass- 
ing safely  through  all  dangers. 

Delighted  at  this  unexpected  arrival  of  succor,  Livingstone  ordered 
his  men  to  move  on,  and  under  a  blaze  of  ammunition  from  the  natives 
which  did  no  execution  whatever,  the  party  hastened  down  to  the  river. 
Cypriano  made  a  satisfactoiy  arrangement  with  the  ferryman,  and 
Livingstone  saved  his  blanket.  As  soon  as  the  opposite  bank  was 
reached,  Negroland  may  be  said  to  have  been  left  behind,  for  our 
hero  was  in  the  territory  of  the  Bangala,  who  are  subjects  of  the 
Portuguese.  Cypriano,  who  lived  near  the  Congo,  invited  the  whole 
party  to  rest  at  his  quarters,  and  most  hospitably  entertained  them  for 
the  next  few-  days,  stripping  his  garden  in  their  service,  and  slaughter 
ing  an  ox  for  their  table. 

ASTONISHMENT    AT    FIRST   SIGHT    OF   THE   SEA. 

The  first  sight  of  the  sea  astonished  the  Makololo  and  other  ser- 
vants from  the  interior  beyond  all  bounds.  Awestruck,  they  whispered 
to  each  other  that  the  ancients  who  said  the  world  had  no  end  were 
wrong,  after  all,  for  here  was  the  end  of  the  world  ;  it  was  finished  ; 
there  was  no  more  of  it.  Should  they  be  kidnapped  and  carried  off 
by  the  Portuguese,  or  perhaps  by  those  mermen  of  which  faint 
rumors  had  reached  them   on   their   own  journey  down  ?     One   man 


TRAVELS    IN    THE   TROPICS.  41 

asked  Livirif^stone  if  they  could  watch  each  other  at  Loanda : 
■"  Suppose  one  went  for  water,  would  the  others  see  if  he  were  kid- 
napped ?  "  Reassuring  the  poor  fellows  as  best  he  could,  and  prom- 
ising them  that  they  should  incur  no  danger  he  did  not  share,  Liv- 
ingstone prevailed  on  them  to  remain  in  Loanda  till  he  should  return 
with  them  to  Linyanti.  Having,  in  spite  of  much  suffering  from  fever, 
fulfilled  the  main  objects  of  his  visit  by  opening  commercial  relations 
between  the  interior  and  the  Portuguese  settlements,  Livingstone 
started  on  the  return  journey  for  Linyanti,  laden  with  presents  for 
Sekeletu  and  the  chiefs  who  had  aided  him  on  the  westward  trip.  The 
gift  for  the  ruler  of  Makololo  Land  was  a  complete  colonel's  uniform 
and  a  fine  horse,  to  which  the  merchants  of  Loanda  added  handsome 
specimens  of  all  their  articles  of  trade. 

A  grand  meeting  of  all  the  people  was  held  to  welcome  the  white  man 
back,  and  wonderful  indeed  were  the  stories  related  at  it  by  his  servants 
of  their  adventures  by  the  way.  They  had  gone  to  the  end  of  the 
world,  and  only  turned  back  when  there  was  no  more  land  !  No;  they 
had  not  seen  Ma-Robert  (Mrs.  Livingstone),  for  she  lived  a  little 
beyond  the  world,  but  they  had  seen  mountains  (two-storied  houses), 
with  several  caves  in  them,  inhabited  by  white  men,  and  so  on  and 
so  on. 

Sekeletu  was  charmed  with  his  uniform,  and  when  he  appeared  in 
it  in  church  the  following  Sunday  it  drew  off  all  attention  from  service 
or  sermon.  Offers  to  accompany  Livingstone  on  his  journey  to  the 
east  coast  poured  in  upon  him,  and  our  hero  found  himself  almost  too 
popular.  Determined,  however,  not  to  lose  this  favorable  opportunity 
for  extending  his  discoveries,  he  remained  patiently  at  Linyanti  until 
the  3d  November,  1855,  when  he  started  for  the  east,  accompanied 
by  Sekeletu  and  about  two  hundred  of  his  followers.  Sesheke  was 
reached  in  the  thick  of  a  fearfi.il  thunderstorm,  one  of  the  worst  yet 
encountered  by  Livingstone,  but  he  tells  us  that  Sekeletu,  now  his  de- 
voted friend,  covered  him  with  his  own  blanket,  and  before  leaving  the 
town  presented  him  with  twelve  oxen,  with  some  hoes,  beads,  etc.,  for  the 
purchase  of  a  canoe  for  the  voyage  down  the  Zambesi. 

THE  CELEBRATED  SMOKE  RESOUNDING  FALLS. 

Embarking  on  the  river  at  Sesheke,  the  whole  party  descended  it 
as  far  as  the  island  of  Kalai,  where  it  makes  a  sudden  bend  to  the 
northeast  above  the  world-famous  Victoria  Falls,  called  by  the  natives 
Mosiatunya,  or  "  Smoke  sounds  there,"  a  name  eminently  descriptive 
of  the  simultaneous  effect  produced  on  ear  and  eye  by  the  never- 
<;easing  roar  of  the  descending  cataract  and  the  smoke-like  masses  of 
^ver-ascending    foam.     These   falls  are   the    Niagara    of  Africa,  and 


42 


WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 


through  the  descriptions  already  given  have  gained  a  world-wide  fame. 
They  are  one  of  the  wonders  of  the  world. 

Says  Livingstone, — "  Five  columns  of  vapor  arose,  and,  bending  in  the 
direction  of  the  wind,  they  seemed  placed  against  a  low  ridge  covered 
with  trees ;  the  tops  of  the  columns  appeared  to  mingle  with  the  clouds. 
They  were  white  below,  and  higher  up  became  dark,  so  as  to  simulate 
smoke  very  closely.  The  whole  scene  was  extremely  beautiful ;  the 
banks  and  islands  dotted  over  the  river  are  adorned  with  sylvan  vege- 
tation of  great  variety  of  color  and  form.  At  the  period  of  our  visit 
several  trees  were  spangled  over  with  blossoms.  There,  towering  over 
all,  stands  the  great  burlv  baobab,  each  of  whose  enormous  arms  would 


HATOKA    SALUTATION . 


form  the  trunk  of  a  large  tree,  beside  a  group  of  graceful  palms,  which, 
with  their  feathery-shaped  leaves  depicted  on  the  sky,  lend  their  beauty 
to  the  scene.  The  falls  are  bounded  on  three  sides  by  ridges  three 
hundred  or  four  hundred  feet  in  height,  which  are  covered  with  forest, 
with  the  red  soil  appearing  among  the  trees.  When  about  half  a  mile 
from  the  falls,  I  left  the  canoe  by  which  we  had  come  down  thus  far, 
and  embarked  in  a  lighter  one  with  men  well  acquainted  with  the  rapids, 
who,  by  passing  down  the  centre  of  the  stream,  in  the  eddies  and  still 
places  caused  by  the  many  jutting  rocks,  brought  me  to  an  island 
situated  in  the  middle  of  the  river,  and  on  the  edge  of  the  lip  over 
which  the  water  rolls.  Though  we  had  reached  the  island,  and  were 
within  a  few  yards  of  the  spot,  a  view  from  which  would  solve  the 


TRAVELS    IN    THE    TROPICS.  4S 

whole  problem,  I  believe  that  no  one  could  perceive  where  the  vast 
body  of  water  went;  it  seemed  to  lose  itself  in  the  earth,  the  opposite  lip 
of  the  fissure  into  which  it  disappeared  being  only  eighty  feet  distant. 
Creeping  with  awe  to  the  verge,  I  peered  down  into  a  large  rent  which 
had  been  made  from  bank  to  bank  of  the  broad  Zambesi,  and  saw  that 
a  stream  one  thousand  yards  broad  leaped  down  one  hundred  feet, 
and  then  became  suddenly  compressed  into  a  space  of  fifteen  or  twenty 
yards.  The  entire  falls  are  simply  a  crack  made  in  a  hard  basaltic  rock, 
from  the  right  to  the  left  bank  of  the  Zambesi,  and  then  prolonged 
from  the  left  bank  away  through  thirty  or  forty  miles  of  hills.  In 
looking  into  the  fissure  on  the  right  side  of  the  island,  one  sees  nothing 
but  a  dense  white  cloud,  which,  at  the  time  we  visited  the  spot,  had 
two  bright  rainbows  on  it.  From  this  cloud  rushed  up  a  great  jet  of 
vapor,  exactly  like  steam,  and  it  mounted  two  hundred  or  three  hundred 
feet  high  ;  there  condensing,  it  changed  its  hue  to  that  of  dark  smoke, 
and  came  back  in  a  constant  shower,  which  wetted  us  to  our  skin." 

Leaving  these  stupendous  falls,  and  the  valley  in  which  the  Lekone 
flows,  at  the  village  of  Moyara,  Livingstone  directed  his  course  more 
to  the  northeast,  through  a  tract  of  country  once  thickly  populated, 
but  now  bare  and  desolate  from  constant  wars,  then  across  treeless 
undulating  plains,  where  the  tuskless  elephant  and  large  herds  of 
buffalo  are  seen.  Here,  too,  is  heard  the  singular  whistle  of  the 
honey-guide,  which  sounds  like,  "  Come  and  see !  come  and  see !  " 
And  if  one  follows  it,  as  it  slowly  flies  away,  he  is  soon  brought  to 
some  hollow  tree  in  which  wild  bees  have  stored  up  their  honey. 
Now  the  ruins  of  large  and  depopulated  towns  were  seen,  which  most 
likely  the  slave-trader  had  stormed  in  the  night,  and  presently  they 
came  to  where  the  natives  were  in  rebellion,  and  feared  an  attack  ;  but 
beyond  these  the  Batoka  or  Batonga  people  were  quite  friendly,  and 
hailed  with  loud  shouts  the  appearance  of  the  first  white  man  that  had 
ever  visited  their  country,  and  saluted  him  by  throwing  themselves  on 
their  backs,  rolling  in  the  dust,  and  slapping  their  thighs,  exclaiming 
"  Kina  bomba."  Thus  onward,  ever  onward,  with  varied  fortune,  the 
noble  traveler  pushed  forward  his  sable  attendants,  until  on  March  3d^ 
1856,  Tette  was  reached,  and  he  was  hospitably  received  by  the  Port- 
uguese commandant. 


CHAPTER  II. 


LIVINGSTONE'S  DISCOVERIES. 


Arrival  at  the  Mouth  of  the  Zambesi — The  Ma-Bobert — War  between  the  Half-castes  and 
the  Portuguese — Livingstone's  old  Makololo  Servants — Their  Sufferings  in  his  Absence 
— Excursion  to  Kebrabasa — First  Visit  to  Manganja  Land — On  Foot  to  Lake  Sliirwa — 
Bad  Behavior  of  the  Ma- Robert — Up  the  Shire  again,  and  Discoveiy  of  Lake  Nyassa — 
Journey  to  Makololo  Land — Rescue  of  Baldwin  at  the  Victoria  Falls — News  of  Seke- 
letu's  Leprosy,  and  the  Misery  of  his  People — Arrival  at  Sesheke — Interview  with 
Sekeletu — His  Lady-Doctor  superseded  by  Kirk  and  Livingstone — Over  the  Raj^ids, 
and  Narrow  Escapes — On  Foot  to  Tete — The  Last  of  the  Ma-Robert — Arrival  of  Pio- 
neer and  of  Bishop  Mackenzie — A  Struggle  with  Ajawa — New  E.vpedition  Resolved  on 
— Desertion  of  Johanna  Men — Report  of  Livingstone's  Death — Search  Expedition 
under  Young — The  Mazitu — F"urther  Desertions  and  Loss  of  Medicine  Chest — Arrival 
at  Tanganyika — Off  for  Lake  Moero  at  Last — Down  the  Lake  to  Cazembe's — War  and 
Rumors  of  War — Flight  to  the  North  with  the  Arabs — Back  to  Tanganyika,  and  Awful 
Sufiferings  by  the  Way — Across  the  Lake  to  L^jiji — Back  again  to  the  Western  Shores — 
Start  for  Manyuema — Desertion  of  all  the  Men  but  F"ive — Awful  Massacre  of  Native 
Women — An  Ambush  and  Narrow  Escape — Cannibalism — Arrival  at 
Ujiji  in  an  Exhausted  State — Opportune    Arrival    of  Stanley. 

HI^L  cordial  reception  he  had  almost  everywhere  met  with 
on  his  great  journey  from  sea  to  sea,  and  the  apparent 
eagerness  of  the  natives  of  the  inland  districts  to  trade 
with  the  settlers  on  the  coast,  led  Livingstone  to  hope 
that  in  the  new  venture  now  to  be  undertaken  he  would 
be  able,  without  any  great  difficulty,  to  open  permanent 
commercial  relations  between  African  chiefs  and  Europe. 
With  this  end  in  view,  he  proposed  thoroughly  surveying 
the  Zambesi,  with  its  mouths  and  tributaries,  for,  from 
what  he  had  already  seen  of  that  great  river,  he  believed  it  to  be  the 
best  and  most  natural  highway  for  commerce  and  Christianity  to  pass 
into  the  vast  interior  of  Africa. 

The  new  expedition  consisted  of  Dr.  Livingstone  as  leader ;  his 
brother,  Mr.  Charles  Livingstone ;  Dr.  Kirk,  a  well-known  botanist ; 
Mr.  Thornton,  a  young  geologist,  and  numerous  others  of  lesser  note. 
Provided  with  a  boat  for  river  navigation — which  was  sent  from  England 
in  pieces,  and  put  together  at  the  mouth  of  the  Zambesi — and  all  other 
requisites  of  success,  the  party  arrived  off  the  east  coast,  in  her  Majesty's 
colonial  steamer  Pearl,  in  May,  1858,  and  carefully  examined  the  four 
mouths  of  the  Zambesi.  The  Pearl  proceeded  rapidly  up  one,  the 
Kongone,  towing  the  Ma-Robert,  as  the  steam  launch  was  called,  that 
(44) 


45 


46  WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 

being  the  native  name  for  Mrs.  Livingstone ;  and  after  a  pleasant  voy- 
age between  banks  lined  with  huge  ferns,  palm  bushes,  wild  date,  screw 
and  other  palms,  etc.,  cast  anchor  near  the  island  of  Simbo. 

RESCUE  OF  A  PORTUGUESE  GOVERNOR. 

A  little  later  Livingstone  and  his  comrades  were  within  hearing  of  a 
fight  between  the  Portuguese  and  the  "  rebels,"  and  on  landing  opposite 
to  Shapunga  to  greet  some  old  friends,  the  doctor  found  himself  in  the 
mid.st  of  mutilated  bodies,  and  surrounded  by  all  the  horrible  sights  and 
sounds  connected  with  recent  carnage.  The  few  survivors  of  the  people 
he  had  known  under  circumstances  so  different  gathered  about  him, 
glad  to  welcome  him  again,  and  he  was  requested  to  take  the  Portuguese 
governor,  who  was  very  ill  of  fever,  across  to  Shapunga. 

No  sooner  had  he  given  his  consent  than  the  battle  recommenced, 
and  with  balls  whistling  about  his  ears  he  "  dragged  his  Excellency,"  a 
very  tall  and  heavy  man,  down  to  the  ship.  Once  on  board,  and  under 
skillful  treatment,  the  poor  man  quickly  recovered  his  health,  and  was 
able  to  return  to  Quilimane,  but  it  is  said  that  he  never  forgave  the 
colonel  in  attendance  for  the  strong  remedies  which  were  administered 
to  him.  He  was  a  pupil  of  Raspail,  and  felt  it  a  crime  to  get  well  by 
any  other  method  than  his.  We  quote  this  anecdote  as  one  out  of 
many  examples  of  the  absurd  prejudices  against  medicine  prevalent 
alike  amongst  Portuguese  settlers,  half-castes,  and  natives  in  this  part  of 
Africa,  prejudices  which  again  and  again  prevented  Livingstone  from 
saving  life. 

Leaving  Shapunga,  our  party  started  up  stream  for  Tete,  finding  the 
navigation  very  difficult,  owing  partly  to  the  number  of  islands  to  be 
avoided,  and  partly  to  the  vagaries  of  their  black  pilot,  John  Scissors, 
who  sometimes  took  the  wrong  channel,  running  the  Ma-Robert 
aground.  "  Nothing  abashed,"  says  Livingstone,  "by  these  little  acci- 
dents, he  would  exclaim,  in  an  aggrieved  tone,  '  This  is  not  the  path  ;  it 
is  back  yonder.'  '  Then  why  didn't  you  go  yonder  at  first  ?  '  growled 
the  Kroomen,  who  had  been  engaged  as  sailors,  and  had  the  work  of 
getting  the  vessel  off;  at  which  demonstration  of  displeasure  poor 
Scissors  would  begin  to  tremble  and  cry,  '  These  men  scold  me  so,  I  am 
ready  to  run  away.'  " 

From  the  first  the  Ma-Robert  behaved  so  badly,  owing  to  various 
faults  in  her  construction,  that  Livingstone  ironically  re-christened  her 
the  "  Asthmatic."  The  heavily-laden  country  canoes  could  almost  keep 
up  with  her,  the  little  ones  shot  by  her,  and  with  regret  our  hero  was 
compelled  to  acknowledge  that  steam  was  to  him  no  labor-saving  power, 
and  boats,  or  even  canoes,  would  have  done  for  the  expedition  all  that 
it  did,  with  half  the  toil  and  expense. 


Livingstone's  discoveries,  4'if 

Landing  to  wood  at  Shamoara,  just  below  the  confluence  of  the  Shire, 
an  important  tributary  of  the  Zambesi,  with  which  we  shall  presently- 
become  well  acquainted,  the  Englishmen  were  visited  by  Bonga,  brother 
of  Matakenya,  and  some  of  his  principal  followers,  who  were  all  per- 
fectly friendly,  though  aware  of  the  service  done  by  the  explorers  to 
their  enemies  in  the  person  of  the  governor  of  Mazaro.  Bonga,  when 
told  of  the  object  of  the  expedition,  declared  that  no  hindrance  should 
be  suffered  from  his  people  in  so  good  a  work,  and  proved  that  these 
were  no  idle  words  by  sending  down  a  present  of  rice,  two  sheep,  and 
a  quantity  of  firewood.  The  Portuguese,  on  the  other  hand,  showed 
themselves  suspicious  of  the.  intruders,  and  cross-questioned  their  pilot  as 
to  whether  they  had  sold  any  powder  to  the  enemy  ;  but  in  spite  of  all 
difficulties  our  hero  managed  to  remain  on  good  terms  with  both  parties. 

Unable  to  take  the  Ma-Robert  up  the  shoal-channel  on  which  Sena, 
the  next  halting  place,  stands,  anchor  was  cast  at  a  small  native  hamlet, 
called  Nyaruka,  and  the  Englishmen  walked  across  country  in  Indian 
file  along  a  narrow,  winding  footpath,  through  gardens  and  patches  of 
wood,  meeting  many  natives  on  the  road,  the  men  armed  with  spears, 
bows  and  arrows,  or  old  Tower  muskets  ;  the  women  carrying  short- 
handled  hoes,  with  which  they  were  going  to  work  in  the  gardens. 

Arrived  at  Sena,  a  tumble-down  Portuguese  settlement,  surrounded 
by  a  stockade  of  living  trees  to  protect  its  inhabitants  from  their  trouble- 
some and  rebellious  neighbors,  the  party  were  most  hospitably  received 
by  the  now  celebrated  Senhor  Ferrao,  who  has  won  the  love  of  the 
natives  by  his  noble  generosity,  feeding  them  in  famine,  ministering  to 
them  in  sickness,  and  exercising  no  further  right  over  his  slaves  than 
that  of  a  kind  of  patriarchal  chief,  on  whom  they  lean  as  on  a  father. 

A    HAPPY    MEETING. 

Cheered  by  their  halt  in  what  we  may  call  this  oasis  in  the  very  heart 
of  the  slave  district,  our  heroes  pressed  on  up  stream  with  fresh  energy, 
and  cast  anchor  off  Tete  on  the  8th  September,  1858.  Dr.  Livingstone 
at  once  went  on  shore  in  a  boat,  for  it  was  here  he  had  left  many  of  his 
old  Makololo  servants  on  his  former  journey.  No  sooner  did  the  poor 
fellows  recognize  him  than  they  rushed  to  the  water's  edge,  manifesting 
the  greatest  joy  at  seeing  him  again.  "  Some,"  to  quote  from  his  own 
narrative,  "  were  hastening  to  embrace  him,  but  others  cried  out,  '  Don't 
touch  him ;  you  will  spoil  his  new  clothes.'  " 

On  his  visit  to  Kebrabasa,  with  Dr.  Kirk  as  his  companion,  Living- 
stone discovered  a  beautiful  cataract,  known  as  Morumbwe,  at  the  cost 
of  a  climb  up  an  almost  perpendicular  mountain  under  a  burning  sun, 
the  faithful  Makololo  who  had  constituted  themselves  his  escort  mur- 
muring that  they  had  always  thought  their  master  had  a  heart,  but  now 


48  WONDERS    OF    EXPLORATION    AND   ADVENTURE. 

they  believed  he  had  none.  Finding  him  immovable  in  his  determina- 
tion to  proceed,  they  turned  to  Dr.  Kirk  and  begged  him  to  make  his. 
companion  go  back,  for  it  was  evident  he  was  gone  mad,  else  why  did 
he  attempt  to  go  where  no  living  foot  could  tread  ? 

To  this  appeal  Dr.  Kirk,  who  understood  not  a  word,  made  no  reply, 
and  Livingstone  naively  informs  us  that  he,  who  did  understand,  took 
care  not  to  enlighten  him.  The  discovery  made,  he  adds,  was  more 
than  sufficient  reward  for  the  labor  undergone,  and  having  slept  for  the 
night  at  a  well  in  a  rock  on  the  north-west  side  of  the  mountain,  rising 
perpendicularly  above  the  Zambesi,  the  hardy  explorers  returned  to 
Tote,  and  after  some  few  interesting  but  unimportant  excursions  in  its 
neighborhood,  the  whole  party  started  on  a  first  trip  up  the  Shire. 

STOPPED    BY   THE   SAVAGES. 

It  was  now  early  in  January,  1859,  and  considerable  quantities  of 
duckweed  floated  down  the  river  for  the  first  twenty-five  miles,  though 
not  enough  seriously  to  impede  navigation.  Entering  the  Manganja 
country,  peopled,  according  to  the  Portuguese  of  Tete,  by  bloodthirsty 
savages,  a  sharp  lookout  was  kept  on  either  side  of  the  little  vessel,  and 
as  the  first  villages  were  approached  the  natives  collected  in  large 
numbers,  armed  with  bows  and  poisoned  arrows.  No  actual  hostilities 
were  offered,  however,  until  the  village  of  a  chief  named  Tingane  was 
reached,  when  a  party  of  five  hundred  savages  collected  on  the  river 
banks,  and  ordered  the  Ma-Robert  to  stop. 

Dr.  Livingstone  landed  at  once,  and  in  an  interview  with  Tingane, 
explained  that  he  and  his  companions  were  English,  that  they  had  come 
neither  to  take  slaves  nor  to  fight,  but  only  to  open  a  path  by  which 
their  countrymen  might  follow  to  purchase  cotton,  or  whatever  else  they 
might  have  to  sell,  except  slaves. 

To  our  hero's  surprise,  Tingane  responded  to  this  speech  in  a  friendly 
manner.  The  chief,  long  notorious  as  being  a  barrier  to  all  intercourse 
between  the  Portuguese  and  natives  further  inland,  allowing  none  to 
pass  him  either  way,  gave  the  expedition  permission  to  proceed,  and 
appeared  fully  to  recognize  the  advantages  which  its  success  would 
bring  to  his  country.  Probably  the  presence  of  the  steamer,  a  machine 
with  unknown  powers  of  good  and  evil,  contributed  to  this  result,  but, 
however  that  may  be,  Livingstone  lost  no  time  in  profiting  by  Tingane's 
friendliness,  and  pushing  up  stream,  the  river  becoming  narrower  as  he 
advanced,  he  came,  one  hundred  miles  further,  to  a  magnificent  cataract, 
which  he  named  the  Murchison  Falls,  after  his  friend  Sir  Roderick. 

Here  the  progress  of  the  steamer  was  stopped,  and  it  was  decided  to 
return  to  Tete,  first  paving  the  way  for  a  new  expedition  by  sending 
presents  and  messages  to  two  Manganja  chiefs.     The  progress  down 


Livingstone's  discoveries.  49 

stream  \vas  rapid.  The  hippopotami,  with  which  the  Shire  abounded, 
says  Livingstone,  never  made  a  mistake,  but  got  out  of  our  way.  The 
crocodiles,  not  so  wise,  sometimes  rushed  with  great  velocity  at  us, 
thinking  we  were  some  huge  animal  swimming.  They  kept  about  a 
foot  from  the  surface,  but  made  three  well-defined  ripples  from  the  feet 
and  body  ;  raising  the  head  out  of  the  water  when  only  a  few  yards  from 
the  expected  feast,  down  they  went  to  the  bottom  without  touching 
the  boat. 

In  the  middle  of  March  of  the  same  year  (1859)  a  second  trip  was 
made  up  the  Shire,  this  time  resulting  in  the  discovery  of  Lake  Shirwa. 
Friendly  relations  were  opened,  to  begin  with,  with  Chibisa,  chief  of  a 
village  ten  miles  below  the  cataracts,  and,  leaving  their  vessel  under  his 
care.  Dr.  Livingstone  and  Kirk,  attended  by  a  number  of  Makololo, 
started  on  foot  in  the  direction  of  the  lake. 

TREACHEROUS   GUIDES. 

The  people  of  the  districts  traversed  were  anything  but  friendly,  and 
some  of  the  guides  tried  to  mislead  them.  Masakasa,  a  Makololo  head- 
man, overheard  certain  remarks  betraying  their  plots,  and  fixing  upon 
one  man,  who  it  afterwards  turned  out  was  innocent  of  everything  but 
ignorance,  said  to  Dr.  Livingstone,  "  That  fellow  is  bad  ;  he  is  taking  us 
into  mischief.     My  spear  is  sharp  ;  shall  I  cast  him  into  the  long  grass?  " 

Of  course  our  hero  declined  to  sanction  assassination,  but  presently 
agreed  with  Kirk  to  dispense  with  guides  altogether,  and  push  on  alone. 
In  carrying  out  this  determination  they  received  assistance  from  a  very 
unexpected  quarter,  none  other  than  the  madmen  of  the  different  vil- 
lages entered.  The  poor  fellows,  evidently  imagining  the  explorers  to 
belong  to  their  own  unhappy  condition,  sympathized  with  them,  and 
guided  them  faithfully  from  place  to  place  as  no  sane  men  would  have 
done.  In  April  the  lake  was  reached,  and  turned  out  to  be  a  large 
mass  of  bitter  water,  abounding  in  hippopotami,  crocodiles,  leeches, 
and  fish. 

About  the  middle  of  August  we  find  the  explorers  again  on  their 
way  up  the  Shire,  this  time  intending  to  make  a  long  journey  on  foot 
to  the  north  of  Lake  Shirwa,  with  a  view  to  the  discovery  of  Lake 
Nyassa  (the  stars). 

ADVENTURE   WTTH    A    YOUNG    ELEPHANT. 

Tingane's  village  was  passed  in  safety,  and  in  the  so-called  Elephant 
Marsh  beyond  it  a  fine  young  elephant  was  caught  alive  as  he  was 
scudding  up  the  river  bank  after  his  retreating  mother.  When  seized, 
the  poor  beast  gave  a  terrible  scream,  and  to  avoid  an  attack  from  his 
enraged  parent,  his  captors  steamed  off,  dragging  him  through  the  water 
by  his  trunk.  Presently,  to  Livingstone's  great  regret,  Monga,  a 
4 


50  WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 

Makololo  elephant-hunter,  suddenly  rushed  forward  and  drew  his  knife 
across  the  extended  proboscis,  "  in  a  sort  of  frenzy  peculiar  to  the  chase." 
The  wound  was  at  once  skillfully  sewn  up,  and  the  young  animal  soon 
became  quite  tame,  but,  unfortunately,  his  breathing  prevented  the  cut 
from  healing,  and  he  died  a  few  days  afterwards  from  loss  of  blood. 
Had  he  survived  to  be  brought  home,  he  would  have  been  the  first 
African  elephant  seen  in  a  civilized  country. 

The  upper  terrace  of  the  Manganja  highlands,  some  three  thousand  feet 
hove  the  sea-level,  was  reached  after  an  arduous  climb,  and  a  week's  jour- 
ney across  a  rocky  plateau  in  a  northerly  direction  was  succeeded  by  the 
descent  into  the  Upper  Shire  valley,  a  wonderfully  fertile  district,  sup- 
porting a  large  population,  and  lying  twelve  hundred  feet  above  the  sea- 
level.  Part  of  this  favored  valley  was  under  the  rule  of  a  female  chief 
named  Nyango,  and  in  her  dominions,  says  Livingstone,  women  ranked 
higher  and  received  more  respectful  treatment  than  their  sisters  on  the 
hills. 

As  an  instance  of  this  difference,  he  tells  us  how,  when  one  of  the 
hill  chiefs,  Mongazi  by  name,  called  his  wife  to  take  charge  of  a  present 
brought  for  him  by  the  white  man,  "  she  dropped  on  her  knees,  clapping 
her  hands  in  reverence  both  before  and  after  receiving  the  present  from 
his  lordly  hands ;  "  whereas,  in  Nyango's  country,  the  husbands  con- 
sulted their  wives  before  concluding  a  bargain,  and  seemed  to  respect 
their  opinions.  On  entering  a  Manganja  village,  the  explorers  always 
proceeded,  as  is  the  custom  for  strangers,  to  the  Baolo  or  spreading-  m 
place,  generally  an  open  space  of  some  twenty  or  thirty  yards  in  extent,  ^ 
beneath  a  banyan  tree.  Mats  of  split  reeds  or  bamboos  were  spread 
for  their  accommodation,  and  sitting  down,  the  white  men  left  the  guides 
to  explain  to  the  villagers  whence  they  came,  whither  they  were  going, 
and  what  was  the  object  of  their  visit. 

This  information  was  then  carried  to  the  chief,  who,  if  a  sensible  man,, 
came  at  once  to  receive  his  guests  ;  and  if  he  happened  to  be  timid  and' 
suspicious,  waited  till  he  had  used  divination,  and  his  warriors  had  time 
to  come  in  from  the  outlying  hamlets.  On  the  arrival  of  the  chief,  the 
people  begin  to  clap  their  hands,  and  continue  to  do  so  till  he  sits  down 
opposite  his  visitors.  The  guides  then  squat  themselves  between  the 
two  parties,  facing  the  chief,  who  stares  fi.xedly  at  them,  and  they  at 
him.  A  single  word  is  at  last  uttered  by  the  chief,  such  as  Ambuiatu 
(our  Father)  or  Moio  (life),  and  all  again  clap  their  hands.  A  second 
word  is  followed  by  two  claps,  a  third  by  three,  after  which  all  rise,  lean 
forward  with  measured  clap,  and  sit  down  again  with  clap,  clap,  clap, 
fainter  and  still  fainter,  till  the  last  dies  away  or  is  brought  to  an  end  by 
a  smart,  loud  clap  from  the  chief     The  guides  then  repeat  the  informa- 

ij 


FEMALE    ELEPHANT    PROTECTING    HER   YOUNG. 


51 


52  WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 

tion  already  given  to  the  people  to  the  chief,  conversation  is  opened 
with  the  white  men  by  means  of  interpreters,  presents  arc  ceremoniously 
exchanged,  and  at  last  food,  such  as  meal,  maize,  fowls,  etc.,  is  brought 
for  sale. 

Beyond  the  cataracts  already  mentioned,  the  banks  of  the  Shire,  now 
dwindled  into  a  rivulet,  were  followed,  and  on  arriving  at  the  village  of 
a  chief,  really  only  a  day's  march  from  the  Lake  Nyassa,  the  explorers 
were  told  that  no  sheet  of  water  existed  anywhere  near,  but  that  the 
river  Shire  stretched  on  for  **  two  months  "  more,  and  then  came  out 
between  perpendicular  rocks  which  towered  almost  to  the  very  skies. 
The  Makololo  looked  very  blank  at  this  news,  and  all  cried,  "  Let  us  go 
back  to  the  ship  ;  it  is  no  use  trying  to  find  the  lake."  "  No,  no," 
answered  Dr.  Livingstone  ;  "  we  shall  go  and'  see  these  wonderful  rocks 
at  any  rate."  "  And  when  you  see  them,  you  will  just  want  to  see 
something  else,"  was  the  rejoinder;  an  answer  showing  how  well  his 
men  had  learnt  to  know  the  great  explorer's  indomitable  energies. 
Further  inquiries  in  this  instance  resulted  in  an  admission  that  there 
was  a  lake  not  many  miles  off,  and  it  was  determined  to  start  for  it  early 
next  day. 

A    chief's   wife    devoured    by    A   CROCODILE. 

Preparations  for  the  night  were  already  begun,  and  the  four  English- 
men were  congratulating  themselves  on  the  near  approach  to  success, 
when  a  wild,  sad  cry  arose  from  the  river,  followed  by  the  shrieking  of 
women.  The  chief's  principal  wife  had  been  carried  off  by  a  crocodile 
when  bathing.  The  Makololo  rushed  to  the  bank  to  try  and  rescue  her, 
but  it  was  too  late  ;  she  was  gone.  This  terrible  accident  was  associated 
with  the  visit  of  the  white  men ;  they  were  looked  upon  with  awe ;  all 
the  males  fled  at  their  approach,  and  the  women  gazed  at  them  in  awe- 
.struck  silence,  their  dusky  cheeks  blanched  with  fear. 

The  start  for  the  lake  the  next  morning  was  made  under  gloomy 
auspices,  and  it  was  with  something  of  foreboding  that  the  party  left 
the  village  behind  them,  unchecrcd  by  any  good  wishes  from  their  host, 
and  with  nothing  to  guide  them  in  their  search  but  their  own  instinct. 

All  went  well,  however,  and  our  heroes  stood  at  last  upon  the  shores 
of  the  southern  extremity  of  Lake  Nyassa.  The  chief  of  the  village 
near  the  source  of  the  Shire,  an  old  man  named  Mosanka,  hearing  tlirit 
the  four  white  men  were  sitting  under  a  tree,  came  and  invited  tlicni 
into  his  domain,  and  taking  them  to  a  splendid  banyan  tree,  urged  thcr.i 
to  make  themselves  at  home  benenth  it.  He  then  sent  them  a  goat  and 
a  basket  of  meal.  "  to  comfort  their  hearts,"  and  when  they  had  refreshed 
themselves,  he  informed  them  that  a  large  party  of  slave-hunters,  led 
by  Arabs,  was  encamped  close  by.     They  had  been  up  to  Cazembe's 


LIVINGSTONES    DISCOVLRIES.  5o 

countr}-  on  ihc  north  the  previous  year,  and  were  now  returning  south 
with  a  good  supply  of  slaves,  ivory,  and  malachite.  A  little  later  some 
of  the  leaders  came  over  to  call  on  the  visitors,  who  found  them  a 
"villainous-looking  lot,"  Livingstone  adding  in  his  journal,  "but  prob- 
ably they  thought  the  same  of  us,  for  they  offered  us  several  young 
children  for  sale."  When  told  that  the  white  men  were  English,  they 
seemed  both  annoyed  and  frightened,  and  made  off  as  quickly  as  they 
could.  Mosanka's  village  is  set  down  in  one  of  the  great  slave  paths 
from  the  interior,  and  Livingstone  saw  many  unhappy  victims  being  led 
along  in  the  so-called  slave-sticks,  long  poles  with  two  arms  at  one 
end,  between  which  the  head  of  the  captive  is  fixed. 

THE   CAMP    ENCIRCLED    BY    FIRE. 

After  a  somewhat  disheartening  land  journey,  occupying  forty-five 
days,  the  explorers  returned  to  the  ship,  and  whilst  the  two  Livingstones 
steamed  down  the  Shire,  Dr.  Kirk  and  Mr.  Rae,  the  engineer,  returned 
to  Tete  overland,  accomplishing  the  journey  without  difficulty.  A  little 
later  the  Ma-Robert  was  taken  down  to  the  Kongone  for  further  repairs, 
etc.,  and  in  May  we  find  Dr.  Livingstone  preparing  for  a  journey  to  the 
Makololo  country,  to  take  his  faithful  servants  home.  The  plains  of 
Chicova  were  haunted  at  night  by  so  many  lions  that  great  precautions 
were  necessary  to  ensure  the  safety  of  the  camp.  The  white  men  were 
always  placed  in  the  centre,  and  the  natives  arranged  themselves  in  pic- 
turesque style  all  around,  forming  a  kind  of  body-guard,  whilst  a  huge 
circle  of  fire  enclosed  the  whole  body  of  travelers. 

The  chief  of  the  plain,  Chitora  by  name,  who  had  never  before  seen 
white  men,  rejoiced  that  he  had  been  spared  to  do  so,  and  sent  them 
presents  of  food  and  drink,  because  he  said,  he  did  not  wish  them  to 
sleep  hungry ;  he  had  heard  of  the  doctor  when  he  passed  down,  and 
had  a  great  desire  to  see  and  converse  with  him,  but  he  was  a  child 
then,  and  could  not  speak  in  the  presence  of  great  men. 

The  people  of  the  villages,  however,  were  less  eager  in  their  attentions, 
and  Livingstone  remarks  that  there  must  be  something  frightfully  repul- 
sive in  the  appearance  of  Europeans  to  the  unsophisticated  blacks,  for 
many  of  those  who  had  never  before  seen  any  but  their  own  country- 
men would  take  to  their  heels  in  an  agony  of  terror  at  the  approach 
of  himself  or  his  companions.  This  terror  is  even  sometimes  com- 
municated to  the  brute  creation,  dogs  turning  tail  and  scouring  off 
in  dismay,  and  hens  abandoning  their  chickens,  flying  screaming  to  the 
tops  of  the  houses.  A  little  familiarity  with  the  English  was,  however, 
always  enough  to  convert  this  dread  into  affectionate  regard,  as 
their  visitors  always  aimed  to  treat  them  with  kindness,  and  in  this 
way  secured    their   good    will.       Livingstone's    method    was    that    of 


Livingstone's  discoveries.  55 

conciliation,  and  he  was  very  successful  in  gaining  the  friendship  of  the 
natives.  Thus  he  passed  unharmed  through  the  wildest  parts  of  that 
wild  country. 

Pressing  on  along  the  Zambesi,  and  with  "  zigzags  "  of  fire,  the  result 
of  grass-burning  on  the  hills,  running  parallel  with  their  course,  the  ex- 
plorers had  a  narrow  escape  on  the  6th  June,  when  traversing  a  dense 
thorn  jungle.  In  cutting  their  path  step  by  step  they  became  separated 
from  each  other,  and  a  rhinoceros  with  angry  snort  dashed  at  Dr.  Liv- 
ingstone as  he  stooped  to  pick  up  a  specimen  of  the  wild  fruit  morala ; 
but,  strange  to  say,  she  stopped  stock-still  when  less  than  her  own 
length  distant,  and  gave  him  time  to  escape.  As  he  was  running  off, 
however,  a  branch  of  a  tree  caught  his  watch  chain  and  dragged  out  his 
watch.  Turning  half  round  to  secure  it,  he  saw  the  rhinoceros,  with  a 
young  one  beside  her,  standing  still,  as  if  arrested  in  the  middle  of 
her  charge  by  an  unseen  hand.  When  about  fifty  yards  off,  Living- 
stone shouted  to  his  comrades,  whom  he  knew  to  be  within  hearing, 
though  out  of  sight,  "  Look  out  there  !  "  and  his  enemy,  snorting  loudly, 
rushed  off  in  the  opposite  direction. 

Meanwhile,  Charles  Livingstone  had  surprised  a  troop  of  wild  dogs 
wrangling  over  the  remains  of  a  buffalo  they  had  dragged  down  and 
nearly  devoured,  and  only  escaped  sharing  its  fate  by  beating  a  retreat, 
whilst  Dr.  Kirk  brought  down  a  fine  eland  later  in  the  day.  The  jungle 
safely  traversed,  and  the  open  country  entered,  the  villages  of  old  friends 
were  reached  one  after  another,  and  in  August,  i860,  we  find  Dr.  Liv- 
ingstone again  at  the  Victoria  Falls  of  the  Zambesi,  now  sharing  with 
his  fellow-countrymen  his  delight  in  the  glorious  scene  they  present. 

RESCUE    OF    A    WHITE    MAN. 

At  the  village  of  chief  Mashotlane,  near  the  Falls,  the  travelers  found 
an  Englishman,  named  Baldwin,  held  a  kind  of  prisoner  at  large,  and, 
rescuing  him  from  his  captivity  enabled  him  to  regain  his  wagon  two 
days'  distance  off.  Baldwin,  having  heard  of  Livingstone's  discovery 
of  the  marvelous  cataract,  had  managed  to  reach  it  from  Natal,  guided 
by  his  pocket  compass  alone.  He  had  called  on  Mashotlane  to  ferry  him 
over  to  the  north  side  of  the  river,  and  when  nearly  over  he  took  a 
bath  by  jumping  in  and  swimming  ashore,  thus  greatly  incensing  the 
native  chief,  who  said,  "  If  he  had  been  devoured  by  one  of  the  croco- 
diles which  abound  here,  the  English  would  have  blamed  us  for  his 
death.  He  nearly  inflicted  a  great  injury  upon  us ;  therefore  he  must 
pay  a  fine."  As  poor  Baldwin  had  nothing  with  him  to  meet  this  de- 
mand, he  would  probably  long  have  languished  in  exile  but  for  the 
timely  arrival  of  our  heroes. 

Marching  up  the  river,  the  Lekone  was  crossed  at  its  junction  with 


56  WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 

the  Zambesi,  and  a  party  was  met,  sent  by  Chief  Sekeletu  to  greet  the 
explorer,  and  ask  him,  not,  as  he  expected,  again  to  make  Sesheke  his 
home,  but  to  say  what  the  price  of  a  horse  ought  to  be.  Livingstone 
decHned  to  give  an  opinion,  and  the  envoys  expressed  themselves 
greatly  disappointed,  for  if  he  would  have  spoken,  the  matter  would 
have  been  settled,  as  the  Griquas,  with  whom  a  sale  was  being  nego- 
tiated, would  have  accepted  his  opinion  as  final. 

A    CHIEF   SMITTEN   WITH    LEPROSY. 

The  envoys  dismissed,  the  camp  was  pitched  opposite  the  mouth  of 
tlie  Chobc,  and  a  Makololo  headman  named  Mokompa  sent  a  liberal 
present,  and  two  canoes  to  take  the  white  men  up  to  Sesheke,  but  ac- 
companied by  a  message  that  he  feared  his  tribe  was  breaking  up. 
Sekeletu  had  the  leprosy  ;  he  did  not  know  what  was  to  become  of  his 
people.  The  coldness  of  the  unhappy  Makololo  chief  was  now  ex- 
plained ;  the  princely  warrior,  whom  Livingstone  had  left  in  the 
enjoyment  of  all  the  vigor  of  youth,  was  struck  down  by  a  foul  disease, 
and  had  shut  himself  up  to  die  alone.  His  dreams  of  a  new  era  for 
his  people  were  over.  Instead  of  encouraging  missionaries  to  settle 
in  his  country,  instead  of  inviting  traders  from  the  east  and  from  the 
west  to  bring  their  goods  to  his  capital,  he  must  end  his  days  in  a  self- 
imposed  prison.  He  would  not  risk  the  spread  of  his  complaint  amongst 
his  children,  and  there  is  something  infinitely  touching  in  his  sending 
yet  another  message  to  Livingstone  to  say  that  he  only  should  come 
to  him,  and  to  ask  him  again  about  the  price  of  the  horse.  It  was 
evident  that  he  could  not  bear  to  allude  directly  to  the  terrible  trouble 
vhich  had  overtaken  him. 

On  the  1 8th,  Livingstone  and  his  party  entered  Sesheke,  or  rather 
passed  the  ruins  of  the  former  to  go  to  its  substitute,  built  on  the  same 
side  of  the  river  a  quarter  of  a  mile  higher  up,  the  former  Sesheke  hav- 
ing been  leveled  to  the  ground  after  the  execution  of  the  headman 
Moriantsiane  for  bewitching  the  chief  with  leprosy.  Sekeletu  was  on 
the  right  bank,  near  a  number  of  temporary  huts,  and  a  man  hailed  our 
heroes  on  the  chief's  behalf,  and  requested  them  to  rest  under  the  old 
kotla,  or  public  meeting-place  tree.  This  they  did,  as  they  were  desired. 
'A  young  Makololo  then  crossed  over  the  river  to  receive  the  chief's 
orders,  and  soon  returned  with  a  message  to  the  headman  of  the  new 
town,  to  the  effect  that  an  ox  was  to  be  slain  for  the  white  men.  This 
was  duly  done,  and  never,  they  tell  us,  did  they  taste  better  meat,  for, 
on  their  arrival  at  Sesheke,  they  had  been  entirely  out  of  food. 

The  next  day,  visitors  poured  in  to  see  Dr.  Livingstone,  and  many 
of  them  who  had  been  in  trouble  since  his  previous  visit  were  much 
affected  in  the  first  interview.     One  and  all  were  in  low  spirits.     A  se- 


Livingstone's  discoveries.  57 

vere  drought  had  cut  off  all  the  crops,  and  destroyed  the  pastures  of 
Linyanti,  and  the  people,  as  they  expressed  it,  were  in  search  of  wild 
fruits  and  the  hospitality  of  those  whose  ground  nuts  had  not  failed. 

A  FEMALE  QUACK. 

Many  and  terrible  too  were  the  evils  Sekeletu's  leprosy  had  brought  in 
its  train.  Believing  himself  bewitched,  he  had  put  several  of  his  chief 
men  and  their  families  to  death  ;  others  suspected  of  having  a  hand  in 
the  matter  had  fled  to  distant  tribes,  and  were  living  in  exile.  No  one 
was  allowed  to  approach  the  afflicted  chief  but  his  uncle  Mamire,  his 
mother,  and  an  old  doctress  from  the  Manyebi  tribe,  who — the  Makololo 
doctors  having  given  him  up — was  trying  what  she  could  do  for  him. 
On  this  old  crone  the  last  hopes  of  chief  and  nation  hung. 

Worse  still,  if  anything  could  be  worse,  the  grand  empire  founded  by 
Sebituane,  was  crumbling  to  pieces,  the  young  Barotse  in  the  charming 
valley  where  the  chief  and  his  white  guest  had  been  so  eagerly  received 
in  1855  were  in  revolt,  the  Batoka  and  the  Nmemba  had  thrown  off 
their  allegiance  to  Sekeletu,  and  Mashotlane  at  the  Falls  was  setting  his 
superior  at  defiance. 

Fearful  rumors,  too,  were  afloat  as  to  the  nature  of  the  sufferings  of 
the  invisible  Sekeletu.  His  fingers,  it  was  said,  were  grown  like  eagle's 
claws ;  his  face  was  so  frightfully  distorted  that  no  one  could  recognize 
him.  Perhaps,  after  all,  he  was  no  true  son  of  Sebituane,  and  so  on, 
and  so  on.  In  a  word,  the  power  of  the  once  renowned  chieftain  was 
broken  forever,  and  with  it  the  prestige  of  his  people.  At  his  death,  a 
few  years  after  the  time  of  which  we  are  now  writing,  a  civil  war  broke 
out  about  the  succession  to  the  chieftainship,  and  the  kingdom  was 
broken  up.     The  Makololo  exist  no  longer  as  a  nation. 

Touched  to  the  heart  by  all  he  heard  and  saw,  Livingstone  sent  mes- 
sages begging  the  chief  to  admit  him  to  an  interview,  and  the  day  after 
their  arrival  the  two  doctors  and  Charles  Livingstone  were  allowed  to 
see  the  unhappy  prince.  He  was  sitting  in  a  covered  wagon  enclosed 
in  a  high  wall  of  close-set  reeds  ;  his  face  turned  out  to  be  but  slightly 
disfigured  by  the  thickening  of  the  skin  here  and  there,  and  the  only 
peculiarity  about  his  hands  was  the  extreme  length  of  his  finger  nails, 
nothing  remarkable  in  Makololo  country,  as  all  its  natives  allow  them  to 
grow  very  long. 

Sekeletu  begged  for  medicine  and  medical  attendance,  but  Livingstone 
was  unwilling  to  take  the  case  out  of  the  hands  of  the  lady  doctor  al- 
ready mentioned,  for,  apart  from  his  belief  in  the  incurability  of  the  dis- 
ease, it  would  have  been  bad  policy  to  undervalue  any  of  the  native 
profession.  When  appealed  to,  the  female  practitioner  declared  she  had 
not  yet  given  up  her  patient ;  she  would  try  for  another  month,  and  if 


58  WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 

he  was  not  cured  by  that  time,  then  she  would  hand  him  over  to  the 
white  doctors. 

Now  a  month  was  the  utmost  limit  of  the  time  our  heroes  intended 
remaining  at  Sesheke,  and,  yielding  to  Sekeletu's  earnest  wishes,  backed 
by  those  of  his  uncle  and  others,  the  old  lady  finally  consented  to  sus- 
pend her  treatment  for  a  time,  remaining,  however,  in  the  chief's  estab- 
lishment on  full  pay.  Drs.  Livingstone  and  Kirk  were  then  persuaded 
to  try  what  they  could  do,  and  having  plainly  told  Sekeletu  that  they  had 
little  hope  of  a  good  result,  they  set  to  work. 

CURING    THE    LEPER. 

Having  none  of  the  medicines  with  them  which  are  usually  employed 
in  skin  diseases,  Drs.  Livingstone  and  Kirk  tried  the  outward  application 
of  lunar  caustic  or  fused  nitrate  of  silver,  and  dosed  their  patient  with 
hydriodate  of  potash,  not  without  much  trepidation  as  to  the  conse- 
quences. Fortunately  for  them,  their  treatment  was  wonderfully  effica- 
cious ;  Sekeletu  began  to  improve  at  once  ;  his  skin  became  thinner,  and 
the  deformity  of  his  face  disappeared  entirely,  indicating  a  speedy  cure. 
The  old  doctress,  jealous  of  the  success  of  her  rivals,  and  anxious  to 
share  the  credit  of  this  improvement,  now  secretly  applied  her  own 
remedies,  which  consisted  in  scraping  the  unlucky  chiefs  skin  and  rub- 
bing it  with  an  astringent  powder.  On  a  hint,  however,  that  the  medi- 
cines of  the  white  and  black  doctors  might  not  work  well  together,  she 
desisted.  In  treating  their  patient,  Drs.  Livingstone  and  Kirk  caught 
something  of  his  disease,  the  skin  of  their  hands  becoming  thickened 
and  discolored  in  a  similar  manner,  but  they  were  fortunately  soon 
cured  by  the  use  of  caustic. 

Though  there  was  a  famine  in  the  land  during  their  stay  at  Sesheke, 
Sekeletu  treated  his  guests  right  royally,  preparing  tea  for  them  on  every 
visit  paid  to  him,  and  ordering  his  headman  to  provide  them  with  food 
in  the  absence  of  his  wives  at  Linyanti.  Sekeletu  was  delighted  with 
the  presents  given  to  him,  and  asked  if  a  ship  could  not  bring  him  the 
things  which  he  heard  had  been  left  at  Tete.  On  being  told  that  a 
steamer  might  possibly  ascend  part  of  the  Zambesi,  but  could  never  pass 
the  Victoria  Falls,  he  suggested  that  a  cannon  should  be  brought  to 
blow  away  the  impediment,  so  that  the  vessel  might  come  all  the  way 
to  Sesheke. 

Whilst  in  Makololo  Land,  our  heroes  heard  of  the  melancholy  fate  of 
a  large  party  of  missionaries  who  had  endeavored  to  settle  at  Linyanti. 
Si.x  out  of  nine  Europeans,  and  four  out  of  thirteen  men  of  color,  making 
up  the  missionary  party,  succumbed  to  fever  in  the  short  space  of  three 
months,  and  the  little  remnant  returned  to  the  Cape  broken  alike  in 
health  and  spirits.     The  three  explorers  took  leave  of  Sekeletu,  and, 


Livingstone's  discoveries.  59 

escorted  by  a  large  party  of  traders,  made  their  way  on  foot  to  the  vil- 
lage of  Sinamene,  where  they  embarked  on  the  Zambesi  in  canoes  sup- 
plied by  that  chief.  The  rapids  of  Nakansalo  having  been  shot  with 
some  difficulty,  the  more  serious  ones  of  Makabele,  at  the  entrance  to 
the  Kariba  gorge,  had  to  be  passed. 

perils  of  the  rapids. 

The  Makololo,  says  Livingstone,  guided  the  canoe  admirably  througli 
the  opening  in  the  dyke ;  but  when  the  gorge  itself  was  entered  it 
^\•as  full  of  hippopotami  swimming  about  behind  a  bank  stretching 
two-thirds  across  the  narrowed  river.  Several  were  in  the  channel,  and 
the  canoe-men  were  afraid  to  venture  down  among  them,  because,  as 
they  affirm,  there  is  commonly  an  ill-natured  one  in  a  herd  which  takes 
a  malignant  pleasure  in  upsetting  canoes.  Two  or  three  boys  on  the 
rv)ck3  opposite  amused  themselves  by  throwing  stones  at  the  frightened 
animals,  and  hit  several  on  the  head. 

A  few  shots  were  fired  to  drive  the  hippopotami  off,  and  one  was 
killed.  It  floated  down  the  rapid  current,  and  its  companions  swam 
liastily  off  Had  it  been  only  wounded,  it  would  probably  have  gone 
liard  with  the  canoes  ;  but,  as  it  was,  all  shot  the  rapids  in  safety,  though 
natives  on  the  banks  shouted  out  that  the  white  men  had  better  hire  a 
Kariba  man  to  pray  to  the  gods  of  the  gorge  for  their  protection,  or  they 
would  all  be  killed.  The  hippopotamus  was  taken  in  tow  beyond  the 
rapids,  and  cut  up  on  the  banks  near  the  place  chosen  for  pitching  the 
camp  for  the  night.  The  crocodiles  of  the  river,  which  had  followed  the 
canoes,  and  tugged  hard  at  the  dead  hippopotamus,  had  a  gala  time  of 
it,  as  well  as  the  natives,  and  Livingstone  tells  us  that  they  tore  away  at 
the  parts  of  the  carcass  thrown  into  the  river  for  hours,  thrashing  the 
water  into  foam  with  their  powerful  tails. 

A  GALLANT    RESCUE. 

The  next  difficulty  in  the  navigation  of  the  Zambesi  occurred  where 
the  river  was  again  narrowed  into  one  channel  by  the  mountains  of 
Mburuma.  In  going  down,  Sekeletu's  men  behaved  admirably,  two  of 
them  jumping  overboard  to  lighten  the  canoe  containing  our  heroes, 
v.ith  the  words,  "The  white  men  must  be  saved!"  They  then  told  a 
Batoka  man  to  do  the  same,  and  on  his  pleading  that  he  could  not  swim, 
replied,  "Jump  out,  then,  quick  as  you  can,  and  hold  on  to  the  canoe." 
The  poor  fellow  did  as  he  was  told,  and  the  two  Makololo,  swimming 
alongside,  guided  the  swamping  canoes  down  the  swift  current  to  the 
foot  of  the  rapid,  and  then  ran  them  ashore  to  bale  them  out.  Every- 
body and  everything  escaped  with  a  good  ducking,  thanks  entirely  to 
the  bravery  of  the  Makololo. 

^'lo  sooner  was  this  danger  over  than  another  had  to  be  met.     A  sec- 


60  WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 

ond  rapid  begins  immediately  below  that  of  Mburuma.  The  canoes  had 
to  be  unloaded,  and  the  goods  carried  some  little  distance  ;  but  as  the 
men  were  bringing  the  last  canoe  close  inshore  the  stem  swung  round 
into  the  current,  and  all  the  men  except  one  loosed  their  hold  lest  they 
should  be  dragged  off.  The  one  man  clung  to  the  bow,  and  was  swept 
out  into  the  middle  of  the  stream.  Then,  adds  Livingstone,  "  having 
held  on  when  he  ought  to  have  let  go,  he  next  put  his  life  in  jeopardy 
by  letting  go  when  he  ought  to  have  held  on,  and  was  in  a  few  seconds 
swallowed  up  by  a  fearful  whirlpool."  His  comrades,  who  seem  to  have 
been  equal  to  every  emergency,  launched  a  canoe  below  the  rapids,  and 
as  he  rose  to  the  surface  the  third  time,  caught  and  saved  him,  though  he 
was  in  a  state  of  great  exhaustion,  and  very  cold. 

The  Victoria  Falls,  the  Kebrabasa,  Kariba,  and  minor  rapids  of  the 
Zambesi,  are  all,  in  the  opinion  of  Dr.  Livingstone,  the  result  of  some 
terrible  convulsion  of  nature,  which  occurred  in  South  Africa  before  the 
memory  of  man.  All  the  impediments  to  the  navigation  of  the  Zam- 
besi, except  the  Victoria,  are,  however,  removed,  or,  we  should  rather 
say,  neutralized,  when  the  river  is  at  its  height,  its  course  being  then 
smooth  and  its  waters  very  deep. 

Zumbo,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Loangwa,  a  tributary  of  the  Zambesi, 
was  reached  in  November,  and  a  few  days  later  the  Kebrabasa  rapids 
were  entered.  Two  of  the  canoes  passed  safely,  but  that  containing  Dr. 
Kirk  was  dashed  on  a  projection  of  the  perpendicular  rocks  by  a  sudden 
and  mysterious  boiling  up  of  the  river  which  occurs  at  irregular  inter- 
vals, and  Kirk  only  saved  his  life  by  clinging  to  a  projecting  ledge.  His 
steersman,  hanging  on  by  the  same  rock,  saved  the  canoe,  but  nearly  all 
its  contents  were  swept  away  by  the  stream.  Dr.  Livingstone  had  also 
a  narrow  escape,  his  little  bark  having  drifted  into  the  open  vortex  of 
the  whirlpool.  It  was  saved  by  the  filling  up  of  the  cavity  just  as  the 
frightful  eddy  was  reached,  a  coincidence  as  remarkable  as  that  which 
had  placed  his  companion's  life  in  jeopardy. 

COLLAPSE    OF   THE    "  OLD    LADY." 

After  this  last  experience  of  river  travel  the  Zambesi  was  deserted  for 
the  land,  and  the  rest  of  the  journey  was  performed  on  foot.  Tete  was 
entered  in  safety  after  an  absence  of  little  more  than  six  months,  and  the 
river  being  unusually  low,  no  further  excursions  were  undertaken  until 
December,  when  the  Ma-Robert,  whose  days  were  now  numbered,  was 
taken  down  to  the  Kongone.  One  morning  the  "  old  lady,"  as  she  was 
disrespectfully  called  by  her  owners,  grounded  on  a  .sandbank  and  filled. 
She  could  neither  be  got  off  nor  unladen.  The  river  rose  in  the  night, 
and  our  heroes  were  compelled  to  encamp  on  the  island  of  Chimba, 
where  they  spent  Christmas  day.     Canoes  were  sent  for  from  Sena,  and. 


Livingstone's  discoveries.  61 

transferring  all  the  property  which  could  be  removed  from  the  Ma- 
Robert  to  them,  the  explorers  paddled  down  the  Zambesi  without  one 
single  regret  for  the  loss  of  their  steamer,  which,  from  the  first,  had  been 
more  trouble  than  she  was  worth.  Soon  a  new  steamer,  named  the 
Pioneer,  arrix'cd  at  Sena  for  their  use,  and  anchored  outside  the  bar. 

We  next  find  Livingstone  journeying  with  Bishop  Mackenzie  who 
had  arrived  on  a  missionary  expedition,  and  had  determined  to  settle  in 
the  Manganja  highlands,  having  received  a  message  from  a  powerful 
chief,  named  Chigunda,  inviting  him  to  come  and  live  with  him  at  M;i- 
■gomero,  occupying  a  central  position  between  the  Shire  and  Lake 
Shirwa.  This  hearty  and  spontaneous  welcome  seemed  to  offer  an 
opening  for  the  mission  not  to  be  neglected,  and  it  was  decided  that 
Chigunda's  invitation  should  be  accepted.  Before  parting  company, 
however,  missionaries  and  explorers  determined,  if  possible,  to  complete 
the  work  they  had  begun  together,  by  visiting  the  Ajawa  chief,  and 
trying  to  persuade  him  to  give  up  his  slaving  and  kidnapping  courses, 
and  turn  the  energies  of  his  people  to  peaceful  pursuits. 

This  noble  purpose  was  hastened  a  few  days  later  by  the  arrival  of 
the  news  that  the  Ajawa  were  close  at  hand,  burning  a  village ;  and, 
leaving  the  rescued  slaves  behind  them,  the  little  band  of  white  men  set 
off  at  once  to  seek  an  interview  with  these  scourges  of  the  country.  On 
the  way,  crowds  of  Manganja  were  met  fleeing  from  the  war  in  front, 
and  village  after  village  was  passed,  deserted  by  its  inhabitants. 

A    FIERCE    ENCOUNTER. 

A  few  hours'  march  brought  our  heroes,  who,  one  and  all,  well  de- 
served that  title,  in  sight  of  the  smoke  of  burning  villages,  and  within 
hearing  of  the  wailing  of  women  and  the  shouting  of  warriors.  The 
Bishop  then  called  upon  all  his  comrades  to  kneel,  and  in  their  name 
offered  up  a  fervent  prayer  to  God  for  help  and  guidance. 

As  the  worshipers  rose  from  their  knees,  a  long  line  of  Ajawa,  with 
their  captives,  was  seen  advancing  towards  them,  whilst  in  the  distance 
rose  the  shouts  of  their  women  welcoming  home  the  victors  with  long 
and  reiterated  "  lillilooings."  On  recognizing  the  white  men,  the  Ajawa 
headman  left  the  path,  and  stood  as  if  expectant  on  an  ant-hill  close  by. 
A  brief  pause  ensued,  and  then  Livingstone  and  others  cried  out  that 
they  had  come  to  have  a  peaceful  interview,  but  before  any  reply  could 
be  given  some  of  the  Manganja  in  the  Bishop's  party  shouted,  "  Our 
Chibisa  is  come  !  " 

Now  Chibisa  was  known  throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  the 
land  as  a  mighty  conqueror  and  general,  so  that  his  name  spread  terror 
amongst  the  ranks  of  the  enemy,  who  ran  off  "yelling  and  screaming 
'  Nkondo  !  Nkondo  ! '  "  (War  !  War  ! ).     The  captives  threw  down  their 


62 


Livingstone's  discoveries.  63 

loads  and  fled  to  the  hills.  The  consternation  was  complete,  but  it  did 
not  last  long.  Almost  before  the  white  men  had  realized  that  the  cry 
of  "  Chibisa  had  come !  "  had  neutralized  all  their  efforts  for  peace,  their 
party  was  surrounded  by  Ajawa,  who  began  to  shoot  their  poisoned 
arrows,  and  send  up  their  discordant  yell  of  triumph. 

Anxious,  if  possible  even  now,  to  avoid  a  conflict,  Livingstone  and 
Mackenzie  led  their  men  slowly  up  the  ascent  from  the  village  ;  but  this 
was  taken  as  a  movement  of  retreat,  and  a  sign  of  fear.  The  Ajawa 
closed  in  upon  the  little  band  with  bloodthirsty  fury,  dancing  hideously 
in  their  delight  at  the  coming  massacre.  Only  when  completely  sur- 
rounded by  the  savage  warriors  did  the  white  leaders  give  the  word  to 
their  men  to  fire,  but  fortunately  the  first  volley  was  effective.  The 
Ajawa  at  once  took  to  their  heels,  though  some  of  them  shouted  as  they 
fled  that  they  would  return  with  others  in  the  night  to  kill  all  who  had 
interfered  with  them.  Only  two  slaves  were  rescued  by  our  heroes  on 
this  occasion,  but  probably  most  of  the  other  prisoners  escaped  in  the 
confusion. 

After  this  affray  no  further  molestation  was  offered  to  the  white  men, 
but  they  were  much  worried  with  requests  from  the  Manganja  chieftains 
to  espouse  their  cause,  and  aid  in  driving  away  the  Ajawa.  This  they 
of  course  declined  to  do,  explaining  that  they  never  fought  except  when 
they  were  attacked  ;  and  finding  it  was  useless  to  attempt  a  pacific  ne- 
gotiation between  the  rival  tribes,  they  decided  to  return  southward. 

A    FRESH    EXPEDITION. 

Livingstone  returned  to  his  own  country,  but  the  beginning  of  1866 
found  him  again  in  Africa,  having  been  solicited  both  by  the  government 
and  by  private  individuals  to  pursue  his  discoveries.  The  Sultan  of 
Zanzibar  gave  him  a  hearty  reception,  and  lent  him  all  possible  aid,  and 
by  the  beginning  of  March  he  had  in  his  service,  in  addition  to  thirteen 
Sepoys  from  India,  ten  Johanna  men,  two  Shapunga  men,  one  of  them 
the  now  celebrated  Susi,  two  Wayans,  the  Chumah  who  with  Susi 
remained  with  his  master  to  the  last,  and  a  certain  Wakatani,  both  of 
whom  were  among  the  slaves  liberated  in  1861.  An  Arab  dhow  was 
purchased  for  the  transit  to  the  Rovuma  of  the  animals,  consisting  of 
six  camels,  three  buffaloes,  two  mules,  and  four  donkeys,  and  large  stores 
of  merchandise  and  provisions,  were  accumulated.  No  pains,  in  short, 
were  spared  to  ensure  success. 

In  September  the  village  of  Marenga,  situated  at  the  eastern  edge  of 
the  bottom  of  the  lake,  was  entered,  inhabited  by  a  tribe  called  Babisa, 
who  had  lately  joined  with  the  Ajawa  in  their  raids  upon  the  Manganja. 
The  chief  of  this  village,  who  was  suffering  from  a  loathsome  skin  dis- 
ease introduced  into  the  country  by  the  Arabs,  received  Livingstone 


64  WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 

courteously,  but  allowed  him  to  proceed  northwards  without  warning 
him  that  the  Mazitu  were  ravaging  the  country  through  which  he  must 
pass.  An  Arab  met  the  party,  and  told  Musa,  one  of  the  Johanna  men, 
that  all  who  ventured  further  would  certainly  be  murdered  ;  forty-four 
Arabs  had  been  killed  at  Kasungu ;  he  only  had  escaped. 

Surprised  that  he  had  heard  nothing  of  this  from  Marenga,  and  half 
suspecting  foul  play,  Livingstone  lost  no  time  in  returning  to  that  chief 
to  inquire  if  there  were  any  foundation  for  the  story.  The  reply 
received  was  to  the  effect  that  it  might  be  true.  The  natives  were  very 
bitter  against  the  Arabs,  who  were  gradually  destroying  their  country. 
They  would  allow  no  more  to  settle  amongst  them,  but  their  hostility 
would  not  extend  to  Livingstone  or  his  people,  and  there  were  no 
Mazitu  where  he  was  going. 

Completely  re-assured  himself,  Livingstone  determined  to  proceed,  but 
the  Johanna  men  had  taken  alarm.  Musa's  eyes  stood  out  with  terror. 
He  exclaimed,  speaking  of  Marenga,  "  I  no  can  believe  that  man  ;  "  and 
when  Livingstone  inquired  how  he  came  to  give  such  ready  credence* 
to  the  Arab,  he  answered,  "  I  ask  him  to  tell  me  true,  and  he  say  true, 
true."  Reasoning  and  persuasion  were  alike  in  vain.  Convinced  that 
they  and  their  master  were  doomed,  the  Johanna  men  resolutely  declined 
to  go  further,  and  when  the  start  was  again  made  they  went  off  in  a 
body,  leaving  their  loads  on  the  ground. 

STRANGE    REPORT    OF    LIVINGSTONE'S    DEATH. 

This  was  the  true  origin  of  the  report,  long  believed  in  England,  of 
the  murder  of  Livingstone  by  natives  on  the  western  shores  of  Lake 
Nyassa.  The  deserters  made  their  way  back  to  Zanzibar,  and,  anxious 
to  excuse  their  own  conduct,  and  exi)lain  their  sudden  return,  related 
the  following  plausible  story  : 

The  expedition  had  safely  reached  Lake  Nyassa  and  crossetl  it.  The 
Doctor  then  pushed  on  westwards,  and  in  course  of  time  reached  Goo- 
mani,  a  fishing  village  on  a  river.  The  people  of  Goomani  warned 
Livingstone  that  the  Mafitcs,  a  wandering  predatory  tribe,  were  out  on 
a  plundering  expedition,  and  that  it  would  not  be  safe  to  continue  the 
journey  ;  but  the  dangers  thus  presented  to  view  were  not  of  a  nature 
to  deter  a  man  who  had  braved  so  many  before.  Treating  the  warnings 
as  of  little  moment,  therefore,  he  crossed  the  river  in  canoes  the  ne.xt^ 
morning,  with  his  baggage  and  his  train  of  followers.  All  the  baggage 
animals  had  perished  from  want  of  water  before  this  river  was  reached, 
so  that  the  luggage  had  to  be  carried  by  the  men.  Being  a  fast  walker, 
Livingstone  soon  distanced  all  his  heavily-laden  followers  except  Musa, 
and  two  or  three  others  who  kept  up  with  him.  The  march  hatl  con- 
tinued some  distance,  when  Dr.  Livingstone  saw  three  armed  men  ahead, 


Livingstone's  discoveries.  65 

and  thereupon  he  called  out  to  Musa,  "The  Mafites  are  out  after  all." 
These  were  the  last  words  he  uttered.  The  Mafites,  armed  with  bows 
and  arrows  and  axes,  closed  upon  the  Doctor,  who  drew  his  revolver  and 
shot  two.  The  third,  however,  got  behind  him,  and  with  one  blow  from 
an  axe  clove  in  his  head.  The  wound  was  mortal,  but  the  assassin 
quickly  met  his  own  doom,  for  a  bullet  from  Musa's  musket  passed 
through  his  body,  and  the  murderer  fell  dead  beside  his  victim. 

Musa  added  that  the  Doctor  died  instantly,  and  that,  finding  the 
Mafites  were  out,  he  ran  back  to  the  baggagemen,  and  told  them  that 
their  master  had  been  killed.  The  baggage  was  then  abandoned,  and 
the  whole  party  sought  safety  by  a  hasty  flight,  which  they  continued 
till  sunset,  when  they  took  refuge  for  the  night  in  a  jungle.  The  next 
day  they  returned  to  the  scene  of  the  disaster,  and  found  Livingstone's 
body  lying  on  the  ground,  naked  but  for  the  trousers,  the  rest  of  his 
clothing  having  been  stolen.  A  hole  was  hastily  "  scratched  "  in  the 
ground,  and  the  explorer  was  buried.  No  papers  or  any  other  means 
of  identification  were  recovered,  and,  broken-hearted  at  the  loss  of  their 
beloved  master,  the  Johanna  men  started  for  the  coast,  enduring  great 
hardships  by  the  way,  but  finally  arriving  safely  in  Zanzibar. 

STICKING    TO    A    LIE. 

To  this  tale  all  the  faithless  servants  adhered  through  one  cross- 
examination  after  another,  and  it  was  very  generally  believed,  until  Sir 
Roderick  Murchison,  in  a  letter  to  the  London  Times,  pointed  out 
several  flaws  in  the  ingenious  fabrication,  proposing  at  the  same  time 
that  an  expedition  should  be  sent  to  the  western  shores  of  Lake  Nyassa 
to  examine  into  the  truth  of  the  report.  The  English  Government 
promptly  seized  this  suggestion  ;  volunteers  were  called  for,  and  hun- 
dreds of  brave  men  at  once  eagerly  offered  their  services.  Mr.  Edward 
Daniel  Young  was  selected  to  take  command,  hi  a  trip  extending  over 
less  than  five  months,  the  gallant  officer  completely  proved  the  falsity 
of  Musa's  account,  obtained  trustworthy  evidence  of  Livingstone's  con- 
tinued health  and  activity,  and  returned  to  England,  where  the  news  he 
brought  was  received  with  unbounded  enthusiasm.  The  general  public 
had  followed  with  unflagging  interest  the  fortunes  of  the  celebrated 
explorer,  had  eagerly  sought  reports  concerning  him  during  his  absence, 
and  were  now  gratified  with  the  assurance  that  he  was  alive. 

Meanwhile,  Livingstone,  ignorant  alike  of  the  report  of  his  death  and 
of  the  efforts  being  made  on  his  behalf,  quietly  reflects  in  his  journal 
that  he  is  not  sorry  to  have  got  rid  of  the  Johanna  men — they  were  such 
inveterate  thieves.  Pressing  on  with  his  small  retinue,  now  reduced  to 
the  surviving  Nassick  boys  and  the  Shapunga  and  Ajawa  men,  Living- 
stone reached  a  village  at  the  foot  of  Mount  Mulundini,  on  the  west  of 
5 


66  WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 

the  heel  of  the  Nyassa,  and  obtaining  there  confirmation  of  the  reports 
of  disturbances  on  the  north,  determined  to  go  west  amongst  the  Man- 
ganja,  here  called  Maravi. 

This  resolution  was  attended  with  the  best  results.  Courteously 
received  at  every  village,  and  supplied  with  guides  to  the  next,  our  hero 
passed  safely  through  a  beautiful,  mountainous  country,  till  he  reached 
Chipanga,  the  most  southerly  point  of  his  journey. 

A    HASTY    RETREAT. 

A  short  march  westward  from  Chipanga  brought  the  party  to  a  village 
called  Theresa,  beyond  which  the  course  was  north-easterly,  and  through 
districts  hitherto  totally  unknown  to  Europeans.  One  river  after  another, 
flowing  towards  Lake  Nyassa,  was  crossed,  and  all  seemed  likely  to  go 
well,  when,  one  day,  after  a  successful  hunt,  in  which  a  fine  hartebeest 
antelope  was  shot,  came  news  from  villagers  flying  southwards  for  their 
lives,  that  the  Mazitu  were  out  and  close  at  hand  ready  to  give  battle. 
The  servants,  who  were  eagerly  anticipating  a  hearty  supper,  such  as 
rarely  fell  to  their  lot,  started  to  their  feet,  the  half-cooked  meat  was 
hastily  packed,  and  Livingstone  and  his  guide  Mpanda  set  out  to  try 
and  engage  extra  carriers  to  aid  in  the  retreat. 

As  they  approached  the  next  village,  however,  the  inhabitants  poured 
out.  The  Mazitu  were  there  too,  and  the  terrified  people  were  fleeing 
to  the  Zalanyama  mountains,  on  the  south-west.  Mpanda  and  his  men 
now  wished  to  go  home  and  look  after  their  own  property,  but  Living- 
stone managed  to  persuade  them  to  remain,  and  follow  with  him  the 
fugitives.  Taking  his  stand  at  the  foot  of  the  rocky  sides  of  the  Zala- 
nyama range,  now  crowded  with  trembling  natives,  our  hero  intended  to 
defend  his  property  to  the  last ;  but  after  \\aiting  some  time  he  heard 
that  the  enemy  had  gone  to  the  south.  Had  he  carried  out  his  first 
scheme  of  going  forward  in  search  of  men,  he  would  have  walked 
straight  into  the  hands  of  the  Mazitu,  and  his  fate  would  probably  have 
differed  but  little  from  that  assigned  to  him  in  Musa's  story. 

As  the  journey  westwards  was  pursued,  the  smoke  of  burning  villages 
on  the  east  and  on  the  south  plainly  marked  the  course  of  the  marauders, 
and,  thankful  for  his  narrow  escape,  Livingstone  pressed  on  as  rapidly 
as  possible  to  the  village  of  Mapino,  beyond  which  he  could  only  ad- 
vance very  slowly,  as  the  country  was  thinly  peopled,  and  food  and 
water  were  scarce.  The  constant  raids  of  marauders  from  the  north, 
and  the  visits  of  Arab  slave-traders  from  the  south,  had,  moreover,  ren- 
dered the  natives  suspicious  and  inhospitable,  but,  as  in  his  previous 
journeys,  Livingstone  everywhere  succeeded  in  overcoming  the  preju- 
dice against  white  men,  and  convincing  the  poor  down-trodden  people 
that  he  meant  them  nothing  but  eood. 


Livingstone's  discoveries.  67 

The  foot  of  Mount  Chisia  was  reached,  and  a  halt  was  made  at  a 
blacksmith's  or  founder's  village,  where  Livingstone  was  interested  in 
witnessing  the  primitive  native  mode  of  smelting  iron,  and  was  watching 
the  erection  of  a  furnace  on  an  ant-hill,  when  the  feeling  of  security  was 
again  dispelled  by  tidings  of  the  approach  of  the  Mazitu.  They  were 
already,  said  the  messenger,  at  Chanyandula's  village  on  the  north, 
which  was  to  have  been  the  next  halting-place.  The  headman  of  the 
village  at  once  urged  Livingstone  to  remain  with  him  till  it  was  certain 
which  path  the  hated  invaders  would  take,  and  the  women  were  all  sent 
away,  wdiilst  the  men  went  on  quietly  with  their  usual  occupations. 
No  Mazitu  came,  but  an  elephant  approached  Livingstone's  camp 
and  "screamed  at  him,"  making  off,  however,  at  the  shouting  of 
the  villagers.  The  largest  of  all  animals  has  a  wholesome  dread  of 
getting  into  danger. 

The  next  morning  the  march  was  resumed,  and  at  length  a  halt  was 
made  outside  a  stockaded  village,  where  the  people  refused  to  admit  our 
hero  until  the  headman  came  and  gave  permission.  This  was  a  foretaste 
of  many  similar  difficulties,  but  slowly,  very  slowly,  step  by  step  and 
inch  by  inch,  the  advance  northwards  continued,  now  broken  by  illness, 
now  hindered  by  detours  in  search  of  the  way  and  by  severe  fatigue. 
In  December  the  banks  of  the  Loangwa  were  sighted,  and,  unable  to 
obtain  food  at  the  village  on  its  eastern  shores,  Livingstone  crossed  the 
stream  without  a  guide,  and  beyond  it  entered  a  pathless,  bushy 
country,  where  the  way  had  to  be  cut  step  by  step  by  the  almost  faint- 
ing travelers. 

thieves  in  the  camp. 

To  give  the  merest  outlines  of  the  difficulties  surmounted,  the  dangers 
escaped,  and  the  privations  endured  as  the  gallant  little  band  advanced 
further  and  further  into  the  unknown  interior,  would  be  to  fill  a  volume. 
We  must  content  ourselves  with  stating  that  a  climax  appears  to  have 
been  reached  in  January,  1867,  when,  after  plodding  on  under  heavy 
rains  through  a  famine-stricken  country,  and  crossing  the  river  Cham- 
beze,  afterwards  under  its  name  of  the  Lualaba  discovered  to  be  of  such 
vast  importance,  which  comes  down  from  the  western  slope  of  the  pla- 
teau of  the  district  of  Lobisa,  our  hero  was  deserted  by  the  two  Ajawa 
men  mentioned  as  having  joined  his  party  at  Lake  Nyassa.  The  loss 
of  two  carriers  was  bad  enough,  but,  to  complicate  matters  still  further, 
they  took  with  them  the  medicine  box  for  the  sake  of  the  cloth,  and 
some  clothes  belonging  to  a  boy,  called  Baraka,  in  which  were  packed  a 
quantity  of  flour,  the  tools,  two  guns,  and  a  cartridge-pouch. 

Livingstone,  in  relating  the  incident  in  his  journal,  remarks  patheti- 
cally that  the  thieves  would,  of  course,  only  throw  away  the  valuable 


68  WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 

contents  of  the  medicine  box  when  they  discovered  their  nature,  adding 
that  he  felt  as  if  he  had  now  received  the  sentence  of  death. 

All  attempts  to  catch  the  fugitives  failed.  Heavy  rain  obliterated 
every  trace  of  their  footsteps,  and  the  forest  was  so  dense  and  high  that 
they  easily  concealed  themselves  and  their  booty.  Unable  now  to  pro- 
cure daily  bread,  Livingstone  commended  himself  and  the  few  who  still 
remained  true  to  him  to  God,  and  struggled  on  by  terribly  slow  stages 
tlirough  the  sparsely  inhabited  Lobemba  country  to  the  important  vil- 
lage of  Chitapanga,  where  fresh  supplies  were  obtained  at  a  very  heavy 
cost,  and  the  expedition  was  saved  from  starvation. 

After  delaying  our  hero  for  three  weeks  in  his  village,  and  mulcting 
him  considerably  in  beads  and  cloths,  Chief  Chitapanga  finally  consented 
to  provide  him  with  guides  to  take  him  to  Lake  Tanganyika,  or,  as  its 
lower  end  is  called,  Lake  Liemba,  and,  cheered  by  the  prospect  of  soon 
reaching  the  end  of  the  second  stage  of  his  great  journey,  Livingstone 
started,  and,  after  an  exhausting  journey  and  terrible  sufferings  from 
fever,  for  which  he  had  now  no  remedies,  he  came  to  the  village  of 
Mombo,  near  a  ridge  overlooking  the  lake,  but  he  was  too  ill  to  enter  it. 

Compelled  to  halt  almost  within  sight  of  the  second  goal  of  his  wan- 
derings, Livingstone  heard  his  boys  firing  their  guns  in  the  distance,  to 
celebrate  their  own  approach  to  the  long-sought  lake.  This  was  too 
much  for  him  to  bear  unmoved,  and,  summoning  all  his  remaining 
strength  to  his  aid,  he  climbed  the  ridge,  saw  Lake  Tanganyika  lying 
peacefully  beneath  him,  descended  some  2000  feet,  and  finally  stood 
upon  the  beach.  To  quote  his  own  words,  he  was  deeply  thankful  at 
having  got  so  far,  and  though  excessively  weak,  unable  to  walk  without 
tottering,  he  adds  his  conviction  that  the  Highest  would  lead  him 
further  and  exercise  over  him  a  constant  care. 

SUSPICIOUS    PEOPLE. 

The  waters  appeared  to  be  some  eighteen  or  twenty  miles  broad,  and 
he  could  see  them  for  about  thirty  miles  up  to  the  north.  A  nearly 
perpendicular  mountain  ridge  of  perhaps  2000  feet  high  extends  with 
occasional  breaks  all  round,  the  lake  reposing  in  a  deep  cup-shaped 
cavity.  The  people  dwelling  on  its  shores — a  race  >  ailed  Balungu,  who 
had  suffered  much  at  the  hands  of  the  notorious  Mazitu — were  suspi- 
cious of  the  strangers,  and  would  not  allow  Livingstone  to  sound  the 
lake,  or  reply  to  his  inquiries  respecting  the  course  of  the  numerous 
rivers  flowing  into  it.  After  a  fortnight's  rest  amongst  the  lovely  scen- 
ery of  the  southern  shores  of  Lake  Tanganyika,  Livingstone  was  com- 
pelled to  turn  back  owing  to  the  disturbed  state  of  the  country,  and 
all  hope  of  proceeding  further  in  this  direction  had  to  be  abandoned. 
A  day  or  two  after  his  arrival  at   Cazembe,  he  was    summoned  to  a 


LIVINGSTONES    DISCOVERIES. 


69 


grand  reception  by  the  chief,  who  received  him  seated  before  a  gigantic 
hut,  surrounded  by  a  score  of  smaller  huts  for  his  attendants.  He  was 
attended  by  his  principal  wife,  his  executioner,  and  a  number  of  "  offi- 
cers," many  of  the  latter  with  cropped  ears  and  one  hand  lopped  off, 
telling  of  former  disgrace. 


CAZEMBE    IN    STATE    DRESS. 

Cazembe  was  in  a  good  mood,  and  was  evidently  pleased  to  re- 
ceive a  call  from  the  white  man  and  his  attendants.  The  ob- 
ject of  Livingstone's  visit  having  been  explained  by  an  old 
native,  minus  both  ears,  the  white  man  came  forward  and  made  his 
bow.     Cazembe,  who  is  described  as  a  heavy,  uninteresting-looking  man, 


70  WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 

without  the  strict  African  type  of  countenance,  then  poHtely  assured 
his  guest  that  he  was  welcome  to  his  country,  to  go  where  he  hked  and 
do  what  he  chose,  and  after  a  few  more  formaHties  the  conversation 
became  general.  Livingstone  even  ventured  to  say  to  the  executioner, 
who  had  a  curious  scissors-like  instrument  at  his  neck  for  cropping  ears, 
that  his  must  be  nasty  work ;  at  which  sally  "  he  smiled,  and  so  did 
many  who  were  not  sure  of  their  ears  for  a  moment."  Another  laugh 
was  raised  when  Livingstone,  on  being  called  upon  to  salute  the  queen, 
a  tall  good-featured  lady,  with  two  spears  in  her  hand,  involuntarily 
beckoned  to  her  to  come  nearer. 

Soon  came  a  raid  from  devastating  hords  of  Mazitu,  who  were  re- 
pulsed by  the  united  forces  of  the  Arab  traders  and  the  native  chiefs ; 
then  a  quarrel  between  the  successful  allies,  resulting  in  an  attack,  headed 
by  Cazembe,  on  the  Arabs.  Confusion  now  prevailed  everywhere. 
The  daily  entries  in  Livingstone's  journals  became  impossible,  but  he 
writes  how  he  and  his  little  band  of  servants  were  on  one  occasion  sur- 
rounded by  a  party  of  fifteen  or  twenty  natives,  who  attacked  them  with 
spears  and  poisoned  arrows ;  how  "  one  good  soul  helped  them  away — 
a  blessing  be  on  him  and  his ;  "  how  he  narrowly  escaped  from  the 
hands  of  another  chief,  who  took  him  and  his  men  for  Mazitu  ;  and  how, 
lastly,  he  joined  forces  with  the  Arab  traders,  and  started  north,  fences 
being  built  every  night  to  protect  the  united  camps,  which  were,  however, 
unmolested  till  the  northern  bank  of  the  Kalongosi  river  was  reached. 
Here  five  hundred  natives  were  drawn  up  to  dispute  the  passage,  but 
as  Livingstone  and  an  advanced  party  with  thirty  guns  crossed  over 
they  retired.  Our  hero,  however,  went  amongst  them,  explained  who 
he  was,  was  recognized  by  some  old  acquaintances,  and  obtained  a  truce 
for  the  Arabs.  All  became  friendly,  an  elephant  was  killed,  stores  of 
provisions  were  bought,  and  two  days  later  the  march  was  resumed. 

A    MOTLEY    CARAVAN. 

Having  reached  Ujiji,  presently  came  rumors  of  vast  herds  of  elephants 
in  Manyucma,  and  of  a  sturdy  race  of  blacks  differing  essentially  from 
any  of  those  yet  met  with.  A  horde  of  Arabs  determined  to  go  and 
test  the  truth  of  these  reports,  and  though  he  knew  that  he  would  have 
to  witness  scenes  of  bloodshed  which  must  sicken  his  very  soul,  Living- 
stone decided  to  go  with  them. 

Our  hero  embarked  once  more  upon  the  lake,  accompanied  by  his 
own  little  retinue  and  a  motley  escort  of  Arabs,  half-castes,  and  natives. 
Landing  in  the  district  of  Guha,  led  by  a  guide,  the  whole  party,  after  a 
slight  detour  to  the  south,  started  in  a  north-westerly  direction  over 
rivers  often  waist-deep,  and  among  palmyra  and  hyphene  palms,  and 
many  villages  swarming  with  people. 


^mnyinrTIilill^ 


12  WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 

Here  Livingstone  records  an  elephant  hunt  (in  which  he  was  tco  weak 
to  share,  though  the  heart  of  a  young  elephant  was  presented  to  him 
by  the  Arabs),  and  the  escape  of  a  young  slave  for  whom  he  had  inter- 
ceded to  be  freed  from  his  yoke.  The  poor  fellow  was  near  his  own 
land,  and  would, be  hidden,  adds  our  hero  ;  but  the  guide,  who  knew  his 
plan,  was  eager  to  betray  him  for  a  reward. 

On  and  on  pressed  the  caravan,  now  up  a  broad  range  of  mountains, 
now  down  a  deep  valley  dotted  with  Manyuema  houses  built  of  clay 
and  square  in  form,  but  Livingstone  can  hardly  note  the  features  of  the 
country,  for  his  heart  is  wrung  by  the  proceedings  of  his  companions. 
At  one  village  he  tells  us  how  Dugumbe,  a  half-caste  Arab  trader  of  the 
party,  after  receiving  every  kindness  and  hospitality  from  the  natives, 
.seized  ten  goats  and  ten  slaves,  having  four  of  his  own  men  killed  in 
revenge. 

Proceeding  nearly  due  north,  through  dense  forests,  across  wilderness, 
and  among  villages  and  running  rills,  the  paths  often  choked  up  by 
vegetation,  the  party  at  first  advanced  with  considerable  rapidity,  the 
villagers,  though  uproarious  from  the  excitement  of  never  having  seen 
strangers  before,  being  perfectly  civil.  But  presently  the  rainy  season 
set  in,  constant  wettings  brought  on  a  return  of  fever,  the  Arabs  espoused 
the  feuds  of  the  chiefs  through  whose  districts  they  passed,  war  and 
pillage,  open  murder,  secret  assassination,  were  the  order  of  the  day, 
and  in  June,  1869,  all  Livingstone's  men  except  three,  named  Susi, 
Chumah,  and  Gardner,  deserted  him. 

Having  obtained  a  fresh  batch  of  men,  and  started  again  for  the  long 
sought  Lualaba,  Livingstone  notes  in  his  journal  the  total  absence  of  all 
law,  might  everywhere  making  right,  and  adds  that  he  dreads  a  disturb- 
ance at  the  next  village.  He  tells  of  cro.ssing  a  tributary  of  the  Lua- 
laba, by  a  natural  bridge,  and  lastly,  of  the  arrival  at  the  now  famous 
Nyangwe,  chief  village  of  a  district  of  the  same  name  on  the  banks  of 
a  creek  of  the  Lualaba  itself.  Again  we  are  struck  with  the  absence  of 
all  enthusiasm  as  the  undaunted  hero  records  his  arrival  at  last  on  the 
banks  of  the  great  river.  He  went  down,  he  says,  to  have  a  good  look 
at  it,  and  found  it  to  be  "  at  least  three  thousand  yards  broad,  and  always 
deep,"  adding.  "  it  has  many  islands,  and  the  current  is  about  two  miles 
an  hour  to  the  north."  Not  one  word  of  triumph  at  the  success 
achieved  at  the  cost  of  so  much  labor  and  so  much  still  more  arduous 
waiting,  only  a  few  words  of  thankfulness  that  Abed,  an  Arab  chief, 
who  had  pitched  his  camp  outside  Nyangwe,  had  said  his  (Livingstone's) 
"  words  against  bloodshed  had  struck  into  him,  and  he  had  given  orders 
to  his  people  to  give  presents  to  the  chiefs,  but  never  fight  unless  actu- 
ally attacked." 


Livingstone's  discoveries.  78 

This  was  a  little  step  in  the  right  direction,  but  alas !  it  was  rendered 
of  no  avail  by  the  cruel  and  lawless  proceedings  of  three  men  belonging 
to  the  retinue  of  the  slaver  Dugumbe.  Livingstone  had  built  himself 
a  house  at  Nyangwe,  and  intended  making  it  his  headquarters  for  many 
a  voyage  of  exploration  up  and  down  the  Lualaba.  He  was  only  wait- 
ing for  the  canoes  Abed  had  promised  to  procure  for  him,  employing 


NATURAL    BRIDGE    OVER    THE   MOANGOI. 

the  time  in  making  geographical  notes,  on  old  newspapers  with  ink 
made  by  himself  from  the  seeds  of  a  plant,  his  stores  of  writing  mate- 
rials being  exhausted.  He  should  now,  he  hoped,  at  last  be  able  to 
ascertain  from  personal  observation  whence  the  Lualaba  came,  and 
whither  it  went ;  but  once  more  he  was  foiled,  and  once  more  compelled 
to  turn  back  on  the  very  eve  of  success. 

Here  Livingstone  gives  the  following  terrible  narrative  of  a  scene 
witnessed  by  himself  at  Nyangwe,  which  shows  the  desperate  character 
of  the  savages  and  their  bloodthirsty  spirit : 

"  It  was  a  hot,  sultry  day,  and  when  I  went  into  the  market  I  saw 


74  WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 

three  of  the  men  who  had  lately  come  with  Dugumbe.  I  was  surprised 
to  see  them  with  their  guns,  and  felt  inclined  to  reprove  them,  as  one 
of  my  men  did,  for  bringing  weapons  into  the  market,  but  I  attributed 
it  to  their  ignorance ;  and  it  being  very  hot,  I  was  walking  away  to  go 
out  of  the  market,  when  I  saw  one  of  the  fellows  haggling  about  a  fowl, 
and  seizing  hold  of  it.  Before  I  had  got  thirty  yards  out,  the  discharge 
of  two  guns  in  the  middle  of  the  crowd  told  me  that  slaughter  had 
begun ;  crowds  dashed  off  from  the  place,  and  threw  down  their  wares 
in  confusion  and  ran.  At  the  same  time  that  the  three  opened  fire  on 
the  mass  of  people  near  the  upper  end  of  the  market-place,  volleys  were 
discharged  from  a  party  down  the  creek  on  the  panic-stricken  women, 
who  dashed  at  the  canoes.  These,  some  fifty  or  more,  were  jammed  in 
the  creek,  and  the  men  forgot  their  paddles  in  the  terror  that  seized  all. 
The  canoes  were  not  to  be  got  out,  the  creek  being  too  small,  for  so 
many  men  and  women  wounded  by  the  balls  poured  into  them,  and 
they  leaped  and  scrambled  into  the  water  shrieking.  A  long  line  of 
heads  in  the  river  showed  that  great  numbers  struck  out  for  an  island  a 
full  mile  off.  Shot  after  shot  continued  to  be  fired  on  the  helpless  and 
perishing.  Some  of  the  long  line  of  heads  disappeared  quietly  ;  whilst 
other  poor  creatures  threw  their  arms  high,  as  if  appealing  to  the  great 
Father  above.  Dugumbe  put  people  into  one  of  the  deserted  vessels  to 
save  those  in  the  water,  and  saved  twenty-one  ;  but  one  woman  refused  to 
be  taken  on  board  from  thinking  that  she  was  to  be  made  a  captive. 
"  My  first  impulse,"  adds  Livingstone,  after  relating  this  terrible  mas- 
sacre, "  was  to  pistol  the  murderers,"  but  Dugumbe  protested  against 
his  getting  into  a  blood-feud,  and  he  was  afterwards  glad  that  he  re- 
frained, for  it  could  have  done  no  real  good.  Sick  at  heart,  our  hero 
felt  he  could  no  longer  give  the  sanction  of  his  presence  to  the  murder 
of  the  innocent ;  he  must  make  a  protest  of  some  kind,  though  the  only 
one  in  his  power  involved  his  turning  his  back  on  the  river  it  had  taken 
him  so  many  weary  months  to  reach. 

ESCAPE    FROM    THE   THRUST    OF   A   JAVELIN. 

Collecting  his  own  little  retinue,  Livingstone  started  on  foot  for  Ujiji 
three  days  later,  the  Arabs  trying  to  prove  their  penitence  by  pressing 
their  goods  upon  him,  begging  him  not  to  hesitate  to  tell  them  of  any- 
thing he  wanted.  A  little  gunpowder  was  all  he  would  accept,  and,  as 
he  turned  his  back  on  the  Lualaba,  he  tried  to  console  himself  with  a 
hope  that,  with  new  men  from  Ujiji,  he  might  yet  penetrate  to  Rua,  see 
the  underground  excavations  of  which  the  natives  had  told  him  in  that 
kingdom,  proceed  thence  to  Katanga  and  the  four  ancient  fountains  be- 
yond, and,  finally,  visit  Lake  Lincoln,  the  name  he  had  given  in  honor 
of  the  murdered  President  of  the  United  States  to  a  sheet  of  water  said 


Livingstone's  discoveries.  75 

to  exist  on  the  south-west  of  Kamolondo.  We  may  add  that  Living- 
stone named  the  Locki  Young's  River,  after  the  leader  of  the  first  ex- 
pedition sent  out  in  search  of  him  ;  and  the  Lualaba  Webb's  River,  after 
an  old  friend  of  his  own  with  whom  he  spent  a  great  part  of  his  brief 
holiday  in  England  between  his  second  and  third  journeys  in  Africa. 

In  the  return  march  to  Ujiji,  Livingstone  pressed  on  and  passed  miles 
of  burning  villages,  until  he  came  to  a  party  of  armed  Manyuema,  who 
refused  to  come  near,  threw  stones  at  him  and  his  men,  and  tried  to  kill 
those  who  went  for  water. 

An  attack  being  every  moment  expected,  our  hero  attempted  to  come 
to  a  parley  with  his  enemies,  feeling  sure  that  he  could  soon  convince 
them  of  his  friendly  intentions,  but  they  would  not  listen  to  his  envoys, 
and  in  passing  along  a  narrow  path,  with  a  wall  of  dense  vegetation 
touching  each  hand,  he  came  to  a  spot  where  trees  had  been  cut  down 
to  obstruct  his  party  whilst  they  were  speared.  Clambering  over  the 
barriers,  though  expecting  instant  death,  Livingstone  was  surprised  at 
meeting  with  no  opposition,  but  as  he  crept  slowly  along,  preceded  by  his 
men,  who  really  seemed  to  have  behaved  very  well,  and  peered  up  into 
the  dense  foliage  on  either  side,  a  dark  shadow,  that  of  an  infuriated 
savage,  here  and  there  intervened  between  him  and  the  sun.  Every 
rustle  in  the  leaves  might  now  mean  a  spear,  any  sound  might  be  the 
signal  for  a  massacre.  Presently  a  large  spear  from  the  right  almost 
grazed  Livingstone's  back,  and  stuck  into  the  ground  behind  him. 
He  looked  round  and  saw  two  men  from  whom  it  came  in  an  opening 
in  the  forest  only  ten  yards  off,  but  again  his  foes  disappeared  as  if  by 
magic  and  were  quickly  lost  to  sight. 

marvelous  deliverances. 

All  were  now  allowed  to  go  on  for  a  few  minutes  unmolested,  but 
soon  another  spear  was  thrown  at  Livingstone  by  an  unseen  assailant, 
missing  him  again  by  about  a  foot.  A  red  jacket  he  wore,  he  tells  us, 
led  our  hero  to  be  taken  for  Mohammed  Mogharib,  one  of  the  slave- 
dealers,  and  it  soon  became  evident  that  his  men  were  to  be  allowed 
to  escape  whilst  the  attack  was  concentrated  upon  him.  Ordering 
his  attendants  to  fire  their  guns  into  the  bush — the  first  time,  be  it  ob- 
served, that  he  had  ever  in  the  course  of  his  long  wanderings  used 
weapons  in  his  own  defence — our  hero  still  went  calmly  on,  congratu- 
lating himself  that  no  yells  or  screams  of  agony  succeeded  his  volley, 
till  he  came  to  a  part  of  the  forest  cleared  for  cultivation. 

Here  he  noticed  a  gigantic  tree,  made  still  taller  by  growing  on  an 
ant-hill  twenty  feet  high,  to  which  fire  had  been  applied  near  the  roots. 
These  ants  construct  their  nests  with  covered  galleries,  and  far  sur- 
pass bees,  wasps,  or  beavers  in  the  art  of  building,  and  in  sagacity  and 


76 


WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 


government.  There  are  several  species,  and  some  build  on  the  ground, 
others  on  the  branches  of  trees,  often  at  great  heights.  The  largest 
species  is  best  known  on  the  coast  of  Africa.     It  erects  immense  build- 


WHITE    ANTS    AND    THEIR    DWELLINGS. 

ings  of  well-attempered  clay.  In  Senegal  they  resemble  the  villages  of 
the  natives,  being  ten  or  twelve  feet  abox'c  the  level  of  the  ground,  and 
like  very  large  haycocks.     Comparing  the  size  of  the  animal  with  that 


Livingstone's  discoveries.  77 

of  man,  these  buildings  are  to  the  ants  what  four  times  the  height  of 
the  Washington  Monument  would  be  to  us. 

Every  building  consists  of  two  parts,  an  exterior  dome  and  an  in- 
terior, divided  into  an  amazing  number  of  apartments.  The  exterior  is 
a  protection  from  the  weather,  and  in  the  interior  reside  the  king  and 
queen,  and  the  whole  community,  with  magazines  stored  with  provi- 
sions and  conveniences.  They  raise  the  immense  structure  in  sepa- 
rate turrets,  of  the  shape  and  size  of  sugar-loaves,  and  then  fill  it  be- 
tween till  the  dome  is  completed  by  joining  the  tops  of  the  lofty  turrets 
which  they  raise  in  the  centre.  They  then  take  away  the  bases  of  the 
central  turrets,  and  apply  the  clay  to  the  construction  of  the  interior. 

The  royal  chamber  is  in  the  centre,  in  the  shape  of  a  large  oven. 
The  entrances  are  so  small,  that  the  king  and  queen  can  never  leave  it. 
Around  it  are  apartments  for  soldiers  and  attendants,  and  magazines 
filled  with  gums  and  hardened  juices  of  plants.  Among  these  are  the 
nurseries  for  the  eggs  and  young.  Beneath  are  sewers  to  carry  off 
water,  descending  to  the  gravel  ;  here  subterraneous  passages  are  carried 
horizontally  to  vast  distances,  like  passages  from  old  castles,  from  which 
they  emerge  on  any  building  or  merchandise  they  intend  to  attack.  As 
they  cannot  carry  up  perpendiculars,  all  the  ascents  and  descents  are 
made  by  spiral  roads.  For  a  communication  inside  they  construct 
elliptical  bridges. 

The  ravages  of  white  ants  are  very  destructive.  In  the  island  of  St. 
Helena,  the  white  ants  were,  it  is  supposed,  accidentally  introduced 
from  the  coast  of  Guinea.  Jamestown  was  devastated,  the  cathedral 
and  the  books  of  the  public  library  were  destroyed.  Everything  in  the 
town  made  of  wood  was  more  or  less  injured,  imperilling  the  lives  of 
large  numbers  of  the  four  thousand  inhabitants.  In  the  government 
stores  it  was  found  that  the  moist  traces  of  the  insect  on  the  outside  of 
the  tin  cases  caused  very  speedy  corrosion  of  the  metal,  and  enabled 
the  insects  to  make  their  way  in  and  devour  the  contents,  doing 
immense  damage. 

As  Livingstone  came  up  to  the  tree  he  heard  a  crack  which  told  that 
the  destructive  element  had  done  its  work,  but  he  felt  no  fear  till  he  saw 
the  huge  bulk  falling  forwards  towards  himself  He  started  back,  and 
only  just  escaped  being  crushed.  "  Three  times  in  one  day,"  he  re- 
marks, "  was  I  delivered  from  impending  death."  His  attendants, 
gathering  round  him,  and  taking  this  third  preservation  as  a  good  omen, 
shouted,  "  Peace !  peace !  you  will  finish  your  work  in  spite  of  these 
people,  and  in  spite  of  everything." 

Five  hours  more  of  "running^he  gauntlet"  ensued,  and  then  the 
little  band  emerged  unscathed  on  the  cleared  lands  of  a  group  of  villages, 


78  WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 

to  be  met  by  a  friendly  chief  named  Muanampanda,  who  invited  them 
to  be  his  guests.  On  learning  the  meaning  of  all  the  firing  he  had  heard, 
Muanampanda  offered  to  call  his  people  together,  and  punish  those  who 
had  molested  the  explorer,  but,  true  to  his  generous  character,  Living- 
stone declared  that  he  wished  no  revenge  for  an  attack  made  in  error, 
and  with  some  little  difficulty  the  chief  consented  to  humor  what  must 
have  seemed  to  him  a  strange  whim,  something  so  contrary  to  savage 
customs  and  savage  nature. 

At  Muanampanda's,  Livingstone  had  unmistakable  proof  of  the  prac- 
tice of  cannibalism  amongst  the  Manyuema,  who  eat  their  foes  killed  in 
battle,  not  from  any  lack  of  other  animal  food,  but  with  a  view  to  inspir- 
ing themselves  with  courage.  They  are  said  to  bury  a  body  which  is 
to  be  eaten,  for  two  days  in  a  forest,  and  then  to  disinter  and  cook  it. 
We  are  glad  to  be  able  to  add  that  they  seem  rather  ashamed  of  this 
horrible  practice,  and  do  not  like  strangers  to  look  at  their  human  meat. 

ARRIVAL  OF  THE  YOUNG  AMERICAN. 

Another  week  and  Livingstone  chronicles  his  third  arrival  on  the 
shores  of  Tanganyika,  this  time  close  to  the  entry  into  the  lake  of  the 
river  Logumba,  which  rises  in  the  Kalogo  mountains  on  the  west. 
"  Perhaps,"  hazards  Livingstone,  "  this  river  is  the  outlet  of  Tanganyika. 
Great  noises  as  of  thunder  were  heard  as  far  as  twelve  days  off,  which 
Averc  ascribed  to  Kalogo,  as  if  it  had  subterranean  caves  into  which  the 
waves  rushed  with  great  noise ;  the  country  slopes  that  way,"  he  adds, 
"but  I  was  too  ill  to  examine  its  source." 

In  October  the  worn-out,  almost  dying,  explorer  arrived  on  the  islet 
of  Kasenge,  landed  on  the  eastern  shores  of  the  lake,  and  entered  Ujiji, 
reduced,  to  use  his  own  words,  "to  a  skeleton."  Warmly  welcomed  by 
the  Arabs,  who  had  believed  him  to  be  dead,  and  finding  the  market 
full  of  all  kinds  of  native  provisions,  he  hoped  that  proper  food  and  rest 
would  soon  restore  him,  but  in  the  evening  his  people  came  to  tell  him 
that  the  goods  he  had  left  under  the  care  of  a  man  named  Shereef  had 
been  sold  at  a  nominal  price,  the  Arabs  adding  that  they  protested,  but 
the  "  idiot"  would  not  listen  to  them. 

"  This  was  distressing,"  exclaims  poor  Livingstone,  thus  again  cut  off 
from  hope  of  fresh  explorations.  "  I  had  made  up  my  mind,  if  I  could 
not  get  people  at  Ujiji,  to  wait  till  men  should  come  from  the  coast,  but 
to  wait  in  beggary  was  what  I  never  contemplated."  The  man  Sb.ereef 
actually  came  without  shame  to  shake  hands  with  his  old  master,  and 
on  Livingstone's  refusing  him  that  courtesy  he  assumed  an  air  of  dis- 
pleasure, as  if  he  had  been  badly  treated,  observing  on  leaving,  "  I  am 
going  to  pray,"  and  acted  as  if  he  Expected  to  be  congratulated  for 
appropriating  goods  that  were  not  his  own. 


Livingstone's  discoveries.  79 

In  his  destitution  Livingstone  felt,  he  tells  us,  as  if  "  he  were  the  man 
who  went  down  from  Jerusalem  to  Jericho,  and  fell  among  thieves,"  but 
for  him  there  was  no  hope  of  priest,  Levite,  or  good  Samaritan.  Never, 
however,  was  the  oft-quoted  proverb,  "  When  things  are  at  the  worst  they 
will  mend,"  more  thoroughly  verified  than  in  this  instance.  First  came 
a  generous  offer  of  aid  in  the  form  of  a  stock  of  valuable  ivory  from  an 
Arab  named  Syed  bin  Magid,  and  then  the  news  brought  by  Susi  of 
the  approach  of  an  "  Englishman,"  who  turned  out  to  be  the  celebrated 
young  American,  Henry  Morton  Stanley,  sent  out  to  the  relief  of  Living- 
stone by  Mr.  Bennett,  proprietor  of  the  New  York  Herald. 

Livingstone's  astonishment  and  delight  will  be  readily  imagined  at 
this  unexpected  appearance  on  the  scene  of  a  man  bringing  not  only 
news  from  home,  for  which  the  exile  longed  so  intensely,  but  stores  of 
goods,  including  tin  baths,  huge  ke'tles,  cooking  pots  and  tents.  The 
tidings  brought  by  Stanley  "  made  his  whole  frame  thrill ;  "  for  two  long 
years  he  had  heard  nothing,  and  now  he  was  to'  learn  of  the  Franco- 
Prussian  war,  the  laying  of  the  Atlantic  cable,  and  many  other  notable 
events.  During  the  long  period  of  his  voluntary  exile  he  had  often 
wondered  what  was  transpiring  in  the  world  from  which  he  was  sepa- 
rated, yet  he  was  so  devoted  to  his  object  of  making  new  discoveries  in 
the  dark  land  where  so  many  years  of  his  life  had  already  been  spent, 
that  he  was  willing  to  undergo  all  deprivations,  hardships  and  suffer- 
ings to  attain  the  great  end  he  had  in  view.  Most  men  would  have 
been  turned  back  by  the  obstacles  which  lay  in  his  path,  but  persever- 
ance was  one  of  the  chief  characteristics  of  Livingstone,  and  he  sacri- 
ficed himself  in  his  undertaking. 


CHAPTER  III. 


TRAVELS  OF  STANLEY  IN  THE  TROPICS. 


Expedition  in  Search  of  Livingstone — Getting  Ready  for  the  Start — A  Sultan's  Curious 
Palace — Incidents  of  Travel — Crossing  the  Turbid  Kingani — Hippopotami — A  Tropical 
Garden — Adventures  of  the  Chase — African  Beauties — Tidings  of  Livingstone — Punish- 
ing a  Runaway — Excitement  at  Ugogo — Stanley  Resists  Extortion — The  Arabs  and 
Their  War — Mirambo — Ammonia  and  Laughter — A  Formidable 
Donkey —Arrival  at  Ujiji  and  Success  of  the  Expedition. 

^ARLY  in  January,  1871,  Henry  Morton  Stanley  landed 
in  Zanzibar,  on  the  eastern  coast  of  Africa.  For  two 
years  the  great  explorer,  Livingstone,  had  been  lost  to 
the  world,  and  no  tidings  had  been  received  from  him. 
There  were  rumors  of  his  death  in  Central  Africa,  but 
grave  suspicions  of  their  truth  were  entertained  by 
those  who  had  the  opportunity  to  be  best  informed. 

The  task  given  to  Mr.  Stanley  was  to  plunge  into 
the  unknown  wilds  of  the  "  dark  Continent,"  and  find 
Livingstone,  either  alive  or  dead.  His  travels  are  among  the  most  re- 
markable ever  related,  and  have  proved  him  to  be  an  explorer  second 
to  none  who  ever  turned  their  attention  to  this  part  of  the  globe. 

An  insuperable  obstacle  to  rapid  transit  in  Africa  is  the  want  of  car- 
riers, and  as  speed  was  the  main  object  of  the  expedition,  the  concern 
was  to  lessen  this  difficulty  as  much  as  possible.  Carriers  could  only 
be  engaged  after  arriving  at  Bagamoyo,  on  the  mainland.  Over  twenty 
good  donkeys  were  wanted,  also  a  cart  adapted  for  the  footpaths  of  Africa. 
Accordingly  a  cart  was  constructed,  eighteen  inches  wide  and  five  feet 
long,  supplied  with  two  fore-wheels  of  a  light  American  wagon,  more 
for  the  purpose  of  conveying  the  narrow  ammunition-boxes.  It  was 
estimated  that  if  a  donkey  could  carry  to  Unyanyembe  a  load  of  four 
frasilahs,  or  one  hundred  and  forty  pounds,  he  ought  to  be  able  to  draw 
eight  frasilahs  on  such  a  cart,  which  would  be  equal  to  the  carrying 
capacity  of  four  stout  pagazis  or  carriers.  Events  will  prove  how  these 
theories  were  borne  out  by  practice.  The  purchases  were  com- 
pleted and  piled  up,  tier  after  tier,  row  upon  row,  here  a  mass  of  cook- 
ing-utensils, there  bundles  of  rope,  tents,  saddles,  a  pile  of  portmanteaus 
and  boxes,  containing  every  imaginable  thing.  There  were  at  least  six 
tons  of  material,  all  of  which  would  be  required  in  the  long  journey. 
The  traveler  must  needs  make  his  way  into  the  African  interior  after 
(80) 


TRAVELS    OF    STANLEV    IN    THE    TROmCS.  81 

a  fashion  very  different  from  that  to  which  he  has  been  accustomed  in 
other  countries.  He  requires  to  take  with  him  just  what  a  ship  must 
have  when  about  to  sail  on  a  long  voyage.  He  must  have  his  little 
store  of  canned  dainties,  and  his  medicines,  besides  which,  he  must  have 
enough  guns,  powder,  and  ball  to  be  able  to  make  a  series  of  good  fights 
if  necessary.  He  must  ha\'e  men  to  convey  these  miscellaneous  articles; 
and  as  a  man's  maximum  load  does  not  exceed  seventy  pounds,  to  con- 
vey eleven  thousand  pounds  requires  nearly  one  hundred  and  sixty  men. 
Europe  and  the  Orient,  even  Arabia  and  Turkestan,  have  royal  ways  of 
traveling  compared  to  Africa.  Specie  is  received  in  all  those  countries, 
by  which  a  traveler  may  carry  his  means  about  with  him  on  his  own 
person.  Eastern  and  Central  Africa,  however,  demand  a  necklace,  in- 
stead of  a  cent ;  two  yards  of  American  sheeting,  instead  of  half  a  dollar, 
or  a  florin,  and  a  kitindi  of  thick  brass-  wire,  in  place  of  a  gold  piece. 
The  African  traveler  can  hire  neither  wagons  nor  camels,  neither  horses 
nor  mules,  to  proceed  with  him  into  the  interior.  His  means  of  con- 
veyance are  limited  to  black  men,  who  want  fifteen  dollars  a  head  for 
every  seventy  pounds  weight  carried  only  as  far  as  Unyanyembe. 

THE    EXPEDITION    CREATES    A    SENSATION. 

The  fact  that  a  white  man,  even  an  American,  was  about  to  enter 
Africa  was  soon  known  all  over  Zanzibar.  It  was  repeated  a  thousand 
times  in  the  streets,  proclaimed  in  all  shop  alcoves,  and  at  the  custom- 
house. The  native  bazaar  laid  hold  of  it,  and  agitated  it  day  and  night 
until  the  departure.  The  foreigners,  including  the  Europeans,  wished 
to  know  everything  pertaining  to  the  expedition.  Says  Stanley :  "  My 
answer  to  all  questions,  pertinent  and  impertinent,  was,  '  I  am  going  to 
Africa.'  Though  my  card  bore  the  words  '  Henry  M.  Stanley,  New 
York  Herald'  very  few,  I  believe,  ever  coupled  the  words  '  New  York 
Herald  '  with  a  search  after  Doctor  Livingstone.  It  was  not  my  fault, 
was  it  ?     They  were  at  liberty  to  form  their  own  conjectures. 

"  Ah,  me  !  what  hard  work  it  is  to  start  an  expedition  alone  !  What 
with  hurrying  through  the  baking  heat  of  the  fierce  relentless  sun  from 
shop  to  shop,  strengthening  myself  with  far-reaching  and  enduring  pa- 
tience for  the  haggling  contests  with  tradesmen,  summoning  courage 
and  wit  to  brow-beat  the  villainous  Goanese,  correcting  estimates,  mak- 
ing up  accounts,  superintending  the  delivery  of  purchased  articles, 
measuring  and  weighing  them,  to  see  that  everjlhing  was  of  full  measure 
and  weight,  overseeing  the  white  men,  Farquhar  and  Shaw%  who  were 
busy  on  donkey  saddles,  sails,  tents,  and  boats  for  the  expedition,  I  felt, 
when  the  day  was  over,  as  though  limbs  and  brain  well  deserved  their 
rest.  Such  labors  were  mine  unremittingly  for  a  month  and  wearied  me. 
Having  bartered  drafts  on  Mr.  James  Gordon  Bennett  to  the  amount 


82  WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 

of  several  thousands  dollars  for  cloth,  beads,  wire,  donkeys,  and  a 
thousand  necessaries,  having  advanced  pay  to  the  white  men,  and  black 
escort  of  the  expedition,  there  was  nothing  further  to  do  but  to  leave 
my  formal  adieus  with  the  Europeans,  and  thank  the  Sultan  and  those 
gentlemen  who  had  assisted  me,  before  embarking  for  Bagamoyo. 

"  The  day  before  my  departure  from  Zanzibar  the  American  Consul, 
having  just  habited  himself  in  his  black  coat,  and  taking  with  him  an 
extra  black  hat,  in  order  to  be  in  state  apparel,  proceeded  with  me  to 
the  Sultan's  palace.  The  prince  had  been  generous  to  me  ;  he  had  pre- 
sented me  with  an  Arab  horse,  had  furnished  me  with  letters  of  intro- 
duction to  his  agents,  his  chief  men,  and  representatives  in  the  interior, 
and  in  many  other  ways  had  shown  himself  well  disposed  towards  me." 

A    CORAL    PALACE. 

The  palace  is  a  large  roomy,  lofty,  square  house  close  to  the  fort,  built 
of  coral,  and  plastered  thickly  with  lime  mortar.  Irt  appearance  it  is 
half  Arabic  and  half  Italian.  The  shutters  are  Venetian  blinds  painted 
a  vivid  green,  and  presenting  a  striking  contrast  to  the  whitewashed 
walls.  Before  the  great,  lofty,  wide  door  were  ranged  in  two  crescents 
several  Baluch  and  Persian  mercenaries,  armed  with  curved  swords  and 
targes  of  Rhinoceros  hide.  Their  dress  consisted  of  a  muddy-white 
cotton  shirt,  reaching  to  the  ankles,  girdled  with  a  leather  belt  thickly 
studded  with  silver  bosses. 

As  the  visitors  came  in  sight  a  signal  was  passed  to  some  person  in- 
side the  entrance.  When  within  twenty  yards  of  the  door,  the  Sultan, 
who  was  standing  waiting,  came  down  the  steps,  and,  passing  through 
the  ranks,  advanced  toward  them,  with  his  right  hand  stretched  out,  and 
a  genial  smile  of  welcome  on  his  face.  They  raised  their  hats,  and  shook 
hands  with  him,  after  which,  doing  according  as  he  bade  them,  they 
passed  forward,  and  arrived  on  the  highest  step  near  the  entrance  door. 
He  pointed  forward  ;  they  bowed  and  arrived  at  the  foot  of  an  unpainted 
and  narrow  staircase  to  turn  once  more  to  the  Sultan.  The  Consul  was 
ascending  sideways,  a  mode  of  slow  progression  which  was  intended 
for  a  compromise  with  decency  and  dignity.  At  the  top  of  the  stairs 
the  visitors  waited,  with  their  faces  towards  the  up-coming  Prince. 
Again  they  were  waved  magnanimously  forward,  for  before  them  was 
the  reception-hall  and  throne-room.  The  room  was  high,  and  painted 
in  the  Arabic  style  ;  the  carpet  was  thick  and  of  Persian  fabric  ;  the 
furniture  consisted  of  a  dozen  gilt  chairs  and  a  chandelier.  The  Sultan 
sat  in  a  gilt  chair  between  the  Americans  and  the  counselors.  Johari 
the  dragoman  stood  humbly  before  the  Sultan,  expectant  and  ready  to 
interpret  what  they  had  to  communicate  to  the  Prince. 

The   Sultan,   so  far  as  dress  goes,  might   be   taken   for   an   ordinary 


TRAVELS    OF    STANLEY    IN    THE    TROPICS.  83 

gentleman,  excepting,  indeed,  for  the  turban,  whose  ample  folds  in  alter- 
nate colors  of  red,  yellow,  brown,  and  white,  encircled  his  head.  His 
long  robe  was  of  dark  cloth,  cinctured  round  the  waist  with  his  rich 
sword-belt,  from  which  was  suspended  a  gold-hilted  scimitar,  encased  in 
a  scabbard  also  enriched  with  gold.  His  legs  and  feet  were  bare,  and 
had  a  ponderous  look  about  them,  since  he  suffered  from  that  strange 
curse  of  Zanzibar — elephantiasis.  His  feet  were  slipped  into  a  pair  of 
slippers  with  thick  soles  and  a  strong  leathern  band  over  the  instep. 
His  light  complexion  and  his  correct  features,  which  are  intelligent  and 
regular,  bespeak  the  Arab  patrician.  They  indicate,  however,  nothing 
except  his  high  descent  and  blood ;  no  traits  of  character  are  visible, 
unless  there  is  just  a  trace  of  amiability,  and  perfect  contentment  with 
himself  and  all  around. 

Coffee  was  served  in  cups  supported  by  golden  finjans,  also  some 
cocoanut  milk,  and  rich,  sweet  sherbet.  Having  answered  all  questions 
to  his  highness'  satisfaction,  he  handed  the  explorer  letters  of  introduc- 
tion to  his  officers  at  Bagamoyo  and  Kable,  and  a  general  introductory 
letter  to  all  Arab  merchants  who  might  be  met  on  the  road,  and  con- 
cluded his  remarks  with  the  expressed  hope  that  the  mission  would  be 
perfectly  successful. 

UNEXPECTED    MISHAPS. 

The  expedition  left  Bagamoyo,  the  attraction  of  all  the  curious,  with 
much  eclat,  and  defiled  up  a  narrow  lane  shaded  almost  to  twilight  by 
the  dense  umbrage  of  two  parallel  hedges  of  mimosas.  All  were  in  the 
highest  spirits.  The  soldiers  sang,  the  guide  lifted  his  voice  into  a  loud 
bellowing  note,  and  fluttered  the  American  flag,  which  told  all  on-lookers, 
"  Lo,  a  white  man's  caravan  !  " 

This  first,  or  little  journey  of  a  few  miles,  was  performed  very  well^ 
"  considering."  The  boy,  Selim,  upset  the  cart  not  more  than  three 
times.  Zaidi,  the  soldier,  only  once  let  his  donkey,  which  carried  one 
bag  of  clothes  and  a  box  of  ammunition,  lie  in  a  puddle  of  black  water. 
The  clothes  had  to  be  re-washed  ;  the  ammunition  box,  thanks  to  fore- 
thought, was  water-proof.  Kamna,  one  of  the  men,  perhaps  knew  the 
art  of  donkey-driving,  but,  overjoyful  at  the  departure,  had  sung  him- 
self into  oblivion  of  the  difficulties  with  which  an  animal  of  the  pure 
asinine  breed  has  naturally  to  contend  against,  such  as  not  knowing  the 
right  road,  and  inability  to  resist  the  temptation  of  straying  into  the 
depths  of  an  adjoining  field  ;  and  the  donkey,  ignorant  of  the  custom 
in  vogue  among  drivers  of  flourishing  sticks  before  an  animal's  nose, 
and  misunderstanding  the  direction  in  which  he  was  required  to  go,  ran 
off  at  full  speed  along  an  opposite  road,  until  his  pack  got  unbalanced, 
and  he  was  fain  to  come  to  the  earth.     But  these  incidents  were  trivial, 


84  WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 

of  no  importance,  and   natural  to   the  first   "little  journey"    in   East 
Africa.     They  were  such  as  were  likely  to  befall  all  travelers. 

The  saddles  were  excellent,  surpassing  expectation.  The  strong  hemp 
canvas  bore  its  one  hundred  and  fifty  pounds  burden  with  the  strength 
of  bull  hide,  and  the  loading  and  unloading  of  miscellaneous  baggage 
was  performed  with  systematic  dispatch.  In  brief,  there  was  nothing 
to  regret — the  success  of  the  journey  proved  the  departure  to  be  any- 
thing but  premature.  The  next  three  days  were  employed  in  putting 
the  finishing  touches  to  the  preparations  for  the  long  land  journey. 

A    THRIFTY   WIDOW. 

Shamba  Gonera,  the  first  camp,  means  Gonera's  Field.  Gonera  is  a 
wealthy  Indian  widow,  well  disposed  towards  the  Wasungu  (whites). 
She  exports  much  cloth,  beads,  and  wire  into  the  far  interior,  and  im- 
ports in  return  much  ivory.  Her  house  is  after  the  model  of  the  town 
houses,  with  long,  sloping  roof,  and  projecting  eaves,  affording  a  cool 
shade,  under  which  the  porters  love  to  loiter.  On  its  southern  and 
eastern  side  stretch  the  cultivated  fields  which  supply  Bagamoyo  with 
the  staple  grain,  matama,  of  East  Africa ;  on  the  left  grow  Indian  corn, 
and  muhogo,  a  yam-like  root  of  whitish  color,  called  by  some  manioc ; 
when  dry,  it  is  ground  and  compounded  into  cakes  similar  to  army 
slapjacks.  On  the  north,  just  behind  the  house,  winds  a  black  quagmire, 
a  sinuous  hollow,  which  in  its  deepest  parts  always  contains  water- — the 
muddy  home  of  the  brake-and-rush-lo\-ing  "  kiboko,"  or  hippopotamus. 
Its  banks,  crowded  with  dwarf  fan-palm,  tall  water-reeds,  acacias,  and 
tiger-grass,  afford  shelter  to  numerous  aquatic  birds. 

The  road  was  a  mere  footpath,  and  led  over  a  soil,  which,  though 
sandy,  was  of  surprising  fertility,  producing  grain  and  vegetables  a  hun- 
dredfold, the  sowing  and  planting  of  which  was  done  in  the  most 
unskillful  manner.  In  their  fields,  at  heedless  labor,  were  men  and 
women  in  the  scantiest  costumes.  The  explorers  passed  them  with 
serious  faces,  while  they  laughed  and  giggled,  and  pointed  their  index 
fingers  at  this  and  that,  which  to  them  seemed  so  strange. 

A    LUXURIANT    VALLEY. 

Soon  the  travelers  had  left  the  tall  matama  and  fields  of  water-melons, 
cucumbers,  and  manioc  ;  and,  crossing  a  reedy  slough,  were  in  an  open 
forest  of  ebony  and  calabash.  In  its  depths  are  deer  in  plentiful 
numbers,  and  at  night  it  is  visited  by  the  hippopotami  of  the  Kingani 
for  the  sake  of  its  grass.  In  another  hour  they  had  emerged  from  the 
woods,  and  were  looking  down  upon  the  broad  valley  of  the  Kingani, 
stretching  four  miles  east  and  west,  and  about  eight  miles  north  and 
south,  left  with  the  richest  soil  to  its  own  wild  growth  of  grass — which 
in  civilization  would  have  been  a  most  valuable  meadow  for  the  rearing 


TRAVELS    OF    STANLEV    IN    THE    TROPICS.  85 

of  cattle — invested  as  it  was  by  dense  forests,  darkening  the  horizon  at 
all  points  of  the  compass,  and  folded  in  by  three-clad  ridges. 

At  the  sound  of  the  caravan  the  red  antelope  bounded  away  to  the 
right  and  left,  and  frogs  hushed  their  croak.  The  sun  shone  hot  with 
real  African  fervor.  About  half  way  across  was  a  sluice  of  stagnant 
water  which,  directly  in  the  road  of  the  caravan,  had  settled  down  into 
an  oozy  pond.  The  porters  crossed  a  hastily  constructed  bridge,  thrown 
up  a  long  time  ago  by  some  Washensi  Samaritans.  It  was  an  extra- 
ordinary affair  ;  rugged  tree  limbs  resting  on  very  unsteady  forked  piles, 
and  it  had  evidently  tested  the  patience  of  many  a  loaded  caravan.  Our 
weaker  animals  were  unloaded,  but  this  did  not  occasion  much  delay ; 
the  men  worked  smartly  under  supervision. 

BUILDING  A  BRIDGE    AND    SHOOTING    AT    HIPPOPOTAMI. 

The  turbid  Kingani,  famous  for  its  hippopotami,  was  reached  in  a 
short  time,  and  the  explorers  began  to  thread  the  jungle  along  its  right 
bank  until  they  were  halted  point-blank  by  a  narrow  sluice  having  an 
immeasurable  depth  of  black  mud.  The  difficulty  presented  by  this 
was  very  grave,  though  its  breadth  was  barely  eight  feet ;  the  donkeys, 
and,  least  of  all,  the  horses,  could  not  be  made  to  traverse  two  poles  like 
the  biped  carriers,  neither  could  they  be  driven  into  the  sluice,  where 
they  would  quickly  founder.  The  only  available  way  of  crossing  it  in 
safety  was  by  means  of  a  bridge,  to  endure  in  this  conservative  land  for 
generations  as  the  handiwork  of  the  Wasungu.  So  they  set  to  work 
with  American  axes — the  first  of  their  kind  the  strokes  of  which  ever 
rang  in  this  part  of  the  world — to  build  a  bridge.  It  was  made  quickly, 
for  where  the  civilized  white  is  found,  a  difficulty  must  vanish.  The 
bridge  was  composed  of  six  stout  trees  thrown  across,  over  these  were 
laid  crosswise  fifteen  pack  saddles,  covered  again  with  a  thick  layer  of 
grass.  All  the  animals  crossed  it  safely,  and  then  for  a  third  time  that 
morning  the  process  of  wading  was  performed.  The  Kingani  flowed 
northerly  here,  and  the  course  lay  down  its  right  bank.  A  half  mile  in 
that  direction  through  a  jungle  of  giant  reeds  and  extravagant  climbers 
brought  them  to  the  ferry,  where  the  animals  had  to  be  again  unloaded. 
Says  Stanley :  "  Verily,  I  wished  when  I  saw  its  deep  muddy  waters 
that  I  possessed  the  power  of  Moses  with  his  magic  rod,  or  what  would 
have  answered  my  purpose  as  w^ell,  Aladdin's  ring,  for  then  I  could 
have  found  myself  and  party  on  the  opposite  side  without  further 
trouble  ;  but  not  having  either  of  these  gifts  I  issued  orders  for  an  im- 
mediate crossing,  for  it  was  ill  wishing  sublime  things  before  this  most 
mundane  prospect." 

Kingere,  the  canoe  paddler,  espying  the  explorers  from  his  brake 
covert,  on    the    opposite  side,  civilly  responded  to  their  halloos,  and 


86  WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 

brought  his  huge  hollowed  tree  skillfully  over  the  whirling  eddies  of  the 
river  to  where  they  stood  waiting  for  him.  While  one  party  loaded  the 
canoe  with  goods,  others  got  ready  a  long  rope  to  fasten  around  the 
animals'  necks,  wherewith  to  haul  them  through  the  river  to  the  othdr 
bank.  After  seeing  the  work  properly  commenced,  Stanley  amused 
himself  with  the  hippopotami  by  peppering  their  thick  skulls,  which 
did  no  more  than  slightly  tap  them,  causing  about  as  much  injury  as  a 
a  boy's  sling ;  it  was  perfect  accuracy  of  firing,  for  ten  times  in  suc- 
cession the  bullets  struck  the  tops  of  their  heads  between  the  ears.  One 
old  fellow,  with  the  look  of  a  sage,  was  tapped  close  to  the  right  ear  by 
one  of  these  bullets.  Instead  of  submerging  himself  as  others  had  done 
he  coolly  turned  round  his  head  as  if  to  ask,  "  Why  this  waste  of  valua- 
ble cartridges  on  us?  "  The  response  to  the  mute  inquiry  of  his  sage- 
ship  was  an  ounce-and-a-quarter  bullet  from  the  smooth-bore,  which 
made  him  bellow  with  pain,  and  in  a  few  moments  he  rose  up  again, 
tumbling  in  his  death  agonies.  As  his  groans  were  so  piteous,  the 
sportsman  refrained  from  a  useless  sacrifice  of  life,  and  left  the  amphibi- 
ous horde  in  peace.  A  little  knowledge  concerning  these  uncouth  in- 
mates of  the  African  waters  was  gained  even  during  the  few  minutes 
of  necessary  delay  at  the  ferry.  When  undisturbed  by  foreign  sounds, 
they  congregate  in  shallow  water  on  the  sand  bars,  with  the  fore  half 
of  their  bodies  exposed  to  the  warm  sunshine,  and  are  in  appearance, 
when  thus  somnolently  reposing,  very  like  a  herd  of  enormous  swine. 
When  startled  by  the  noise  of  an  intruder,  they  plunge  hastily  into  the 
depths,  lashing  the  waters  into  a  yellowish  foam,  and  scatter  themselves 
below  the  surface,  when  presently  the  heads  of  a  few  re-appear,  snorting 
the  water  from  their  nostrils,  to  take  a  fresh  breath  and  a  cautious 
scrutiny  around  them  ;  when  thus,  you  see  but  their  ears,  forehead,  eyes, 
and  nostrils,  and  as  they  hastily  submerge  again  it  requires  a  steady 
wrist  and  a  quick  hand  to  shoot  them. 

At  night  they  seek  the  shore,  and  wander  several  miles  over  the 
country,  luxuriating  among  its  rank  grasses.  To  within  four  miles  of 
the  town  of  Bagamoyo  (the  Kingani  is  eight  miles  distant)  their  wide 
tracks  are  seen.  Frequently,  if  not  disturbed  by  the  startling  human 
voice,  they  make  a  raid  on  the  rich  corn-stalks  of  the  native  cultivators, 
and  a  dozen  of  them  will,  in  a  few  minutes,  make  a  frightful  havoc  in  a 
large  field  of  this  plant.  Consequently  you  may  hear  the  owners  of 
the  grain  venting  loud  halloos,  like  the  farmer  boys  in  our  own  country 
when  scaring  the  crows  away  from  the  young  corn.  They  are  com- 
pelled to  be  constantly  on  the  alert  to  protect  their  property. 

Excepting  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  villages  there  are  no  traces  of 
cultivation.     The  country  extending  between  the  several  stations  is  as 


'n     ""irrvinmir 


llilijililteiilif        nil 

87 


88  WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 

much  a  wilderness  as  the  desert  of  Sahara,  though  it  possesses  a  far 
more  pleasing  aspect.  Indeed,  had  the  first  rhan  at  the  time  of  the 
creation  gazed  at  his  world  and  perceived  it  of  the  beauty  which  belongs 
to  this  part  of  Africa,  he  would  have  had  no  cause  of  complaint.  In 
the  deep  thickets,  set  like  islets  amid  a  sea  of  grassy  verdure,  he  would 
have  found  shelter  from  the  noonday  heat,  and  a  safe  retirement  for 
himself  and  spouse  during  the  lonesome  darkness.  In  the  morning  he 
could  have  walked  forth  on  the  sloping  sward,  enjoyed  its  freshness,  and 
performed  his  ablutions  in  one  of  the  many  small  streams  flowing  at  its 
foot.  His  garden  of  fruit-trees  is  all  that  is  required  ;  the  noble  forests, 
deep  and  cool,  are  round  about  him,  and  in  their  shade  walk  as  many 
animals  as  one  can  desire.  For  days  and  days  let  a  man  walk  in  any 
direction,  north,  south,  east,  and  west,  and  he  will  behold  the  same 
scene  of  surpassing  fertility  and  loveliness. 

A    HUNTING    EXCURSION. 

Mr.  Stanley  thus  pleasantly  describes  one  of  his  hunting  experiences  : 
Pending  the  arrival  of  the  caravan,  I  sought  the  pleasures  of  the  chase. 
I  was  but  a  tyro  in  hunting,  I  confess,  though  I  had  shot  a  little  on  the 
plains  of  America  and  Persia ;  yet  I  considered  myself  a  fair  shot,  and 
on  game  ground,  and  within  a  reasonable  proximity  to  game,  I  doubted 
not  but  I  could  bring  some  to  camp.  After  a  march  of  a  mile  through 
the  tall  grass  of  the  opening,  we  gained  the  glades  between  the  jungles. 
Unsuccessful  here,  after  ever  so  much  prying  into  fine  hiding-places  and 
lurking  corners,  I  struck  a  trail  well  traversed  by  small  antelope  and 
hartebeest,  which  we  followed.  It  led  me  into  a  jungle,  and  down  a 
water-course  bisecting  it ;  but,  after  following  it  for  an  hour,  I  lost  it, 
and,  in  endeavoring  to  retrace  it,  lost  my  way.  However,  my  pocket- 
compass  stood  me  in  good  stead  ;  and  by  it  I  steered  for  the  open  plain, 
in  the  centre  of  which  stood  the  camp.  But  it  was  terribly  hard  work 
— this  of  plunging  through  an  African  jungle,  ruinous  to  clothes,  and 
trying  to  the  cuticle.  In  order  to  travel  quickly,  I  had  donned  a  pair 
of  flannel  trousers,  and  my  feet  were  encased  in  canvas  shoes.  As 
might  be  expected,  before  I  had  gone  a  few  paces  a  branch  of  the  acacia 
horrida — only  one  of  a  hundred  such  annoyances — caught  the  right  leg 
of  my  trousers  at  the  knee,  and  ripped  it  almost  clean  off;  succeeding 
which  a  stumpy  thorn  caught  me  by  the  shoulder,  and  another  rip 
was  the  inevitable  consequence.  A  few  yards  further  on,  a  prickly 
aloetic  plant  disfigured  by  a  wide  tear  the  other  leg  of  my  trousers,  and 
almost  immediately  I  tripped  against  a  convolvulus  strong  as  ratline, 
and  was  made  to  measure  my  length  on  a  bed  of  thorns.  It  was  on  all 
fours,  like  a  hound  on  a  scent,  that  I  was  compelled  to  travel ;  my  solar 
topee  getting  the  worse  for  wear  every  minute ;  my  skin  getting  more 


90  WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 

and  more  wounded ;  my  clothes  at  each  step  becoming  more  and  more 
tattered.  Besides  these  discomforts,  there  was  a  pungent,  acrid  plant, 
which,  apart  from  its  strong,  odorous  emissions,  struck  me  smartly  on 
the  face,  leaving  a  burning  effect  similar  to  cayenne ;  and  the  atmos- 
phere, pent  in  by  the  density  of  the  jungle,  was  hot  and  stifling,  and  the 
perspiration  transuded  through  every  pore,  making  my  flannel  tatters 
feel  as  if  I  had  been  through  a  shower.  When  I  had  finally  regained 
the  plain,  and  could  breathe  free,  I  mentally  vowed  that  the  penetralia 
of  an  African  jungle  should  not  be  visited  by  me  again,  save  under  most 
urgent  necessity. 

AFRICAN    BELLES. 

One  of  the  halting-places  was  Kisemo,  a  village  situated  in  a  popu- 
lous district,  having  in  its  vicinity  no  less  than  five  other  villages,  each 
fortified  by  stakes  and  thorny  abattis,  with  as  much  fierce  independence 
as  if  their  petty  lords  were  so  many  Percys  and  Douglasses.  Each 
topped  a  ridge,  or  a  low  hummock,  with  an  assumption  of  defiance. 
Between  these  humble  eminences  and  low  ridges  of  land  wind  narrow 
vales  which  are  favored  with  the  cultivation  of  matama  and  Indian 
corn.  The  belles  of  Kisemo  are  noted  for  their  vanity  in  brass  wire, 
which  is  wound  in  spiral  rings  round  their  wrists  and  ankles,  and  the 
varieties  of  styles  which  their  hispid  heads  exhibit;  while  their  poor 
lords,  obliged  to  be  contented  with  dingy  torn  rags  and  split  ears, 
show  what  wide  sway  Asmodeus  holds  over  this  terrestrial  sphere — 
for  it  must  have  been  an  unhappy  time  when  the  hard-besieged  hus- 
bands finally  gave  way  before  their  spouses.  Besides  these  brassy 
ornaments  on  their  extremities,  and  the  various  hair-dressing  styles, 
the  women  of  Kisemo  frequently  wear  lengthy  necklaces,  which  run 
in  rivers  of  colors  down  their  bodies.  A  more  comical  picture  is  seldom 
presented  than  that  of  one  of  these  highly-dressed  females  engaged  in 
the  homely  and  necessary  task  of  grinding  corn  for  herself  and  family. 
The  grinding  apparatus  consists  of  two  portions  :  one,  a  thick  pole  of 
hard  wood  about  six  feet  long,  answering  for  a  pestle  ;  the  other,  a  ca- 
pacious wooden  mortar,  three  feet  in  height. 

PUNISHING    A    THIEF. 

At  one  point  in  the  journey,  one  of  Stanley's  men,  Khamisi,  disap- 
peared, and  certain  valuables  with  him.  Uledi  and  Ferajji,  who  had 
been  dispatched  after  the  truant,  soon  returned  with  him  and  all  the 
missing  articles.  Khamisi,  soon  after  leaving  the  road  and  plunging 
into  the  jungle,  where  he  was  mentally  triumphing  in  his  booty,  was  met 
by  some  of  the  plundering  Washensi,  who  are  always  on  the  qui  vive 
for  stragglers,  and  unceremoniously  taken  to  their  village  in  thew^oods, 
and  bound  to  a  tree  preparatory  to  being  killed.     Khamisi  said  that  he 


TRAVELS    OF    STANLEY    IN    THE    TROPICS.  91 

asked  them  why  they  tied  him  up,  to  which  they  answered,  that  they 
were  about  to  kill  him,  because  he  was  a  Mgwana,  whom  they  were 
accustomed  to  kill  as  soon  as  they  were  caught.  But  Uledi  and 
Ferajji  shortly  after  coming  upon  the  scene,  both  well  armed,  put  an 
end  to  the  debates  upon  Khamisi's  fate,  by  claiming  him  as  an  abscond- 
ing porter  from  the  Musungu's  camp,  as  well  as  all  the  articles  he  pos- 
sessed at  the  time  of  capture.  The  robbers  did  not  dispute  the  claim 
for  the  porter,  goats,  tent,  or  any  other  valuable  found  with  him,  but 
intimated  that  they  deserved  a  reward  for  apprehending  him.  The  de- 
mand being  considered  just,  a  reward  to  the  extent  of  eight  yards  of 
cloth  and  a  fundo,  or  ten  necklaces  of  beads,  was  given. 

Khamisi,  for  his  desertion  and  attempted  robbery,  could  not  be  par- 
doned without  first  suffering  punishment.  He  had  asked  at  Bagamoyo, 
before  enlisting  in  the  service,  an  advance  of  five  dollars  in  money,  and 
had  received  it ;  and  a  load  of  Bubu  beads,  no  heavier  than  a  porter's 
load,  had  been  given  him  to  carry ;  he  had,  therefore,  no  excuse  for 
desertion.  Lest  prudence  should  be  overstepped,  however,  in  punish- 
ing him,  a  court  of  eight  porters  and  four  soldiers  was  convened  to  sit 
in  judgment,  and  asked  to  give  their  decision  as  to  what  should  be 
done.  Their  unanimous  verdict  was  that  he  was  guilty  of  a  crime 
almost  unknown  among  the  native  porters,  and  as  it  was  likely  to  give 
bad  repute  to  the  carriers,  they  therefore  sentenced  him  to  be  flogged 
with  the  "  Great  Master's  "  donkey  whip,  which  was  accordingly  carried 
out,  to  poor  Khamisi's  crying  sorrow. 

NEWS    OF    LIVINGSTONE. 

At  Muhalleh  Stanley  met  Salim  bin  Rashid,  bound  eastward,  with 
a  huge  caravan  carrying  three  hundred  ivory  tusks.  This  good  Arab, 
besides  welcoming  the  new  comer  v.'ith  a  present  of  rice,  gave  him  news 
of  Livingstone.  He  had  met  the  old  traveler  at  Ujiji,  had  lived  in  the 
next  hut  to  him  for  two  weeks,  described  him  as  looking  old,  with  long 
gray  moustaches  and  beard,  just  recovered  from  severe  illness,  looking 
very  wan  ;  when  fully  recovered  Livingstone  intended  to  visit  a  country 
called  Manyema  by  way  of  Marungu. 

Stanley  thus  describes  the  annoyances  met  with  in  one  part  of  his 
march  through  this  wild  region  : 

We  quit  our  camp,  where  so  much  anxiety  of  mind  and  fretfulness 
had  been  suffered,  not  heeding  a  furious  rain,  which,  after  drenching  us 
all  night,  might  have  somewhat  damped  our  ardor  for  the  march  under 
other  circumstances.  The  road  for  the  first  mile  led  over  reddish 
ground,  and  was  drained  by  gentle  slopes  falling  east  and  west ;  but, 
leaving  the  cover  of  the  friendly  woods,  on  whose  eastern  margin  we 
had  experienced   many  discomforts,  we    cheered    ourselves  with   the 


92 


WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 


reflection  that  all  our  difficulties  would  finally  be  passed.  We  were 
not  destined,  however,  to  realize  any  such  good  fortune  immediately; 
and  here  it  may  as  well  be  said  that  the  traveler  in  Africa  will  alwavs 


HENRY   M.    STANLEY. 

be  met  by  unexpected  obstacles,  will  propose  one  thing  and  be  com- 
pelled to  do  another,  and  just  when  he  imagines  the  path  is  clear  before 
him,  he  may  meet  with  disappointment.     From  the  woods  where  we 


TRAVELS    OF    STANLEY    IN    THE    TROPICS.  93 

had  been  delayed  so  long,  we  emerged  into  one  of  the  savannahs,  whose 
soil  during  the  rain  is  as  soft  as  slush  and  tenacious  as  thick  mortar, 
where  we  were  all  threatened  with  the  fate  of  the  famous  Arkansas 
traveler,  who  had  sunk  so  low  in  one  of  the  many  quagmires  in 
Arkansas  county,  that  nothing  but  his  tall  "  stove-pipe  "  hat  was  left 
visible. 

Shaw,  one  of  the  white  men,  was  sick,  and  the  whole  duty  of  driving 
the  foundering  caravan  devolved  upon  myself  The  donkeys  stuck  in 
the  mire  as  if  they  were  rooted  to  it.  As  fast  as  one  was  flogged  from 
his  stubborn  position,  prone  to  the  depths  fell  another,  giving  me  a 
Sisyphean  labor,  which  was  maddening  under  pelting  rain,  assisted  by 
such  men  as  Bombay  and  Uledi,  who  could  not  for  a  whole  skin's  sake 
stomach  the  storm  and  mire.  Two  hours  of  such  a  task  enabled  me 
to  drag  my  caravan  over  a  savannah  one  mile  and  a  half  broad ;  and 
barely  had  I  finished  congratulating  myself  over  my  success  before  I 
was  halted  by  a  deep  ditch,  which,  filled  with  rain-water  from  the  inun- 
dated savannahs,  had  become  a  considerable  stream,  breast-deep,  flow- 
ing swiftly  into  the  Makata.  Donkeys  had  to  be  unloaded,  led  through 
a  torrent,  and  loaded  again  on  the  other  bank — an  operation  which  con- 
sumed a  full  hour. 

Presently,  after  straggling  through  a  wood  clump,  barring  our  pro- 
gress was  another  stream,  swollen  into  a  river.  The  bridge  being  swept 
away,  we  were  obliged  to  swim  and  float  our  baggage  over,  which 
delayed  us  two  hours  more.  Leaving  this  second  riv^er-bank,  we 
splashed,  waded,  occasionally  half-swimming,  and  reeled  through  mire, 
water-dripping  grass  and  matama  stalks,  along  the  left  bank  of  the 
Makata  proper,  until  further  progress  was  effectually  prevented  for  that 
day  by  a  deep  bend  of  the  river,  which  we  should  be  obliged  to  cross 
the  next  day.  Though  but  six  miles  were  traversed  during  that  miser- 
able day,  the  march  occupied  ten  hours.  Half  dead  with  fatigue,  I  yet 
could  feel  thankful  that  it  was  not  accompanied  by  fever,  which  it 
seemed  a  miracle  to  avoid  ;  for  if  e\'er  a  district  was  cursed  with  the 
ague,  the  Makata  wilderness  ranks  foremost  of  those  afflicted.  Surely 
the  sight  of  the  dripping  woods  enveloped  in  opaque  mist,  of  the  in- 
undated country  with  lengthy  swathes  of  tiger-grass  laid  low  by  the 
turbid  flood,  of  mounds  of  decaying  trees  and  canes,  of  the  swollen 
river  and  the  weeping  sky,  was  enough  to  engender  the  ague. 

CAPTURLVG    A    DESERTER. 

One  of  the  soldiers  engaged  at  Bagamoyo,  named  Kingaru,  improved 
this  opportunity  to  desert.  The  two  detectives,  Uledi  and  Sarmean, 
were  immediately  dispatched  in  pursuit,  both  being  armed  with  Amer- 
ican breech-loaders.     They  went  about  their  task  with  an  adroitness 


94  WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 

and  celerity  which  augured  well  for  their  success.  In  an  hour  they 
returned  with  the  runaway,  having  found  him  hidden  in  the  house  of 
a  chief  called  Kigondo,  who  had  accompanied  Uledi  and  Sarmean  to 
receive  his  reward,  and  render  an  account  of  the  incident. 

Kigondo  said,  when  he  had  been  seated,  "  I  saw  this  man  carrying  a 
bundle,  and  running  hard,  by  which  I  knew  that  he  was  deserting  you. 
We  (my  wife  and  I)  were  sitting  in  our  little  watch-hut,  watching  our 
corn ;  and,  as  the  road  runs  close  by,  this  man  was  obliged  to  come 
close  to  us.  We  called  to  him  when  he  was  near,  saying,  '  Master, 
where  are  you  going  so  fast  ?  Are  you  deserting  the  Musungu,  for  we 
know  you  belong  to  him,  since  you  bought  from  us  yesterday  two  doti 
worth  of  meat  ?  '  '  Yes,'  said  he,  '  I  am  running  away ;  I  want  to  get 
to  Simbamwenni.  If  you  will  take  me  there,  I  will  give  you  a  doti.' 
We  said  to  him  then,  '  Come  into  our  house,  and  we  will  talk  it  over 
quietly.'  When  he  was  in  our  house  in  an  inner  room,  we  locked  him 
up,  and  went  out  again  to  the  watch  ;  but  leaving  word  with  the  women 
to  look  out  for  him.  We  knew  that  if  you  wanted  him  you  would 
send  askari  (soldiers)  after  him.  We  had  but  lit  our  pipes  when  we 
saw  two  men  armed  with  short  guns,  and  having  no  loads,  coming 
along  the  road,  looking  now  and  then  on  the  ground,  as  if  they  were 
looking  at  footmarks.  We  knew  them  to  be  the  men  we  were  expect- 
ing ;  so  we  hailed  them,  and  said,  '  Masters,  what  are  ye  looking  for  ?  ' 
They  said,  '  We  are  looking  for  a  man  who  has  deserted  our  master. 
Here  are  his  footsteps.  If  you  have  been  long  in  your  hut  you  must 
have  seen  him.  Can  you  tell  us  where  he  is  ?  '  We  said,  '  Yes,  he  is 
in  our  house.  If  you  will  come  with  us,  we  will  give  him  up  to  you ; 
but  your  master  must  give  us  something  for  catching  him.'  " 

As  Kigondo  had  promised  to  deliver  Kingaru  up,  there  remained 
nothing  further  to  do  for  Uledi  and  Sarmean  but  to  take  charge  of  their 
prisoner,  and  bring  him  and  his  captors  to  my  camp  on  the  western 
bank  of  the  Makata.  Kingaru  received  two  dozen  lashes,  and  was 
chained  :  his  captor  four  yards  of  cloth,  besides  five  strings  of  red  coral 
beads  for  his  wife,  causing  the  man  to  go  away  very  happy. 

MONKEYS    AND    INSECTS. 

Approaching  the  land  of  Ugogo,  the  expedition  found  all  kinds  of 
animal  life  in  a  flourishing  condition.  Rhinoceroses,  steinboks  and  ante- 
lopes were  numerous.     Some  hills  were  literally  covered  with  monkeys. 

Second  to  the  earwigs  in  importance  and  in  numbers  were  the  white 
ants,  whose  powers  of  destructiveness  were  simply  awful.  Mats,  cloth, 
portmanteaus,  clothes,  in  short,  every  article  seemed  on  the  verge  of 
destruction,  and,  as  the  explorers  witnessed  their  voracity,  they  felt 
anxious  lest  tents  should  be  devoured  while  they  slept.    This  was  the  first 


96  WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 

camp  since  leaving  the  coast  where  their  presence  became  a  matter  of 
anxiety  ;  at  all  other  camping  places  hitherto  the  red  and  black  ants  had 
usurped  their  attention,  but  at  Mpwapwa  the  red  species  were  not  seen, 
while  the  black  were  also  very  scarce. 

A    MOB   AT   UGOGO. 

Having  arrived  at  Ugogo,  the  first  objective  point  of  the  expedition, 
the  travelers  found  themselves  the  objects  of  the  most  annoying 
curiosity.  A  white  man  was  a  strange  being.  Says  our  hero :  The 
first  words  I  heard  in  Ugogo  were  from  a  Wagogo  elder,  of  sturdy  form, 
who  in  an  indolent  way  tended  the  flocks,  but  showed  a  marked  interest 
in  the  stranger  clad  in  white  flannels,  with  a  Hawkes'  patent  cork  solar 
topee  on  his  head,  a  most  unusual  thing  in  Ugogo,  who  came 
walking  past  him,  and  there  were  "  Yambo,  Musungu,  Yambo,  bana, 
bana,"  delivered  with  a  voice  loud  enough  to  make  itself  heard  a  full 
mile  away.  No  sooner  had  the  greeting  been  delivered  than  the  word 
"  Musungu  "  seemed  to  electrify  his  entire  village  ;  and  the  people  of 
other  villages,  situated  at  intervals  near  the  road,  noting  the  excitement 
that  reigned  at  the  first,  also  participated  in  the  general  frenzy  which 
seemed  suddenly  to  have  possessed  them.  I  consider  my  progress 
from  the  first  village  to  Mvumi  to  have  been  most  triumphant ;  for  I 
was  accompanied  by  a  furious  mob  of  men,  women  and  children,  all 
almost  as  naked  as  Mother  E\-e  when  the  world  first  dawned  upon  her 
in  the  garden  of  Eden,  fighting,  quarreling,  jostling,  staggering  against 
each  other  for  the  best  view  of  the  white  man,  the  like  of  whom  was 
now  seen  for  the  first  time  in  this  part  of  Ugogo.  The  cries  of  ad- 
miration, such  as  "Hi-le!"  which  broke  often  and  in  confused  uproar 
upon  my  ear,  were  not  gratefully  accepted,  inasmuch  as  I  deemed  many 
of  them  impertinent.  A  respectful  silence  and  more  reserved  beha- 
vior would  have  won  my  esteem ;  but,  ye  powers,  who  cause  etiquette 
to  be  observed  in  Africa,  respectful  silence,  reserved  behavior,  and  es- 
teem are  terms  unknown  in  savage  Ugogo.  Hitherto  I  had  compared 
myself  to  a  merchant  of  Bagdad  traveling  among  the  Kurds  of  Kurdis- 
tan, selling  his  wares  of  Damascus  silk;  but  now  I  was  compelled 
to  lower  my  standard,  and  thought  myself  not  much  better  than  a 
monkey  in  a  zoological  collection.  One  of  my  soldiers  requested  them 
to  lessen  their  vociferous  noise ;  but  the  evil-minded  race  ordered  him 
to  shut  up,  as  a  thing  unworthy  to  speak  to  the  Wagogo !  W'hen  I 
imploringly  turned  to  the  Arabs  for  counsel  in  this  strait,  an  old  Sheikh 
said,  "Heed  them  not;  they  are  dogs  who  bite  besides  barking." 

Hitherto,  those  we  had  met  had  contented  themselves  with  staring 
and  shouting ;  but  these  outstepped  all  bounds,  and  my  growing  anger 
at  their  excessive  insolence  vented   itself  in  gripping  the  rowdiest  of 


TRAVELS    OF   STANLEY    IN    THE   TROPICS.  97^ 

them  by  the  neck,  and  before  he  could  recover  from  his  astonishment 
administering  a  sound  thrashing  with  mv  dog-whip,  which  he  httle 
rehshed.  This  proceeding  educed  from  the  tribe  of  starers  all  their 
native  power  of  vituperation  and  abuse,  in  expressing  which  they  were 
peculiar.  Approaching  in  manner  to  angry  tom-cats,  they  jerked  out  their 
words  with  something  of  a  splitting  hiss  and  a  half  bark.  The  ejacula- 
tion, as  near  as  I  can  spell  it  phonetically,  was  "hahcht,"  uttered  in  a 
shrill  crescendo  tone.  They  paced  backwards  and  forwards,  asking 
themselves,  "Are  the  Wagogo  to  be  beaten  like  slaves  by  this  Musun- 
gu?"  But  whenever  I  made  motion,  flourishing  my  whip  towards  them, 
these  mighty  braggarts  found  it  convenient  to  move  to  respectable  dis- 
tances from  the  irritated  Musungu. 

Perceiving  that  a  little  manliness  and  show  of  power  was  something 
which  the  natives  long  needed,  and  that  in  this  instance  it  relieved  me 
from  annoyance,  I  had  recourse  to  my  whip,  whose  long  lash  cracked 
like  a  pistol  shot  whenever  they  overstepped  moderation.  So  long  as 
they  continued  to  confine  their  obtrusiveness  to  staring,  and  communi- 
cating to  each  other  their  opinions  respecting  my  complexion,  and 
dress,  and  accoutrements,  I  philosophically  resigned  myself  in  silence 
for  their  amusement ;  but  when  they  pressed  on  me,  barely  allowing  me 
to  proceed,  a  few  vigorous  and  rapid  slashes  right  and  left  with  my  ser- 
viceable thong,  soon  cleared  the  track. 

A    RENOWNED    MOGUL. 

Arrived  at  Mizanza,  the  lofty  tent,  and  the  American  flag  which  ever 
flew  from  the  centre  pole,  attracted  the  Sultan  of  that  place  towards  it, 
and  was  the  cause  of  a  visit  with  which  he  honored  Stanley.  As  he 
was  notorious  among  the  Arabs  for  having  assisted  Manwa  Sera  in  his 
war  against  Sheikh  Sny  bin  Amer,  high  eulogies  upon  whom  have  been 
written  by  Burton,  and  subsequently  by  Speke,  and  as  he  was  the 
second  most  powerful  chief  in  Ugogo,  of  course  he  was  quite  a  curios- 
ity. As  the  tent-door  was  uplifted  that  he  might  enter,  the  ancient 
gentleman  was  so  struck  with  astonishment  at  the  lofty  apex  and  inter- 
nal arrangements,  that  the  greasy  Barsati  cloth  which  formed  his  sole 
and  only  protection  against  the  chills  of  night  and  the  heat  of  noon,  in 
a  fit  of  abstraction  was  permitted  to  fall  down  to  his  feet,  exposing  to 
the  Musungu's  unhallowed  gaze  the  sad  and  aged  wreck  of  what  must 
once  have  been  a  towering  form.  His  son,  a  youth  of  about  fifteen, 
attentive  to  the  infirmities  of  his  father,  hastened  with  filial  duty  to  re- 
mind him  of  his  condition,  upon  which,  with  an  idiotic  titter  at  the  in- 
cident, he  resumed  his  scanty  apparel  and  sat  down  to  wonder  and 
gibber  out  his  admiration  at  the  tent  and  the  strange  things  which 
formed  the  Musungu's  personal  baggage  and  furniture.  After  gazing 
7 


98  WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AXD  ADVENTURE. 

in  stupid  wonder  at  the  table,  on  which  was  placed  some  crockery  and 
a  few  books  ; '  at  the  slung  hammock,  which  he  believed  was  suspended 
by  some  magical  contrivance ;  at  the  portmanteaus  which  contained  a 
stock  of  clothes,  he  ejaculated,  "Hi-le!  the  Musungu  is  a  great  sultan, 
who  has  come  from  his  country  to  see  Ugogo."  He  then  noticed  Stanley, 
and  was  again  wonder-struck  at  his  pale  complexion  and  straight  hair, 
and  the  question  now  propounded  was,  "  How  on  earth  was  Stanley 
white  when  the  sun  had  burned  his  people's  skins  into  blackness?" 
Whereupon  he  was  shown  the  traveler's  cork  topee,  which  he  tried  on 
his  woolly  head,  much  to  his  amusement.  The  guns  were  next  shown 
to  him  ;  the  wonderful  repeating  rifle  of  the  Winchester  Company, 
which  was  fired  thirteen  times  in  rapid  succession  to  demonstrate  its 
remarkable  murderous  powers.  If  he  was  astonished  before,  he  was  a 
thousand  times  more  so  now,  and  expressed  his  belief  that  the  Wagogo 
could  not  stand  before  the  Musungu  in  battle,  for  wherever  a  Wagogo 
was  seen  such  a  gun  would  surely  kill  him.  Then  the  other  firearms 
were  brought  forth,  each  with  its  peculiar  mechanism  explained,  until, 
in  a  burst  of  enthusiasm  at  such  riches  and  power,  he  said  he  would 
send  Stanley  a  sheep  or  goat,  and  that  he  would  be  his  brother. 
Stanley  thanked  him  for  the  honor,  and  promised  to  accept  whatever 
he  was  pleased  to  send.  At  the  instigation  of  Sheikh  Thani,  who 
acted  as  interpreter,  who  said  that  Wagogo  chiefs  must  not  depart  with 
empty  hands,  Stanley  cut  off  two  yards  of  cloth  and  presented  it  to 
him,  which,  after  being  examined  and  measured,  was  refused  upon  the 
ground  that,  the  Musungu  being  a  great  sultan  should  not  demean  him- 
self so  much  as  to  give  him  only  two  yards.  As  he  was  about  to 
present  a  sheep  or  goat  another  piece  would  not  matter  much. 

Shortly  after  he  departed,  and  true  to  his  promise,  he  sent  a  large,  fine 
sheep,  with  a  broad  tail,  heavy  with  fat ;  but  with  the  words,  "  That 
being  now  his  brother,  Stanley  must  send  him  twelve  of  good  cloth." 
As  the  price  of  a  sheep  is  but  six  yards,  Stanley  refused  the  sheep  and 
the  fraternal  honor,  upon  the  ground  that  the  gifts  were  all  on  one  side, 
and  he  could  not  afford  to  part  with  any  more  cloth  without  an 
adequate  return. 

The  caravan  next  halted  for  a  short  time  at  Little  Mukondoku. 
Twelve  yards  of  cloth  as  duty  satisfied  the  Sultan,  whose  district  con- 
tains but  two  villages,  mostly  occupied  by  pastoral  Wahumba.  The 
Wahumba  live  in  plastered  cone  huts,  shaped  like  the  tartar  tents  of 
Turkestan.  The  Wahumba  are  a  fine  and  well-formed  race.  The  men 
are  positively  handsome,  tall,  with  small  heads,  the  posterior  parts  of 
which  project  considerably.  One  will  look  in  vain  for  a  thick  lip  or  a 
flat  nose  amongst  them  ;  on  the   contrary,  the  mouth  is  exceedingly 


TRAVELS  OF  STANLEV  IN  THE  TROPICS.  99 

well  cut,  delicately  small ;  the  nose  is  that  of  the  Greeks,  and  so  univer- 
sal was  the  peculiar  feature,  that  Stanley  at  once  named  them  the 
Greeks  of  Africa.  Their  lower  limbs  have  not  the  heaviness  of  the 
Wagogo  and  other  tribes,  but  are  long  and  shapely,  clean  as  those  of 
an  antelope.  Their  necks  are  long  and  slender,  on  which  their  small 
heads  are  poised  most  gracefully.  Athletes  from  their  youth,  shepherd 
bred,  and  intermarrying  among  themselves,  thus  keeping  the  race  pure, 
any  of  them  would  form  a  fit  subject  for  the  sculptor  who  would  wish 
to  immortalize  in  marble  an  Antinous,  a  Hylas,  a  Daphnis,  or  an 
Apollo.  The  women  are  as  beautiful  as  the  men  are  handsome.  They 
have  clear  ebon  skins,  not  coal-black,  but  of  an  inky  hue.  Their  orna- 
ments consist  of  spiral  rings  of  brass  pendent  from  the  ears,  brass  ring 
collars  about  the  necks,  and  a  spiral  cincture  of  brass  wire  about  their 
loins  for  the  purpose  of  retaining  their  calf  and  goat  skins,  which  are 
folded  about  their  bodies,  and,  depending  from  the  shoulder,  shade  one 
half  of  the  bosom,  and  fall  to  the  knees. 

On  the  advance,  it  was  noticed  that  the  plains  abounded  in  animals 
of  various  descriptions,  among  them  that  wonder  of  the  animal  crea- 
tion, the  tall  and  graceful  giraffe,  which  is  often  game  for  the  hunter. 

DESCRIPTION    OF    AN    AFRICAN    VILLAGE. 

Our  traveler  was  now  in  Unyanyembe,  having  pushed  his  expedition 
on  successfully  to  this  point,  and  shown  a  genius  for  overcoming  all 
difficulties.  Of  one  of  the  villages  and  its  surroundings  he  speaks  in 
this  wise :  We  crossed  a  ridge,  and  soon  saw  Kwihara  lying  between 
two  low  ranges  of  hills,  the  northernmost  of  which  was  terminated  west- 
ward by  the  round  fortress-like  hill  of  Zimbili.  There  was  a  cold  glare 
of  intense  sunshine  over  the  valley,  probably  the  effect  of  a  universal 
bleakness  or  an  autumnal  ripeness  of  the  grass,  unrelieved  by  any 
depth  of  color  to  vary  the  universal  sameness.  .  The  hills  were  bleached, 
or  seemed  to  be,  under  that  dazzling  sunshine,  and  clearest  atmosphere. 
The  corn  had  long  been  cut,  and  there  lay  the  stubble,  and  fields — a 
browny-white  expanse ;  the  houses  were  of  mud,  and  their  flat  roofs 
were  of  mud,  and  the  mud  was  of  a  browny- whiteness ;  the  huts  were 
thatched,  and  the  stockades  around  them  of  barked  timber,  and  these 
were  of  a  browny-whiteness.  The  cold,  fierce,  sickly  wind  from  the 
mountains  of  Usagara  sent  a  deadly  chill  to  our  very  marrows,  yet  the 
intense  sunshiny  glare  never  changed;  a  black  cow  or  two,  or  a  tall  tree 
here  and  there,  caught  the  eye  for  a  moment,  but  they  never  made  one 
forget  that  the  first  impression  of  Kwihara  was  as  of  a  picture  without 
color,  or  of  food  without  taste ;  and  if  one  looked  up,  there  was  a  sky 
of  a  pale  blue,  spotless,  and  of  an  awful  serenity  and  cheerless  color. 
The  second  day  of  the  arrival  of  the  expedition  in  Unyanyembe,  the 


:^-4Mu,.1fK. 


HUNTING    THE    GIRAFFE. 


100 


TRAVELS    OF    STANLEY    IN    THE    TROPICS.  101 

country  which  is  looked  upon  as  classic  (ground,  since  Capts.  Burton, 
Speke  and  Grant  years  ago  visited  it,  and  described  it,  came  the  Arab 
magnates  from  Tabora  to  congratulate  the  traveler.  Tabora  is  the 
principal  Arab  settlement  in  Central  Africa.  It  contains  over  a  thou- 
sand huts  and  tembes,  and  one  may  safely  estimate  the  population, 
Arabs  and  natives,  at  five  thousand  people. 

They  were  a  fine,  handsome  body  of  men,  these  Arabs.  They  mostly 
hailed  from  Oman,  and  each  of  the  visitors  had  quite  a  retinue  with 
him.  At  Tabora  they  live  quite  luxuriously.  The  plain  on  which  the 
settlement  is  situated  is  exceedingly  fertile,  though  naked  of  trees  ;  the 
rich  pasturage  it  furnishes  permits  them  to  keep  large  herds  of  cattle 
and  goats,  from  which  they  have  an  ample  supply  of  milk,  cream, 
butter,  and  ghee.  Rice  is  grown  everywhere ;  sweet  potatoes,  yams, 
muhogo,  holcus  sorghum,  maize,  or  Indian  corn,  sesame,  millet,  field- 
peas,  or  vetches,  called  choroko,  are  cheap,  and  always  procurable. 
Around  their  tembes  the  Arabs  cultivate  a  little  wheat  for  their  own 
purposes,  and  have  planted  orange,  lemon,  papaw,  and  mangoes,  which 
thrive  here  fairly  well.  Onions  and  garlic,  chilies,  cucumbers,  tomatoes, 
and  brinjalls,  may  be  procured  by  the  white  visitor  from  the  more  im- 
portant Arabs,  who  are  undoubted  epicureans  in  their  way.  Their 
slaves  convey  to  them  from  the  coast,  once  a  year  at  least,  their  stores 
of  tea,  coffee,  sugar,  spices,  jellies,  curries,  wine,  brandy,  biscuits,  sar- 
dines, salmon,  and  such  fine  cloths  ancl  articles  as  they  require  for  their 
own  personal  use.  Almost  every  Arab  of  any  eminence  is  able  to  show 
a  wealth  of  Persian  carpets,  and  most  luxurious  bedding,  complete  tea 
and  coffee-services,  and  magnificently  carved  dishes  of  tinned  copper 
and  brass  lavers.  Several  of  them  sport  gold  watches  and  chains, 
mostly  all  a  watch  and  chain  of  some  kind.  And,  as  in  Persia,  Afghan- 
istan, and  Turkey,  the  harems  form  an  essential  feature  of  every  Arab's 
household  ;  the  sensualism  of  the  Mohammedans  is  as  prominent  here 
as  in  the  Orient. 

STANLEY    AT    A    COUNCIL    OF    WAR. 

The  visit  of  these  magnates,  under  whose  loving  protection  white 
travelers  must  needs  submit  themselves,  was  only  a  formal  one,  such  as 
an  Arab  etiquette,  e^^er  of  the  stateliest  and  truest,  impelled  them  to 
make.  After  having  expended  their  stock  of  congratulations  and  non- 
sense, they  departed,  having  stated  their  wish  that  Stanley  should  visit 
them  at  Tabora  and  partake  of  a  feast  which  they  were  about  to  pre- 
pare for  him.  Three  days  afterwards  he  sallied  out  with  eighteen 
bravely  dressed  men  of  his  escort  to  pay  Tabora  a  visit.  On  surmount- 
ing the  saddle  over  which  the  road  from  the  valley  of  Kwihara  leads  to 
Tabora,  the  plain  on   which  the  Arab  settlement  is  situated  lay  before 


102  WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 

them,  one  expanse  of  dun  pasture  land,  stretching  from  the  base  of  the 
hill  on  the  left  as  far  as  the  banks  of  the  northern  Gombe,  which  a  few 
miles  beyond  Tabora  heave  into  purple-colored  hills  and  blue  cones. 

Within  three-quarters  of  an  hour  they  were  seated  on  the  mud  ve- 
randa of  the  tembe  of  Sultan  bin  Ali,  who,  because  of  his  age,  his 
wealth,  and  position,  is  looked  upon  by  his  countrymen,  high  and  low, 
as  referee  and  counselor.  His  boma  or  enclosure  contains  quite  a  vil- 
lage of  hive-shaped  huts.  From  here,  after  being  presented  with  a  cup 
of  Mocha  coffee,  and  some  sherbet,  the  visitors  directed  their  steps  to- 
wards Khamis  bin  Abdullah's  house,  who  had,  in  anticipation  of  their 
coming,  prepared  a  feast  to  which  he  had  invited  his  friends  and  neigh- 
bors. The  group  of  stately  Arabs  in  their  long  white  dresses,  and 
jaunty  caps,  also  of  a  snowy  white,  who  stood  ready  to  welcome  Stanley 
to  Tabora,  produced  quite  an  effect  on  his  mind.  He  was  in  time  for 
a  council  of  war  they  were  holding — and  he  was  requested  to  attend. 

Khamis  bin  Abdullah,  a  bold  and  brave  man,  ever  ready  to  stand  up 
for  the  privileges  of  the  Arabs,  and  their  rights  to  pass  through  any 
countries  for  legitimate  trade,  is  the  man  who,  in  Speke's  "  Journal  of 
the  Discovery  of  the  Source  of  the  Nile,"  is  reported  to  have  shot 
Maula,  an  old  chief  who  sided  with  Manwa  Sera  during  the  wars  of 
i860;  and  who  subsequently,  after  chasing  his  relentless  enemy  for 
five  years  through  Ugogo  and  Unyamwezi,  had  the  satisfaction  of  be- 
heading him,  and  was  now  urging  the  Arabs  to  assert  their  rights  against 
a  chief  called  Mirambo  of  Uyoweh,  in  a  crisis  which  was  advancing. 

EXPLOITS    OF    AN    AFRICAN    WARRIOR.. 

The  Mirambo  of  Uyoweh,  it  seems,  had  for  the  last  few  years  been 
in  a  state  of  chronic  discontent  with  the  policies  of  the  neighboring 
chiefs.  Formerly  a  porter  for  an  Arab,  he  had  now  assumed  regal 
power,  with  the  usual  knack  of  unconscionable  rascals  who  care  not  by 
what  means  they  step  into  power.  When  the  chief  of  Uyoweh  died, 
Mirambo,  who  was  head  of  a  gang  of  robbers  infesting  the  forests  of 
Wilyankuru,  suddenly  entered  Uyoweh,  and  constituted  himself  lord 
paramount  by  force.  Some  feats  of  enterprise,  which  he  performed  to 
the  enrichment  of  all  those  who  recognized  his  authority,  established 
him  firmly  in  his  position.  This  was  but  a  begimiing  ;  he  carried  war 
through  several  countries,  and  after  destroying  the  populations  o\'cr 
three  degrees  of  latitude,  he  conceived  a  grievance  against  Mkasiwa, 
and  against  the  Arabs,  because  they  would  not  sustain  him  in  his  am- 
bitious projects  against  their  ally  and  friend,  with  whom  they  were  living 
in  peace. 

The  first  outrage  which  this  audacious  man  committed  against  the 
Arabs  was  the  halting  of  an  Ujiji-bound  caravan,  and  the  demand  for 


TRAVELS    OF   STANLEY    IN    THE    TROPICS.  103 

five  kegs  of  gunpowder,  five  guns,  and  five  bales  of  cloth.  This  extra- 
ordinary demand,  after  expending  more  than  a  day  in  fierce  controversy, 
was  paid  ;  but  the  Arabs,  if  they  were  surprised  at  the  exorbitant  black- 
mail demanded  of  them,  were  more  than  ever  surprised  when  they  were 
told  to  return  the  way  they  came ;  and  that  no  Arab  caravan  should 
pass  through  his  country  to  Ujiji  except  over  his  dead  body.  On  the 
return  of  the  unfortunate  Arabs  to  Unyanyembe,  they  reported  the  facts 
to  Sheikh  Sayd  bin  Salim,  the  governor  of  the  Arab  colony.  This  old 
man,  being  averse  to  war,  of  course  tried  every  means  to  induce  Mir- 
ambo  as  of  old  to  be  satisfied  with  presents  ;  but  Mirambo  this  time 
was  obdurate,  and  sternly  determined  on  war  unless  the  Arabs  aided 
him  in  the  warfare  he  was  about  to  wage  against  old  Mkasiwa,  sultan 
of  one  of  the  tribes  of  Unyanyembe. 

"  This  is  the  status  of  affairs,"  said  Khamis  bin  Abdullah.  "  Mirambo 
says :  that  for  years  he  has  been  engaged  in  war  against  the  neighbor- 
ing Washensi  and  has  come  out  of  it  victorious  ;  he  says  this  is  a  great 
year  with  him  ;  that  he  is  going  to  fight  the  Arabs  and  others,  and  that 
he  shall  not  stop  until  every  Arab  is  driven  from  Unyanyembe,  and  he 
rules  over  this  fcountry.  Children  of  Oman,  shall  it  be  so  ?  Speak, 
Salim,  son  of  Sayf,  shall  we  go  to  meet  this  Mshensi  (pagan)  or  shall  we 
return  to  our  island  ?  " 

A    DECLARATION    OF    WAR. 

A  murmur  of  approbation  followed  the  speech  of  Khamis  bin  Ab- 
dullah, the  majority  of  those  present  being  young  men  eager  to  punish 
the  audacious  Mirambo.  Salim,  the  son  of  Sayf,  an  old  patriarch,  slow 
of  speech,  tried  to  appease  the  passions  of  the  young  men,  scions  of  the 
aristocracy,  but  Khamis's  bold  words  had  made  too  deep  an  impression 
on  their  minds.  Soud,  the  handsome  Arab,  the  son  of  Sayd  the  son  of 
Majid,  spoke  :  "  My  father  used  to  tell  me  that  he  remembered  the  days 
when  the  Arabs  could  go  through  the  country  from  Bagamoyo  to  Ujiji, 
armed  with  canes.  Those  days  are  gone  by.  We  have  stood  the 
insolence  of  the  Wagogo  long  enough.  Swaruru  of  Usui  just  takes 
from  us  whatever  he  wants  ;  and  now,  here  is  Mirambo,  who  says,  after 
taking  more  than  five  bales  of  cloth  as  tribute  from  one  man,  that  no 
Arab  caravan  shall  go  to  Ujiji,  but  over  his  body.  Are  we  prepared  to 
give  up  the  ivory  of  Ujiji  and  other  places  because  of  this  one  man  ? 
I  say  war — war  until  we  have  got  his  beard  under  our  feet — ^war  until 
we  can  again  travel  through  any  part  of  the  country  with  only  our  walk- 
ing canes  in  our  hands  !" 

The  universal  assent  that  followed  Soud's  speech  proved  beyond  a 
doubt  that  there  would  be  war.  Stanley  thought  of  Livingstone.  What 
if  he  were  marching  to  Unyanyembe  directly  into  the  war  country  ? 


104  WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND.  ADVENTURE. 

Having  found  from  the  Arabs  that  they  intended  to  finish  the  war 
quickly,  our  explorer  volunteered  to  accompany  them.  His  hope  was, 
that  it  might  be  possible,  after  the  defeat  of  Mirambo,  and  his  forest 
banditti,  to  take  his  expedition  direct  to  Ujiji  by  the  road  now  closed. 
The  Arabs  were  sanguine  of  victory,  and  he  partook  of  their  en- 
thusiasm. 

The  council  of  war  broke  up.  A  great  dishful  of  rice  and  curry,  in 
which  almonds,  citron,  raisins,  and  currants  were  plentifully  mixed,  was 
brought  in,  and  it  was  wonderful  how  soon  the  warlike  fervor  was  for- 
gotten after  attention  had  been  drawn  to  this  royal  dish.  Stanley,  of 
course,  not  being  a  Mohammedan,  had  a  dish  of  his  own,  of  a  similar 
composition,  strengthened  by  platters  containing  roast  chicken,  and 
kabobs,  crullers,  cakes,  sweetbread,  fruit,  glasses  of  sherbet  and  lemon- 
ade, dishes  of  gum-drops  and  Muscat  sweetmeats,  dry  raisins,  prunes, 
and  nuts.  Certainly  Khamis  bin  Abdullah  proved  that  if  he  had  a  war- 
like soul  in  him,  he  could  also  attend  to  the  cultivated  tastes  acquired 
under  the  .shade  of  the  mangoes  on  his  father's  estate  in  Zanzibar — the 
island  which  is  furnished  with  the  comforts  of  civilized  life. 

OFF    TO    THE    WAR. 

Mr.  Stanley  gives  us  this  graphic  account  of  the  military  operations : 
There  was  a  total  of  two  thousand,  two  hundred  and  fifty-five  men. 
Of  these  men  one  thousand  five  hundred  were  armed  with  guns — 
flint-lock  muskets,  German  and  French  double-barrels,  some  English 
Enfields,  and  American  Springficlds— besides  these  muskets,  they  were 
mostly  armed  with  spears  and  long  knives  for  the  purpose  of  decapi- 
tating, and  inflicting  vengeful  gashes  in  the  dead  bodies.  Powder  and 
ball  were  plentiful :  some  men  were  served  a  hundred  rounds  each,  my 
people  received  each  man  sixty  rounds.  Strict  orders  had  been  given 
by  the  several  chiefs  to  their  respective  commands  not  to  fire,  until  they 
were  within  shooting  distance  of  the  enemy.  Khamis  bin  Abdullah 
crept  through  the  forest  to  the  west  of  the  village.  The  Wanyamwezi 
took  their  position  before  the  main  gateway,  aided  by  the  forces  of 
Soud  the  son  of  Sayd  on  the  right,  and  the  son  of  Habib  on  the  left. 
Abdullah,  Mussoud,  myself,  and  others  made  ready  to  attack  the  eastern 
gates,  which  arrangement  effectually  shut  them  in,  with  the  exception 
of  the  northern  side. 

Suddenly,  a  volley  opened  on  us,  as  we  emerged  from  the  forest 
along  the  Unyanyembe  road,  in  the  direction  they  had  been  anticipating 
the  sight  of  an  enemy,  and  immediately  the  attacking  forces  began  their 
firing  in  most  splendid  style.  There  were  some  ludicrous  scenes  of 
men  pretending  to  fire,  then  jumping  off  to  one  side,  then  forward,  then 
backward,  with  the,agility  of  hopping  frogs,  but  the  battle  was  none  the 


106  WONDERS    OF    EXPLORATlOiN    AND    ADVENTURE. 

less  in  earnest.  The  breech-loaders  of  my  men  swallowed  my  metallic 
cartridges  much  faster  than  I  liked  to  see  ;  but  happily  there  was  a  lull 
in  the  firing,  and  we  were  rushing  into  the  village  from  the  west,  the 
south,  the  north,  through  the  gates  and  over  the  tall  palings  that  sur- 
rounded the  village,  like  so  many  Merry  Andrews ;  and  the  poor  vil- 
lagers were  flying  from  the  enclosure  towards  the  mountains,  through 
the  northern  gate,  pursued  by  the  fleetest  runners  of  our  force,  and 
pelted  in  the  back  by  bullets  from  breech-loaders  and  shot-guns.  The 
village  was  strongly  defended,  and  not  more  than  twenty  dead  bodies 
were  found  in  it,  the  strong  thick  wooden  paling  having  afforded  excel- 
lent protection  against  our  bullets. 

From  Zimbizo,  after  having  left  a  sufficient  force  within,  we  sallied 
out,  and  in  an  hour  had  cleared  the  neighborhood  of  the  enemy,  which 
we  committed  to  the  flames,  after  gutting  them  of  all  valuables.  A  few 
tusks  of  ivory,  and  about  fifty  slaves,  besides  an  abundance  of  grain, 
composed  the  "  loot,"  which  fell  to  the  lot  of  the  Arabs. 

A    FRIGHTFUL    MASSACRE. 

Early  one  evening,  soon  after  this,  the  entire  camp  of  Zimbizo  was 
electrified  with  the  news  that  all  the  Arabs  (about  five  hundred)  who 
had  accompanied  Soud  bin  Sayd  against  Mirambo's  village  had  been 
killed,  and  that  more  than  one-half  of  his  party  had  been  slain.  Some 
of  my  own  men  were  also  killed.  I  learned  that  they  had  succeeded  in  cap- 
turing Wilyankuru  in  a  very  short  time,  that  Mirambo  and  his  son  were 
there,  that  as  they  succeeded  in  effecting  an  entrance,  Mirambo  had 
collected  his  men,  and  after  leaving  the  village,  had  formed  an  ambush 
in  the  grass,  on  each  side  of  the  road,  between  Wilyankuru  and  Zim- 
bizo, and  that  as  the  attacking  party  were  returning  home,  laden  with 
over  a  hundred  tusks  of  ivory,  and  sixty  bales  of  cloth,  and  two  or  three 
hundred  slaves,  Mirambo's  men  suddenly  rose  up  on  each  side  of  them, 
and  stabbed  them  with  their  spears.  The  brave  Soud  had  fired  his 
double-barreled  gun  and  shot  two  men,  and  was  in  the  act  of  loading 
again  when  a  spear  was  launched,  which  penetrated  through  and  through 
him :  all  the  other  Arabs  shared  the  same  fate.  This  sudden  attack 
from  an  enemy  they  believed  to  be  conquered  so  demoralized  the  party 
that,  dropping  their  spoil,  each  man  took  to  his  heels,  and  after  making 
a  wide  detour  through  the  woods,  returned  to  Zimbizo  to  repeat  the 
dolorous  tale. 

The  effect  of  this  defeat  is  indescribable.  It  was  impossible  to  .sleep, 
from  the  shrieks  of  the  women  whose  husbands  had  fallen.  All  night 
they  howled  their  lamentations,  and  sometimes  might  be  heard  the 
groans  of  the  wounded,  who  had  contrived  to  crawl  through  the  grass 
unperceived  by  the  enemy.      Fugitives  were  continually  coming   in 


TRAVELS    OF    STANLEV    IN    THE    TROPICS.  107 

throughout  the  night,  but  none  of  my  men,  who  were  reported  to  be 
dead,  were  ever  heard  of  again. 

The  next  day  was  one  of  distrust,  sorrow,  and  retreat ;  the  Arabs 
accused  one  another  for  urging  war  without  expending  all  peaceful  means 
first.  There  were  stormy  councils  of  war  held,  wherein  were  some  who 
proposed  to  return  at  once  to  Unyanyembe,  and  keep  within  their  own 
houses;  and  Khamis  bin  Abdullah  raved,  like  an  insulted  monarch, 
again.st  the  abject  cowardice  of  his  compatriots.  I  fell  asleep,  but  later 
on  was  awakened  by  Selim  saying,  "  Master,  get  up,  they  are  all  run- 
ning away,  and  Khamis  bin  Abdullah  is  himself  going."  This  was  true. 
With  the  aid  of  Selim  I  dressed  myself,  and  staggered  towards  the 
door,  weakened  by  fever.  My  first  view  was  of  Thani  bin  Abdullah 
being  dragged  away,  who,  when  he  caught  sight  of  me,  shouted  out, 
"  Bana — quick — Mirambo  is  coming."  He  was  then  turning  to  run,  and 
putting  on  his  jacket,  with  his  eyes  almost  starting  out  of  their  sockets 
with  terror.  Khamis  bin  Abdullah  was  also  about  departing,  he  being 
the  last  Arab  to  leave. 

Mirambo  was  afterward  defeated  with  great  loss,  and  Stanley  was  able 
to  proceed  toward  Ujiji  by  the  southern  route.  On  the  way  he  came  to 
the  cultivated  fields  of  Manyara.  Arriving  before  the  village-gate  they 
were  forbidden  to  enter,  as  the  country  was  throughout  in  a  state  of 
war,  and  it  behooved  the  guard  to  be  careful  of  admitting  any  party, 
lest  the  villagers  might  be  compromised. 

A  SURLY  CHIEF. 

After  they  had  built  their  camp,  the  guide  was  furnished  with  some 
cloths  to  purchase  food  from  the  village  for  the  transit  of  a  wilderness 
in  front  of  them,  which  was  said  to  extend  nine  marches,  or  one  hundred 
and  thirty-five  miles.  He  was  informed  that  the  Mtemi  had  strictly 
prohibited  his  people  from  selling  any  grain  w4iatever.  This  evidently 
was  a  case  wherein  the  exercise  of  a  little  diplomacy  could  only  be 
effective;  because  it  would  detain  them  several  days  here,  if  they  were 
compelled  to  send  men  back  to  Kikuru  for  provisions.  Opening  a  bale 
of  choice  goods,  Stanley  selected  two  royal  cloths,  and  sent  them  with 
the  compliments  and  friendship  of  the  white  man.  The  Sultan  sulkily 
refused  them,  and  bade  the  porter  return  to  the  white  man  and  tell  him 
not  to  bother  him.  Entreaties  were  of  no  avail,  he  would  not  relent ; 
and  the  men,  in  exceedingly  bad  temper,  and  hungry,  were  obliged  to 
go  to  bed  supperless.  There  was  every  prospect  of  a  general  decamp 
of  all  Stanley's  people.  However,  he  told  them  not  to  be  discouraged ; 
that  he  would  get  food  for  them  in  the  morning. 

The  bale  of  choice  cloths  was  opened  again  next  morning,  and  four 
royal  cloths  were  this  time  selected,  and  the  porter  was  again  dispatched, 


108 


TRAVELS    OF    STANLEY    IN    THE    TROPICS.  109 

burdened  with  compliments,  and  polite  words.  The  effect  of  this  mu- 
nificent liberality  was  soon  seen  in  the  abundance  of  provender  which 
came  to  the  camp.  Before  an  hour  went  by,  there  came  boxes  full  of 
choroko,  beans,  rice,  matama  or  dourra,  and  Indian  corn,  carried  on  the 
heads  of  a  dozen  villagers,  and  shortly  after  the  Mtemi  himself  came, 
followed  by  about  thirty  musketeers  and  twenty  spearmen,  to  visit  the 
first  white  man  ever  seen  on  this  road.  Behind  these  warriors  came  a 
liberal  gift,  fully  equal  in  v^luc  to  that  sent  to  him,  of  several  large 
gourds  of  honey,  fowls,  goats,  and  enough  vetches  and  beans  to  supply 
the  men  with  four  days'  food. 

AMUSING   EXPERIENCES    WITH    AN    ARAB. 

The  chief,  a  tall  robust  man,  and  his  chieftains,  were  invited  to  seat 
themselves.  They  cast  a  look  of  such  gratified  surprise  at  Stanley,  his 
clothes,  and  guns,  as  is  almost  impossible  to  describe.  They  looked 
intently  for  a  few  seconds,  and  then  at  each  other,  which  ended  in  an 
uncontrollable  burst  of  laughter,  and  repeated  snappings  of  the  fingers. 
The  interpreter  was  requested  to  inform  the  chief  of  the  great  delight 
Stanley  felt  in  seeing  them.  After  a  short  period  expended  in  inter- 
changing compliments,  and  a  competitive  excellence  at  laughing  at 
one  another,  their  chief  desired  Stanley  to  show  him  some  of  his 
curiosities.  Says  Stanley:  I  next  produced  a  bottle  of  concentrated 
ammonia,  which,  as  I  explained,  was  for  snake  bites  and  head-aches ; 
the  Sultan  immediately  complained  he  had  a  head-ache,  and  must  have 
a  little.  Telling  him  to  close  his  eyes,  I  suddenly  uncorked  the  bottle, 
and  presented  it  to  His  Majesty's  nose.  The  effect  was  magical,  for  he 
fell  back  as  if  shot,  and  such  contortions  as  his  features  underwent  are 
indescribable.  His  chiefs  roared  with  laughter,  and  clapped  their  hands, 
pinched  each  other,  snapped  their  fingers,  and  committed  many  other 
ludicrous  things.  I  verily  believe  if  such  a  scene  were  presented  on 
any  stage  in  the  world  the  effect  of  it  would  be  visible  instantaneously 
on  the  audience  ;  that  had  they  seen  it  as  I  saw  it,  they  would  have 
laughed  themselves  to  hysteria  and  madness.  Finally  the  Sultan 
recovered  himself,  great  tears  rolling  down  his  cheeks,  and  his 
features  quivering  with  laughter,  then  he  slowly  uttered  the  word  "kali  " 
— hot,  strong,  quick,  or  ardent  medicine.  He  required  no  more,  but 
the  other  chiefs  pushed  forward  to  get  one  wee  sniff,  which  they  no 
sooner  had,  then  all  went  into  paroxysms  of  uncontrollable  laughter. 
The  entire  morning  was  passed  in  this  state  visit,  to  the  mutual  satisfac- 
tion of  all  concerned.  "  Oh,"  said  the  Sultan  at  parting,  "  these  white 
men  know  everything,  the  Arabs  are  dirt  compared  to  them  !"  It  had 
required  only  a  bottle  of  ammonia  to  impress  him  with  the  vast  supe- 
j"iority  of  his  visitor. 


no 


WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 


Having  made  a  fresh  start  after  full  preparation  for  the  next  stage, 
we  had  barely  left  the  waving  cornfields  of  my  friend  Ma-manyara 
before  we  came  in  sight  of  a  herd  of  noble  zebra ;  two  hours  after- 
wards we  had  entered  a  grand  and  noble  expanse  of  park  land,  whose 
glorious  magnificence  and  \astness  of  prospect,  with  a  far-stretching 
carpet  of  verdure  darkly  flecked  here  and  there  by  miniature  clumps  of 
jungle,  with  spreading  trees  growing  here  and  there,  was  certainly  one 
of  the  finest  scenes  to  be  found  in  Africa.  Added  to  which,  as  I 
surmounted  one  of  the  numerous  small  knolls,  I  saw  herds  after  herds 
of  buffalo  and  zebra,  giraffe  and  antelope,  which  sent  the  blood  coursing 
through  my  veins  in  the  excitement  of  the  moment,  as  when  I  first 
landed  on  African  soil.  We  crept  along  the  plain  noiselessly  to  our 
camp  on  the  banks  of  the  Gombe,  the  home  of  the  rhinoceros. 

Having  settled 
the  position  of 
the  camp,  which 
overlooked  one 
ofthe  pools  found 
in  the  depression 
of  the  Gombe 
creek,  I  took  my 
double  -  barreled 
smooth-bore  and 
sauntered  off  to 
the  park-land. 
Emerging  from 
behind  a  clump, 
three  fine  plump 
spring-bok  were 
seen  browsing  on 

the  young  grass  just  within  one  hundred  yards.  I  knelt  down  and 
fired  ;  one  unfortunate  antelope  bounded  upward  instinctively,  and  fell 
dead.  Its  companions  sprang  high  into  the  air,  taking  leaps  about 
twelve  feet  in  length,  as  if  they  were  quadrupeds  practicing  gymnas- 
tics, and  away  they  vanished,  rising  up  like  India-rubber  balls,  until 
'.  knoll  hid  them  from  view.  My  success  was  hailed  with  loud  shouts 
by  the  soldiers,  who  came  running  out  from  the  camp  as  soon  as  they 
h.eard  the  reverberation  of  the  gun,  and  my  gun-bearer  had  his  knife  at 
the  beast's  throat,  uttering  a  fervent  "  Bismillah  !"  as  he  almost  severed 
the  head  from  the  body. 

We  next  camped  but  a  few  yards  from  a  place  which  was  a  favorite 
resort  of  wild  animals.     The  herd-keeper  who  attended  the  goats  and 


THE    RHINOCEROS. 


112  WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 

donkeys,  soon  after  our  arrival  in  camp,  drove  the  animals  to  water, 
and  in  order  to  obtain  it  they  traveled  through  a  tunnel  in  the  brake, 
caused  by  elephants  and  rhinoceroses.  They  had  barely  entered  the 
dark  cavernous  passage,  when  a  black-spotted  leopard  sprang,  and  fas- 
tened its  fangs  in  the  neck  of  one  of  the  donkeys,  causing  it,  from  the 
pain,  to  bray  hideously.  Its  companions  set  up  such  a  frightful  chorus, 
and  so  lashed  their  heels  in  the  air  at  the  feline  marauder,  that  the 
leopard  bounded  away  through  the  brake,  as  if  in  sheer  dismay  at  the 
noisy  cries  which  the  attack  had  provoked.  The  donkey's  neck  ex- 
hibited some  frightful  wounds,  but  the  animal  was  not  dangerously  hurt. 

Emerging  into  the  broad  sunlight,  I  strolled  further  in  search  of 
something  to  shoot.  Presently  I  saw,  feeding  quietly  in  the  forest 
which  bounded  the  valley  of  the  Mtambu  on  the  left,  a  huge,  reddish- 
colored  wild  boar,  armed  with  most  horrid  tusks.  Leaving  Kalulu 
crouched  down  behind  a  tree,  and  my  solar  helmet  behind  another  close 
by — that  I  might  more  safely  stalk  the  animal — I  advanced  towards  him 
some  forty  yards,  and  after  taking  a  deliberate  aim,  fired  at  his  fore 
shoulder.  As  if  nothing  had  hurt  him  whatever,  the  animal  made  a 
furious  bound,  and  then  stood  with  his  bristles  erected,  and  tufted  tail 
curved  over  the  back — -a  most  formidable  brute  in  appearance.  While 
he  was  thus  listening,  and  searching  the  neighborhood  with  his  keen, 
small  eyes,  I  planted  another  shot  in  his  chest,  which  ploughed  its  way 
through  his  body.  Instead  of  falling,  however,  as  I  expected  he  would, 
he  charged  furiously  in  the  direction  the  bullet  had  come,  and  as  he 
rushed  past  me,  another  ball  was  fired,  which  went  right  through  him  ; 
but  still  he  kept  on,  until  within  six  or  seven  yards  from  the  trees  behind 
which  Kalulu  was  crouching  down  on  one  side,  and  the  helmet  was  rest- 
ing behind  another,  he  suddenly  halted,  and  then  dropped.  But  as  I 
was  about  to  advance  on  him  with  my  knife  to  cut  his  throat,  he  sud- 
denly started  up  ;  his  eyes  had  caught  sight  of  the  little  boy  Kalulu, 
and  were  then,  almost  immediately  afterwards,  attracted  by  the  sight  of 
the  snowy  helmet.  These  strange  objects  on  either  side  of  him  proved 
too  much  for  the  boar,  for,  with  a  terrific  grunt,  he  darted  on  one  side 
into  a  thick  brake,  from  which  it  was  impossible  to  oust  him,  and  as  it 
was  now  getting  late,  and  the  camp  was  about  three  miles  away,  I  was 
reluctantly  obliged  to  return  without  the  meat. 

At  length,  after  many  perils  and  adventures,  Stanley  arrived  at  Ujiji, 
having  accomplished  his  mission,  yet  destined  to  further  extend  his 
fame  by  discoveries  that  should  awaken  the  interest  of  the  whole 
world. 


CHAPTER  IV. 


STANLEY'S    ADVENTURES   AND   DISCOVERIES. 

Finding  Livingstone — On  an  African  Lake — Illness  and  Death  of  Livingstone — Burial — 
Stanley's  Expedition — Cannibals — A  Fighting  Journey — A  Brave  Chief — Rescuing  e 
Follower — Cameron's  Expedition — A  Strange  Deity — A  King's  Burial 
— Legend  of  Lake  Kassala — Cameron's  Adventures. 

'R.  STANLEY  has  told  the  story  of  his  search  for 
Livingstone  in  a  manly  and  straightforward  manner: 
how,  as  he  approached  nearer  and  nearer  to  the  end 
of  his  difficult  and  toilsome  journey,  his  heart  was 
gladdened  by  reports  of  Livingstone  still  being  alive; 
until  at  last,  on  the  morning  of  Friday,  the  loth  of 
November,  1871,  when  within  a  few  hundred  yards 
of  Ujiji,  surrounded  by  a  curious  crowd,  he  suddenly 
heard  a  voice  say,  "  Good  morning,  sir ! "  and  turning, 
beheld  a  man  arrayed  in  a  long  white  shirt,  with  a 
turban  around  his  woolly  head,  "  Who  the  mischief  are  you  ?  "  is  his 
inquiry.  "I  am  Susi,  the  servant  of  Dr.  Livingstone."  "What!  is 
Dr.  Livingstone  here?"  "Yes,  sir."  "In  this  village?"  "Yes,  sir." 
"Are  you  sure?"     "  Sure,  sure,  sir.     Why,  I  leave  him  just  now." 

Now  another  voice  is  heard,  saying,  "Good  morning,  sir!"  which 
proves  to  be  that  of  Chumah,  another  of  Livingstone's  servants. 

One  can  imagine  the  feelings  of  the  adventurous  correspondent  as 
he  commands  his  people  to  halt,  that  he  may  be  the  first  to  greet  the 
great  traveler.  "  I  pushed  back  the  crowds,"  he  says,  "  and,  passing 
from  the  rear,  walked  down  a  living  avenue  of  people,  until  I  came  in 
front  of  the  semicircle  of  Arabs,  in  the  front  of  which  stood  the  white 
man  with  the  gray  beard.  As  I  advanced  slowly  toward  him  I  noticed 
he  was  pale,  looked  wearied,  wore  a  bluish  cap  with  a  faded  gold  band 
round  it,  had  on  a  red-sleeved  waistcoat,  and  a  pair  of  grey  tweed 
trousers.  I  would  have  run  to  him,  only  I  was  a  coward  in  the  pres- 
ence of  such  a  mob — would  have  embraced  him,  only,  he  being  an 
Englir.iman,  I  did  not  know  how  he  would  receive  me;  so  I  did  what 
cowardice  and  false  pride  suggested  was  the  best  thing — walked 
deliberately  to  him,  took  off  my  hat  and  said, — 
"'Dr.  Livingstone,  I  presume?' 

" '  Yes,'  said  he,  with  a  kind  smile,  lifting  his  cap  slightly. 
8  113 


114 


Stanley's  adventures  and  discoveries.  115 

"I  replaced  my  hat  on  my  head,  and  he  put  on  his  cap  and  we 
grasped  hands,  and  I  then  said  aloud, — 

'"I  thank  God,  Doctor,  that  I  have  been  permitted  to  see  you.' 
"He  answered,  'I  feel  thankfid  that  I  am  here  to  welcome  you.'" 
Several  days  of  pleasant  intercourse  passed  between  Livingstone 
and  the  American.  The  heart  of  the  great  traveler  was  cheered  by 
the  knowledge  that  he  had  not  been  wholly  forgotten  by  the  world 
which  he  had  so  long  left.  His  spirits  revived,  his  health  and  strength 
became  restored,  and  he  looked  forward  to  the  prosecution  of  fresh 
exploits  in  the  field  of  geographical  discovery.  He  was  asked  whether 
he  did  not  feel  a  desire  to  re\'isit  his  own  country,  and  take  a  little  rest 
after  his  six  years  of  explorations.  "  I  would  like  very  much  to  go 
home,"  he  replied,  "and  see  my  children  once  again,  but  I  cannot 
bring  my  heart  to  abandon  the  task  I  have  undertaken,  when  it  is  so 
nearly  completed.  Why  should  I  go  home  before  my  task  is  ended, 
and  have  to  come  back  again  to  do  what  I  can  very  well  do  now  ?  " 

A    BOLD    PUSH    FOR    THE    INTERIOR. 

After  a  ten  days'  sojourn  at  Ujiji,  the  two  travelers  set  forth  to  ex- 
plore the  northern  half  of  Lake  Tanganyika ;  and  with  one  canoe 
pushed  out  into  the  lake,  following  for  a  time  its  eastern  coast-line. 
The  scenery  is  described  as  being  both  beautiful  and  varied.  Lofty 
mountains  rising  abruptly  from  the  water's  edge,  broad  swampy  mo- 
rasses covered  with  tall  reeds  and  grass,  far-stretching  plains  dotted 
with  villages  amid  groups  of  palms  and  plantains,  strips  of  sandy  beach 
that  glistened  in  sunshine — such  w^ere  the  pictures  presented  to  the 
travelers'  view  as  they  glided  day  by  day  over  the  .still  water  of  the 
lake.  The  object  of  the  expedition  having  been  accomplished,  the 
head  of  the  canoe  was  turned  southward,  and  they  reached  the  port 
of  Ujiji  in  December. 

Livingstone  accompanied  Stanley  on  his  homeward  march  as  far  as 
Unyanyembe,  where,  after  receiving  fresh  stores  and  an  additional 
number  of  followers,  he  bade  him  farewell,  and  turned  his  steps  toward 
the  south  of  Lake  Tanganyika.  It  was  the  last  white  man  the  heoric 
traveler  was  ever  destined  to  see ;  he  was  now  on  his  last  expedition. 
Weak  and  ailing  in  body,  the  hardships  now  to  be  encountered  were 
to  tell  fatally  upon  his  constitution.  Reaching  Lake  Bemba,  a  long 
detour  was  made,  as  it  was  found  impossible  to  follow  the  borders 
because  of  innumerable  creeks  and  streams  hidden  by  dense  vegeta- 
tion. When  the  lake  was  again  struck,  the  opposite  shores  were  gained 
by  means  of  canoes,  which  they  were  obliged  to  seize  from  the  natives, 
who  were  unwilling  to  lend  them.  While  passing  through  the  country 
of  Ukabende  Livingstone's  strength  gave  way,  and  he  was  obliged  to 


116  WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 

confess  that  he  could  not  continue  his  explorations ;  he  must  return 
to  Ujiji  to  recruit  his  health.  Soon  he  was  compelled  to  give  up  walk- 
ing and  take  to  riding  a  donkey.  Even  this  mode  of  traveling  became 
too  laborious,  and  his  attendants  constructed  for  him  a  native  bed- 
stead, in  which  he  was  carried  to  his  last  halting-place.  Now 
followed  a  long  and  weary  journey,  through  forests  and  dreary 
morasses,  beneath  the  burning  sun  and  in  drenching  rain.  His 
Nassick  boys  were  very  attentive  to  him,  and  exhibited  a  care 
and  devotion  beyond  praise.  "  If  one  of  them  were  ill,"  they  said, 
"in  the  course  of  their  journeyings,  he  always  waited  for  him;  but 
when  he  himself  fell  ill  or  weak,  he  would  push  forward  and  never 
think  of  stopping."  So  now  they  tried  their  best  to  repay  their  good 
master's  kindness. 

DEATH  OF  THE  GREAT  EXPLORER. 

Arrived  at  Ilala,  the  party  were  refused  permission  to  remain,  and 
were  compelled  to  retrace  their  steps  toward  Kabende.  Here  Living- 
stone could  proceed  no  farther;  he  refused  all  food,  and  suffered  great 
pain;  he  frequently  prayed,  and  desired  to  be  alone.  So  a  rude  hut 
was  erected,  and  fenced  round  to  secure  privacy  and  protection.  "  I 
shall  never  cross  the  high  hills  to  Katanda,"  he  said,  "and  shall  never 
see  my  river  again."  They  hovered  round  the  hut,  silently  awaiting" 
the  end,  only  once  a  day  looking  in  at  the  door  to  say,  "  Yambo,  bana" 
— "Good  morning."  So  quietly  and  peacefully  did  he  draw  his  last 
breath  that  they  knew  not  for  a  time  that  he  was  dead.  One,  drawing 
near,  touched  his  face,  and  knew  then  that  the  end  had  come.  This 
was  on  the  night  of  May  4th,  1873,  eight  years  from  the  time  he  last 
landed  on  African  soil. 

His  brave  followers,  being  now  sure  that  their  great  leader  was 
dead,  determined  to  carry  the  body  to  Zanzibar.  Here  it  was  shipped 
for  England,  and  in  due  time  landed  at  Southampton.  The  ships  in 
the  port  lowered  their  flags  to  half-mast,  the  shops  were  closed,  and 
the  blinds  of  private  houses  drawn,  while  the  bells  of  the  churches 
tolled,  as  the  body  of  the  great  traveler  was  received  on  his  native 
shores,  to  be  deposited  in  Westminster  Abbey,  with  unusual  honors. 
Brave  men  are  never  wanting  to  carry  on  the  great  work  of  African 
discovery ;  no  sooner  does  one  fall  than  another  is  ready  to  step  to 
the  front  to  prosecute  the  task.  Mr.  Stanley  resolved  at  once  to 
complete  Livingstone's  discoveries. 

His  expedition  this  time  was  planned  on  a  large  scale,  comprising 
a  party  of  several  hundred  men  to  serve  as  porters,  boatmen,  and 
soldiers.  In  November,  1 874,  the  expedition  started  from  Bagamoyo, 
on  the  east  coast,  presenting  a  very  imposing  appearance,  from  its 


Stanley's  adventures  and  discoveries.  117 

numbers  and  length.  At  the  head  of  the  procession,  and  several 
hundred  yards  in  advance  of  the  main  body,  marched  four  chiefs,  then 
came  twehe  guides  clad  in  red  robes  of  Jobo,  carrying  coils  of  wire ; 
these  were  followed  by  a  long  file  of  two  hundred  and  seventy  men, 
bearing  beads,  wire,  and  cloth,  and  the  sections  of  an  English-made 
boat,  the  Lady  Alice.  Then  came  a  number  of  women  and  children, 
belonging  to  some  of  the  chiefs  and  boatmen,  each  bearing  loads 
suitable  to  their  age  and  strength,  and  the  long  procession  closing  with 
a  rear  guard  of  sixteen  chiefs,  who  took  care  that  no  stragglers  should 
linger  behind.  Stanley's  own  place  in  the  caravan  was  wherever  his 
presence  was  most  needed — now  at  the  head,  then  in  the  centre,  or 
now  at  the  rear. 

The  journey  thus  commenced  was  likely  to  be  one  of  considerable 
toil  and  danger,  and  such  indeed  it  proved,  even  far  beyond  the  calcu- 
lations of  its  chief  Many  were  the  hardships  endured,  many  the 
perils  encountered,  and  m.any  the  lives  lost  before  it  was  triumphantly 
accomplished.  Lakes  Victoria  and  Tanganyika  were  visited  and 
explored,  the  great  river  Lualaba  entered  and  navigated  to  its  mouth 
— altogether  a  journey  of  more  than  seven  thousand  miles. 

LOST    IX    THE    FOREST. 

Let  us  join  our  brave  traveler  at  a  place  called  Nyangwe,  distant 
from  Lake  Tanganyika  three  hundred  and  thirty-eight  miles,  the 
extreme  western  locality  inhabited  by  Arab  traders  from  Zanzibar,  and 
situated  on  the  right  of  the  eastern  side  of  the  Lualaba,  on  a  high 
bank  about  forty  feet  above  the  river.  On  three  sides  spreads  for 
miles  an  open  country,  but  on  the  fourth  is  an  impenetrable  forest, 
through  which  Mr.  Stanley  and  his  followers  in  vain  endeavored  to 
force  their  way ;  becoming  lost  in  its  recesses,  they  were  compelled  to 
make  their  way  back  to  Nyangwe.  There  were,  however,  discovered 
in  this  forest — which  they  called  "  The  Pagan  Forest " — several  vil- 
lages, each  consisting  of  a  long  straggling  street,  and  in  most  of  these 
streets  were  two  long  rows  of  skulls  imbedded  in  the  ground,  with 
their  tops  just  above  the  level.  The  natives  said  they  were  the  skulls 
of  sokos  which  had  been  captured  in  the  forest  and  eaten ;  but  a 
close  examination  proved  them  to  be  those  of  men,  women,  and 
children,  whose  bodies  had  been  served  up  at  feasts.  Our  travelers 
had  reached  a  part  of  Africa  inhabited  by  cannibals.  When  the  men 
living  in  these  villages  lose  their  wives,  they  go  into  mourning  by 
daubing  their  faces  with  a  thick  coat  of  charcoal  paste,  which  gives 
them  anything  but  an  inviting  appearance. 

Unable  to  penetrate  the  dense  forest,  our  travelers  crossed  the  river 
Lualaba,  and  proceeded  on  their  journey  along  the  left  bank,  through 


118 


STANLEYS    ADVENTURES    AND    DISCOVERIES.  119 

the  Ukusu  country.  Now  indeed  commenced  the  most  hazardous 
and  perilous  portion  of  their  journey.  Several  of  their  number  had 
been  lost  previous  to  this,  from  fev^er,  from  the  treachery  of  the  natives, 
and  from  desertion.  Especially  had  Mr.  Stanley  grieved  at  the  loss 
of  a  brave  Englishman,  Edward  Pocock,  who  succumbed  to  the  fatal 
effects  of  fever ;  but  now  many  more  of  their  number  were  destined 
to  leave  their  bodies  on  the  route,  with  no  memorial  placed  over  their 
remains  to  tell  the  passing  stranger  who  rested  beneath. 

Almost  every  mile  of  their  way  was  opposed  by  hostile  natives  ; 
their  approach  to  a  village  was  the  signal  for  the  war-drums  to  sound, 
and  the  whole  population  to  turn  out  armed  with  bows  and  arrows, 
spears,  and  other  warlike  weapons,  bent  upon  the  entire  destruction  of 
the  intruders.  What  made  these  encounters  the  more  serious  was, 
that  the  cannibals  used  poisoned  arrows ;  so  that  if  their  victims  were 
not  killed  outright,  death  followed  soon  after  a  wound  was  received. 
Attempts  were  made  to  conciliate  these  terrible  barbarians;  gifts  of 
beads  and  cloth  were  held  out  for  them  to  receive,  but  these  were 
rejected ;  forbearance  was  equally  unavailing — this  was  looked  upon 
as  cowardice.  Night  and  day  the  travelers  were  constantly  harassed 
by  their  active  foes.  When  they  pitched  their  camp  on  the  banks  of 
the  river,  the  enemy  would  creep  silently  through  the  forest  and  assail 
them  in  the  rear.  More  often  they  would  launch  their  large  canoes 
and  boldly  attack  them  from  the  river  itself;  and  it  was  often  only  the 
deadly  precision  with  which  they  discharged  their  rifles  that  saved 
them  from  destruction.  After  suffering  the  loss  of  many  men  the 
natives  would  retire,  but  usually  only  to  reorganize  their  flotilla,  when 
the  battle  would  recommence.  Thus  would  the  struggle  last  for  hours, 
until,  wearied  with  fighting,  the  enemy  retired  to  seek  rest,  leaving 
their  victors  worn  out  with  fatigue. 

THE    CARAVAN    MEETS    BLOOD-THIRSTY    CANNIBALS. 

The  cannibals  fought  with  great  bravery,  as  Mr.  Stanley  himself 
confessed.  On  one  occasion  he  was  particularly  struck  by  the  courage 
and  coolness  of  a  young  chief.  He  was  in  a  small  canoe,  with  eight 
or  nine  companions,  whose  shields  were  placed  upright  against  the 
sides,  and  from  behind  these  the  arrow  was  shot  and  the  spear  hurled, 
by  none  with  such  dexterity  and  good  aim  as  by  the  young  chief. 
Wherever  the  battle  raged  the  fiercest  there  darted  the  canoe  to  take 
up  an  advanced  position  At  length  the  brave  young  African  received 
a  wound  in  the  right  thigh  from  a  rifle  ball.  The  blood  was  seen  to 
trickle  down  his  leg ;  but  without  retreating,  he  was  observed  to  lay 
aside  his  war  weapons,  tear  a  piece  of  cloth  from  his  dress,  stoop 
down,  and  coolly  bind  up  the  i^Uire^  ''*Mib ;  then,  again  seizing  his 


120  WONDERS    OF    EXPLORATION    AND    ADVENTURE. 

arms,  renew  the  fight  as  if  nothing  unusual  had  taken  place,  until  loss  of 
blood  compelled  him  to  give  up  the  contest,  and  turn  his  canoe  towards 
the  shore.  So  great  was  Stanley's  admiration  for  this  brave  young  can- 
nibal that  he  gave  orders  for  no  one  to  molest  him  during  his  retreat. 

On  another  occasion  the  savages  adopted  a  very  novel  method  in 
order  to  make  the  strangers  prisoners.  Observing  the  course  they 
were  pursuing,  they  went  some  distance  on  ahead,  and  during  the 
night  fixed  an  immense  net,  or  a  series  of  nets,  among  the  trees,  in 
which  to  entangle  the  travelers,  at  the  same  time  boasting  they  were 
sure  to  "  net  their  meat."  They  then  hid  in  ambush,  prepared  to  shoot 
down  their  anticipated  victims  while  trying  to  free  themselves  from 
this  obstacle  to  their  progress.  Fortunately  scouts  were  out  watching 
the  movements  of  the  cannibals ;  so  that  being  duly  informed  of  wh;,t 
was  in  store,  Stanley  was  able  to  avoid  the  trap,  much,  we  may  sup- 
pose, to  the  disappointment  of  his  foes. 

Matters  now  began  to  assume  a  very  serious  aspect.  It  was  certain 
the  natives  were  bent  upon  their  destruction,  and  it  was  equally  cer- 
tain that  the  travelers  wished  to  avoid  such  a  fote.  But  the  question 
was,  what  were  they  to  do  ?  To  proceed  seemed  impossible,  and  to 
abandon  the  expedition  appeared  very  much  like  cowardice ;  yet  some 
of  the  most  disheartened  counseled  the  latter  course.  They  were 
weary  with  incessant  fighting,  and  revolted  from  the  idea  of  being 
served  up  as  a  dinner  to  their  foes ;  besides,  what  was  the  use  of 
traveling  in  a  country  of  which  they  knew  nothing  ?  But  their  leader 
suggested  that  it  would  be  far  better  to  take  to  their  canoes  and  make 
their  way  down  the  river.  Did  any  one  know  in  what  direction  it 
flowed,  and  in  what  country  it  ended  ?  No,  no  one  knew  anything  of 
the  river  farther  than  that  it  led  into  an  unknown  country,  and  among 
people  as  hostile  as  tho.se  they  had  already  encountered.  Many  of 
the  men  mutinied  and  positively  refused  to  go  farther.  At  length, 
however,  Mr.  Stanley's  wishes  were  yielded  to,  and  the  party  set  out 
on  their  long  voyage. 

DESPERATE    BATTLE    ON    THE    WATER. 

Now  began  a  series  of  aquatic  combats,  as  desperate  as  the  battles 
fought  on  land  ;  and  it  was  only  the  superior  weapons  of  the  expedi- 
tion which  enabled  the  explorers  to  force  their  way,  as,  day  after  day, 
they  met  in  conflict.  The  villages  on  shore  were  generally  found 
built  close  together,  so  as  to  make  in  appearance  but  one  long  one,  the 
space  dividing  one  from  another  being  very  narrow.  W'hen  Mr. 
Stanley  and  his  party  approached  the  end  nearest  to  them  of  one  of 
these  continuous  villages,  and  they  were  seen  by  its  inhabitants,  a  per- 
fect chorus  of  yells  would   greet  them,  yells  such  as  could  only  pro- 


'11 


|!l|P|i||l;lllilp|ll!||l| 


",  "111 

iJ-.:.     Mir 


i!':.:  II  iJ'  I 


122 


WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 


ceed  from  sava<j^e  throats,  and  sufficiently  appalling  to  strike  terror 
into  even  the  bravest  heart.  A  tumultuous  rush  would  then  be  made 
to  the  canoes  hauled  up  on  the  banks,  which  were  quickly  launched 
and  thronged  with  eager  and  excited  cannibals,  while  others  were  seen 
coming  with  all  speed  from  the  farthest  end  of  the  village  to  join  in 

1 


HIPPOPOTAMI    AND    THEIR    \  OUNG. 

the  fight.  To  place  the  enemy  between  two  fires,  Mr.  Stanley  would 
land  a  number  of  his  men,  with  orders  to  seize  and  hold  the  last  of  the 
villages,  which  was  done  by  going  to  the  rear  of  the  huts  and  boldly 
taking  possession — a  feat  easily  accomplished,  as  the  fighting  men 
were  with  their  comrades,  and  the  women  and  children  flying  away  at 


Stanley's  adventures  and  diT'COveries.  123^ 

the  strangers'  approach.  The  place  thus  gained  was  held  for  the 
night,  although  the  in\aders  had  to  be  constantly  on  the  alert,  as  their 
vigilant  foes  left  them  but  scant  time  for  repose. 

In  the  midst  of  all  these  conflicts  their  way  by  water  was  arrested 
by  a  series  of  great  cataracts,  as  many  as  five,  not  far  apart  from  each 
other,  but  presenting  a  serious  obstacle  to  their  farther  progress.  To 
get  beyond  these  it  was  found  necessary  not  only  to  drag  their  canoes 
over  land,  but  even  to  cut  a  path  for  them  through  thirteen  miles  of 
dense  forest — an  arduous  labor,  as  we  can  well  imagine,  when  it  was  per- 
formed beneath  the  eyes  of  an  adroit  foe,  who  frequently  compelled 
them  to  exchange  "the  axe  for  the  rifle.  These  cataracts  Mr.  Stanley 
named  after  himself,  as  he  had  previously  christened  the  river  Living- 
stone. The  cataracts  passed,  a  long  spell  of  rest  was  taken  to  recruit 
their  exhausted  strength.  But  it  was  in  passing  one  of  these  that  a 
serious  accident  nearly  befell  several  of  the  party. 

the  chief  snatched  from  the  jaws  of  death. 

To  pass  one  of  these  rapids  it  was  necessary  that  a  path  of  three 
miles  should  be  cut  through  the  forest.  Giving  directions  to  his  men 
to  paddle  the  canoes  to  the  landing-place,  Mr.  Stanley  went  by  himself 
to  blaze  the  trees,  that  his  men  might  cut  the  path  in  the  right  direc- 
tion. Returning  from  this  laborious  task,  he  heard  outcries  of  distress. 
Hurrying  to  the  river,  he  was  soon  acquainted  with  the  reason.  In 
the  middle  of  the  stream  a  canoe  containing  several  men  was  being 
swiftly  drawn  into  the  rapids;  already  it  was  so  far  sucked  into  the 
strength  of  the  current  that  the  paddles  were  of  no  further  use,  and 
all  the  men  save  one  leaped  into  the  water  to  swim  to  land.  The  one 
remaining  was  a  chief,  named  Zaida,  a  brave  man,  but  now  apparently 
unnerved  by  the  danger  which  threatened  him,  for  it  was  impossible 
for  the  frail  bark  to  withstand  the  seething  waters  and  craggy  rocks. 
Intently  the  spectators  on  the  banks  watched  the  apparently  doomed 
man,  as  he  approached  nearer  and  nearer  to  the  great  point  of  danger; 
just  when  they  thought  the  end  had  come,  the  canoe  struck  upon  a 
rocky  point  and  was  instantly  shivered  to  pieces;  but  at  the  .same 
moment  the  chief  seized  the  rocky  point,  and  clung  to  it  with  all  the 
strength  and  tenacity  of  despair. 

It  wa.s  a  perilous  position;  the  angry  waters  were  seen  to  be  con 
stantly  dashing  over  him,  so  that  at  times  only  his  head  was  visible 
above  water.  As  he  faced  up  stream,  to  his  left  were  fifty  yards 
of  falling  water,  and  to  his  right  as  many  yards  of  leaping  brown 
waves.  Behind,  the  water  fell  six  to  eight  feet,  through  a  gap  ten 
yards  wide,  between  the  rocky  point  to  which  he  clung,  and  a  rocky 
islet  about  thirty  yards  long. 


124 


WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 


The  leader,  after  a  few  moments'  reflection,  decided  upon  a  course 
of  action  and  resolved  to  do  his  utmost  to  rescue  the  imperilled  man. 
He  sent  some  of  his  men  into  the  forest  to  collect  a  number  of 
rattans;  these  were  joined   together,   one  long  one  fastened   to   the 


stern  of  the  canoe,  and  one  to  the  side  and  prow,  while  a  third 
and  shorter  one  was  secured  to  the  head,  to  be  thrown  to  the  chief 
Two  volunteers  were  called  for  to  steer  the  vessel  as  near  the  rocky- 
point  as  possible.     For  an  instant  all  drew  back;  none  seemed  inclined 


STANLEYS    ADVENTURES    AND    DISCOVERIES.  125' 

to  venture  upon  so  hazardous  an  exploit.  At  length  Ulcdi,  coxswain 
of  the  Lady  Alice,  stepped  forward;  then,  fired  by  his  example,  several 
of  the  boat -boys  expressed  their  willingness  to  embark.  One  was 
chosen,  and  the  canoe  was  pushed  out  into  the  stream,  the  men  on 
the  banks  holding  on  to  rattans  to  prevent  it  being  swept  over  the 
falls.  Coolly  and  steadily  the  two  men  approached  the  scene  of 
danger,  when  a  cry  was  raised  that  one  of  the  rattans  had  broken.  In 
another  moment  a  second  parted,  and,  just  as  Zaida  succeeded  in 
catching  the  one  thrown  to  him,  and  securing  it  round  his  body,  the 
third  gave  way,  and  the  canoe  was  whirled  to  destruction.  But  the 
instant  it  neared  the  rocky  islet,  Uledi  and  his  companion  sprang  upon 
it,  and  soon  succeeded  in  drawing  the  unfortunate  chief  to  them.  Thus- 
all  three  were  in  comparatively  safe  quarters,  but  somewhat  exposed, 
and  the  problem  still  remained  to  be  solved:  how  soon  were  they  to 
be  rescued  ? 

It  was  too  late  to  make  any  further  attempts  that  day,  for  darkness 
had  come  on ;  so  they  were  told  to  keep  up  their  courage  till  the 
morning,  when  all  would  be  well.  As  soon  as  there  was  sufficient 
light  on  the  following  day,  the  three  castaways  were  seen  safe  on  the 
islet.  More  rattans  were  gathered  from  the  forest,  and  made  doubly 
strong ;  secured  as  before,  a  canoe  was  pushed  into  the  current, 
and  allowed  to  drift  near  to  the  islet.  Uledi  and  the  boat-boy  plunged 
into  the  water  and  succeeded  in  reaching  it.  Clambering  in,  they 
were  not  long  in  towing  the  chief  to  the  same  ark  of  refuge ;  but 
now,  knowing  he  could  not  be  very  well  swept  away,  he  preferred 
swimming  to  the  shore,  and  in  due  time  all  three  were  standing  safely 
on  dry  land.  A  great  shout  of  joy  and  triumph  was  raised,  which 
even  the  distant  cannibals  heard. 

Mr.  Stanley  speaks  in  high  terms  of  Uledi.  He  says:  "He  is  a 
young  fellow,  twenty-seven  or  twenty-eight  years  old,  lithe  and  active 
as  a  leopard  and  brave  as  a  lion.  He  is  one  of  a  hundred  thousand. 
I  doubt  whether  there  is  another  in  the  island  of  Zanzibar  equal  to 
him.  There  are  few  in  this  expedition  who  have  not  been  indebted  to 
him  for  life,  timely  rescue,  or  brave  service.  He  was  the  first  in  w^ar,. 
and  the  most  modest  in  peace.  He  was  the  best  soldier,  the  best 
swimmer,  the  best  carrier,  the  best  sailor,  the  best  workman  in  wood 
or  iron,  and  the  most  faithful  of  the  black  faithfuls." 

STANLEY    AND    HIS    MEN    IN    PERIL. 

The  cataracts  passed,  the  river's  course  altered  to  the  northwest, 
then  west,  then  southwest,  in  places  from  two  to  ten  miles  broad,  but 
full  of  islands,  among  which  the  explorers  were  obliged  to  paddle,  to 
avoid  the  bloodthirsty  cannibals ;  often,  too,  passing  days  without  food 


STANLEYS    ADVENTURES    AND    DISCOVERIES.  127 

until  hunger  compelled  them  to  land.  The  scenery  on  the  route  was 
often  magnificent ;  the  banks  of  the  river  fringed  with  enormous  trees 
joined  together  by  a  network  of  creeping  plants.  Now  and  then  a 
cascade  would  meet  the  sight.  Turn  which  way  they  would,  some- 
thing beautiful  or  grand  arrested  the  eye.  It  was  the  cannibals  alone 
who  kept  them  from  enjoying  its  delights ;  for  when  followed, 
surrounded,  or  attacked  by  savages  thirsting  for  their  lives,  we  may 
well  believe  that  they  could  not  tranquilly  enjoy  the  beauty  which 
reigned  around  them. 

Even  among  the  islands  they  were  in  frequent  danger,  and  on  one 
occasion  had  to  make  a  night  expedition  to  capture  their  enemy's 
canoes,  to  prevent  being  chased  and  attacked  in  the  morning.  It 
seemed  impossible  to  enter  into  friendly  relations  with  them ;  try  what 
efforts  they  might  the  travelers  found  it  useless,  and  were  compelled 
literally  to  fight  their  way  through  miles  and  miles  of  desperate  foes. 
Not  one  moment,  day  and  night,  did  they  feel  safe  from  the  flying  and 
deadly  arrow ;  they  were  obliged  to  keep  constantly  on  the  alert,  their 
weapons  by  their  side,  ready  for  prompt  and  instant  use.  When  they 
pitched  their  camp  it  was  necessary  to  erect  a  strong  stockade  of  stout 
poles,  to  guard  their  temporary  quarters,  before  they  could  feel  in  any 
sense  secure.  An  incessant  watch  was  kept,  and  those  who  lay  down 
to  rest  were  never  sure  but  the  next  minute  savage  cries  would  rouse 
them  to  immediate  action. 

AN    OBSTINATE    BATTLE    WITH    DIFFICULTIES. 

Once  during  this  terrible  voyage  they  landed  at  the  village  of  a 
friendly  tribe,  who  they  found  possessed  four  muskets,  gained  from  the 
west  coast;  here  they  were  able  to  purchase  a  plentiful  supply  of 
provisions.  Three  days  after  they  came  to  a  powerful  tribe,  all  armed 
with  muskets,  who,  as  soon  as  they  saw  them,  manned  no  less  than 
fifty-four  large  canoes,  and  attacked  them.  It  was  in  vain  that  Mr. 
Stanley  called  out  to  them  that  they  were  friends,  and  offered  them 
presents.  It  was  not  until  he  had  lost  three  of  his  men  that  he  gave 
the  order  to  return  their  fire.  For  no  less  than  twelve  miles  had  they 
to  fight  their  way.  This  was  the  most  obstinately  contested  of  the 
thirty-two  battles  fought  on  that  terrible  river.  To  quote  from 
Stanley :  "  It  was  not  until  we  had  entered  the  valley  of  the 
Mukondokwa  River  that  we  experienced  anything  like  privation  or 
hardship  from  the  high  water.  Here  the  torrents  thundered  and 
roared  ;  the  river  was  a  mighty  brown  flood,  sweeping  downw'ard  with 
an  almost  resistless  flow.  The  banks  were  brimful,  and  broad  nullahs 
were  full  of  water,  and  the  fields  were  inundated,  and  still  the  rain 
came   surging  down  in  a  shower,  that  warned  us  of  what  we  might 


128         WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 

expect  during  our  transit  of  the  sea-coast  region.  Still  we  urged  our 
steps  onward  like  men  to  whom  every  moment  was  precious — as  if  a 
deluge  was  overtaking  us.  Three  times  we  crossed  this  awful  flood 
at  the  fords  by  means  of  ropes  tied  to  trees  from  bank  to  bank, 
and  arrived  at  Kadetamare,  a  most  miserable,  woe-begone  abode  of 
human  beings  ;  and  camped  on  a  hill  opposite  Mount  Kibwe,  which 
rose  on  the  right  of  the  river — one  of  the  tallest  peaks  of  the  range. 
Finally  we  arrived  at  the  mouth  of  the  Mukondokwa  Pass,  out  of 
which  the  river  debouches  into  the  plain.  We  knew  that  it  was  an 
unusual  season,  for  the  condition  of  the  country,  though  bad  enough 
the  year  before,  was  as  nothing  compared  to  this  year.  Close  to  the 
edge  of  the  foaming,  angry  flood  lay  our  route,  dipping  down  fre- 
quently into  deep  ditches,  wherein  we  found  ourselves  sometimes  up- 
to  the  waist  in  water,  and  sometimes  up  to  the  throat.  Urgent  neces- 
sity impelled  us  onward,  lest  we  might  have  to  camp  at  one  of  these 
villages  until  the  end  of  the  monsoon  rains  ;  so  we  kept  on,  over 
marsh  bottoms,  up  to  the  knees  in  mire,  under  jungly  tunnels  dripping 
with  wet,  then  into  sloughs  arm-pit  deep.  Every  channel  seemed 
filled  to  overflowing,  yet  down  the  rain  poured,  beating  the  surface  of 
the  river  into  yellowish  foam,  pelting  us  until  we  were  almost  breath- 
less. Half  a  day's  battling  against  such  difficulties  brought  us,  after 
crossing  the  river,  once  again  to  the  dismal  village  of  Mvumi.  We 
passed  the  night  fighting  swarms  of  black  and  voracious  mosquitoes^ 
and  in  heroic  endeavours  to  win  repose  in  sleep,  in  which  we  were 
partly  successful,  owing  to  the  utter  weariness  of  our  bodies. 

THREATENING   A    FOOLHARDY    NATIVE    WITH    A   REVOLVER. 

Next  day  we  struck  out  of  the  village  of  Mvumi.  It  had  rained 
the  whole  night,  and  the  morning  brought  no  cessation.  Mile  after 
mile  we  traversed,  over  fields  covered  by  the  inundation,  until  we  came 
to  a  branch  river-side  once  again,  where  the  river  was  narrow,  and  too 
deep  to  ford  in  the  middle.  We  proceeded  to  cut  a  tree  down,  and  so 
contrived  that  it  should  fall  right  across  the  stream.  Over  this  fallen 
tree  the  men,  bestriding  it,  cautiously  moved  before  them  their  bales 
and  boxes  ;  but  one  young  fellow,  Rojab — through  over-zeal,  or  in 
sheer  madness — took  up  Livingstone's  box  which  contained  his  letters 
and  journal  of  his  discoveries  on  his  head,  and  started  into  the 
river.  I  had  been  the  first  to  arrive  on  the  opposite  bank,  in  order  to 
superintend  the  crossing,  when  I  caught  sight  of  this  man  walking  in 
the  river  with  the  most  precious  box  of  all  on  his  head.  Suddenly  he 
fell  into  a  deep  hole,  and  the  man  and  box  went  almost  out  of  sight, 
while  I  was  in  an  agony  at  the  fate  which  threatened  the  despatches. 
Fortunately,  he  recovered  himself  and  stood  up,  while  I  shouted  to 


TRAVELS    OF    STANLEY    IN    THE    TROPICS. 


129 


him,  with  a  loaded  revolver  pointed  at  his  head,  "  Look  out !  Drop 
that  box,  and  I'll  shoot  you."  All  the  men  halted  in  their  work  while 
they  gazed  at  their  comrade  who  was  thus  imperilled  by  bullet  and  flood. 
The  man  himself  seemed  to  regard  the  pistol  with  the  greatest  awe. 


and  after  a  few  desperate  efforts  succeeded  in  getting  the  box  safely 
ashore.  As  the  articles  within  were  not  damaged,  Rojab  escaped 
punishment,  with  a  caution  not  to  touch  the  box  again  on  any  account, 
and  it  was  transferred  to  the  keeping  of  a  sure-footed  porter. 

9 


130  WONDERS    OF    EXPLORATION    AND    ADVENTURE. 

From  this  stream,  in  about  an  hour,  we  came  to  the  main  river, 
but  one  look  at  its  wild  waters  was  enough.  We  worked  hard  ^o 
construct  a  raft,  but  after  cutting  down  four  trees  and  lashing  the  green 
logs  together,  and  pushing  them  into  the  whirling  current,  we  saw  them 
sink  like  lead.  We  then  tied  together  all  the  strong  rope  in  our  pos- 
session, and  made  a  line  one  hundred  and  eighty  feet  long,  with  one 
end  of  which  tied  around  his  body,  a  man  was  sent  across  to  lash  it  to 
a  tree.  He  was  carried  far  down  the  stream,  but  being  an  excellent 
swimmer,  he  succeeded  in  his  attempt.  The  bales  were  lashed  around 
the  middle,  and  heaved  into  the  stream,  were  dragged  through  the 
river  to  the  opposite  bank,  as  well  as  the  tent,  and  such  things  as  could 
not  be  injured  much  by  the  water.  Several  of  the  men,  as  well  as 
myself,  were  also  dragged  through  the  water ;  each  of  the  boys  being 
attended  by  the  best  swimmers  ;  but  when  we  came  to  the  letter-boxes 
and  valuables,  we  could  suggest  no  means  to  take  them  over.  Two 
camps  were  accordingly  made,  one  on  each  side  of  the  stream;  the  one 
on  the  bank  which  I  had  just  left  occupying  an  ant-hill  of  considerable 
height ;  while  my  party  had  to  content  itself  with  a  flat,  miry  marsh. 
An  embankment  of  soil,  nearly  a  foot  high,  was  thrown  up  in  a  circle 
thirty  feet  in  diameter,  in  the  centre  of  which  my  tent  was  pitched,  and 
around  it  booths  were  erected. 

It  was  an  extraordinary  and  novel  position  that  we  found  ourselves 
in.  Within  twenty  feet  of  our  camp  was  a  rising  river,  with  flat,  low 
banks  ;  above  us  was  a  gloomy,  weeping  sky;  surrounding  us  on  three 
sides  was  an  immense  forest,  on  whose  branches  we  heard  the  constant 
pattering  rain  ;  beneath  our  feet  was  a  great  depth  of  mud,  black  and 
loathsome;  add  to  these  the  thought  that  the  river  might  overflow,  and 
sweep  us  to  utter  destruction.- 

NOVEL   METHOD    OF    CROSSING    A    RIVER. 

In  the  morning  the  river  was  still  rising,  and  an  inevitable  doom 
seemed  to  hang  over  us.  There  was  yet  time  to  act — to  bring  over  the 
people,  with  the  most  valuable  effects  of  the  expedition — as  I  con- 
sidered Dr.  Livingstone's  journal  and  letters,  and  my  own  papers,  of 
far  greater  value  than  anything  else.  While  looking  at  the  awful  river 
an  idea  struck  me  that  I  might  possibly  carry  the  boxes  across,  one  at 
a  time,  by  cutting  two  slender  poles,  and  tying  cross  sticks  to  them, 
making  a  kind  of  hand-barrow,  on  which  a  box  might  rest  when 
lashed  to  it.  Two  men  swimming  across,  at  the  same  time  holding  on 
to  the  rope,  with  the  ends  of  the  poles  resting  on  the  men's  shoulders, 
I  thought,  would  be  enabled  to  convey  over  a  sevent>'  pound  box  with 
ease.  In  a  short  time  one  of  these  was  made,  and  six  couples  of  the 
strongest  swimmers  were   prepared,  and    stimulated   with   a   rousing 


Stanley's  adventures  and  discoveries.  131 

^lass  of  stiff  grog,  with  a  promise  of  cloth  to  each  man  also  if  they 
■succeeded  in  getting  everything  ashore  undamaged  b\'  the  water. 
When  I  saw  with  what  ease  they  dragged  themselves  across,  the 
barrow  on  their  shoulders,  I  wondered  that  I  had  not  thought  of  the 
plan  before.  An  hour  after  the  first  couple  had  gone  over,  the 
entire  Expedition  was  safe  on  the  eastern  bank ;  and  at  once  breaking 
camp,  we  marched  north  through  the  swampy  forest  which  in  some 
places  was  covered  with  four  feet  of  water.  Glad  indeed  the  wearied 
explorers  were  when  they  at  length  reached  tribes  who  were  friendly 
to  white  men,  and  more  glad  still  when  they  saw  the  waters  of  the 
broad  Atlantic  spreading  out  before  them,  and  knew  that  all  danger 
was  now  over. 

While  Stanley  was  fighting  his  way  down  the  Lualaba  to  the 
Atlantic,  Lieutenant  Cameron  was  making  his  famous  journey  from 
the  east  to  the  west  coast  of  the  great  African  continent.  His  inten- 
tion was  to  convey  assistance  to  Livingstone,  and  it  was  only  while 
•on  his  journey  that  he  heard  of  his  death.  After  having  organized 
his  expedition,  he  left  Zanzibar  for  Bagamoyo,  the  point  of  departure 
for  caravans  bound  to  Unyanyembe  and  countries  beyond. 

Cameron's  expedition,  although  starting  from  the  same  point  as 
Stanley's,  took  quite  a  different  route — one  that  led  between  that  of 
the  American  and  the  Kingani  river,  a  country  open  and  park-like, 
varied  with  woodlands  and  jungle.  But  as  no  villages  lay  in  his  path, 
he  was  soon  obliged  to  leave  it,  and  make  his  way  across  the  Usagara 
Hills,  which,  he  says,  in  spite  of  their  rocky  character,  are  wooded  to 
the  tops,  chiefly  with  acacias.  Here  he  saw  the  paramasi  tree — one 
of  the  noblest  in  the  world,  having  a  trunk  sometimes  fifteen  feet  in 
diameter,  and  ascending  as  high  as  one  hundred  and  forty  feet,  with  a 
bark  of  tender  yellowish  green,  crowned  by  a  spreading  head  of  dark 
green  foliage. 

CAMPING    under    GIGANTIC    TREES. 

In  this  latitude  the  traveler  will  first  meet  with  the  gigantic  and 
castle-like  Uwana,  which  is  decidedly  the  most  striking  and  wonderful 
tree  among  the  thousands  which  adorn  the  South  African  forests.  It 
is  chiefly  remarkable  on  account  of  its  extraordinary  size,  actually 
resembling  a  castle  or  tower  more  than  a  forest-tree.  Throughout  the 
country  of  Bamangwato  the  average  circumference  of  these  trees  was 
from  thirty  to  forty  feet ;  but  on  continuing  researches  in  a  north- 
easterly direction  throughout  the  more  fertile  forests,  which  clothe  the 
boundless  tracts  through  which  the  fair  Limpopo  winds,  one  may  meet 
with  specimens  of  this  extraordinary  tree  averaging  from  sixty  to  one 
hundred  feet  in  circumference,  and  maintaining   this    thickness  to  a 


A    GIANT    TRUNK    OF    THE    CASTLE   TREE. 


Stanley's  adventures  and  discoveries.  133 

height  of  from  twenty  to  thirty  feet,  when  they  diverge  into  numerous 
goodly  branches,  whose  general  character  is  abrupt  and  horizontal,  and 
which  seem  to  terminate  with  a  peculiar  suddenness.  The  wood  of 
this  tree  is  soft  and  utterly  unserviceable.  The  shape  of  the  leaf  is 
similar  to  that  of  the  sycamore  tree,  but  its  texture  partakes  more  of 
the  fig-leaf;  its  fruit  is  a  nut,  which  in  size  and  shape  resembles  the 
egg  of  the  swan.  A  remarkable  fact  in  connection  with  these  trees  is 
the  manner  in  which  they  are  disposed  throughout  the  forest.  They 
are  found  standing  singly,  or  in  rows,  invariably  at  considerable 
distances  from  one  another,  as  if  planted  by  the  hand  of  man,  and  from 
their  wondrous  size  and  unusual  height  (for  they  always  tower  high 
above  their  surrounding  compeers),  they  convey  the  idea  of  being 
strangers  or  interlopers  on  the  ground  they  occupy. 

Over  these  hills  Cameron  made  his  way  to  the  Mpwapwa  country, 
which  in  some  portions  of  his  route  proved  to  be  quite  parched  and 
dusty  from  scarcity  of  water;  the  vegetation,  too,  from  the  same  cause, 
scanty  and  dry.  But  when  the  river  of  the  same  name  was  reached, 
things  presented  a  more  cheerful  aspect.  On  both  sides  grew  very 
large  trees;  so  large  indeed  did  some  prove  that  the  travelers  pitched 
all  their  tents  under  one  so  enormous  that  one  half  was  an  ample 
shelter.  Here  provisions  were  found  to  be  very  dear,  in  consequence 
of  a  mountain  tribe,  called  the  Wadirigo,  lording  it  over  the  people, 
and  placing  the  villages  under  contribution.  This  plundering  tribe  are 
described  as  a  tall  and  manly  race,  satisfied  with  having  a  string  of 
beads  round  the  neck  or  wrist,  to  serve  as  a  substitute  for  clothing. 
They  carry  very  large  shields  made  of  hide,  a  heavy  spear  for  close 
quarters,  and  a  bundle  of  slender  assegais,  which  they  throw  with 
great  force  and  precision  to  a  distance  of  more  than  fifty  yards, 

THIEVES    WITH    IMMENSE    EARS. 

From  Mpwapwa  our  traveler  passed  into  Ugogo  country,  the  inhab- 
itants of  which — the  Wagogo — have  the  character  of  being  great 
thieves  and  extortioners.  They  have  a  singular  custom  of  piercing 
their  ears,  and  enlarging  the  lobes  so  enormously  that  they  sometimes 
fall  as  low  as  the  shoulders.  Ear-rings  of  brass  and  wire,  pieces  of 
wood,  and  other  articles  are  worn  in  them.  Their  wool  is  twisted  into 
strings,  lengthened  by  fibres  of  the  baobab,  and  at  the  end  of  these 
strings  are  attached  colored  beads  or  little  brass  balls. 

So  on,  through  country  after  country,  Cameron  traveled,  his  stand- 
ard-bearers and  other  followers  giving  him  much  trouble  and  annoy- 
ance. But  in  spite  of  troubles  and  vexations,  he  made  his  way  to 
Unyanyembe,  and  from  thence,  making  a  long  detour  southward,  to 
avoid  a  restless  chieftain  named  Mirambo,  he  reached  Uganda, "  country 


134  WONDERS    OF    EXPLORATION    AND    ADVENTURE. 

of  farms,"  and  then,  soon  after,  stood  on  the  heights  of  Ukaranga,  "the 
country  of  the  ground-nuts,"  and  looked  on  the  broad  expanse  of  Lake 
Tanganyika.  After  navigating  the  southern  end  of  this  great  lake,  he 
journeyed  to  Nyangwe,  and  from  thence  through  one  thousand  two 
hundred  miles  of  a  country  never  before  seen  by  white  man. 

The  great  kingdom  of  Urua  was  the  first  country  in  this  new  land 
to  claim  his  attention.  It  is  larger  in  extent  than  even  Great  Britain  and 
Ireland,  and  has  one  sole  ruler.  King  Kasongo,  who  exercises  a  truly 
despotic  sway.  This  kingdom  is  divided  into  districts  governed  by  a 
kilolo,  or  captain,  who  derives  his  authority  from  the  king;  and  the 
punishments  inflicted  for  various  crimes  are  those  of  death  and  mutila- 
tion. The  people  tattoo  themselves,  and  their  hair  is  carefully  drawn 
back  and  tied  behind  the  head,  whence  it  sticks  out  like  the  handle  of 
a  saucepan.  The  males  of  Urua  light  their  own  fires  and  cook  their 
own  food,  but  will  never  allow  another  to  see  them  eating,  as  they 
consider  the  sight  unseemly;  and  should  any  one  be  present  when 
they  convey  food  to  their  mouth,  they  hold  a  cloth  before  the  face. 
The  different  degrees  of  rank  are  carefully  observed,  and  one  of  inferior 
social  position  dare  not  sit  down  in  the  presence  of  one  more  exalted 
without  suffering  punishment.  The  religion  of  the  people  is  of  a  very 
degraded  character,  being  a  mixture  of  fetish  and  idolatry;  every  vil- 
lage possesses  a  devil-hut  and  an  idol,  before  which  offerings  of  meat 
and  grain  are  placed.  Small  figures  are  also  worn  round  the  neck. 
In  addition  to  these,  the  kingdom  possesses  one  grand  deity  named 
Kungwe-a-Banza,  who  is  considered  all-powerful  for  good  or  evil. 
The  temple  of  this  god  is  placed  in  a  clearing  of  a  jungle,  and  guarded 
by  a  number  of  priests,  who,  however,  are  never  allowed  to  see  it — a 
pri  rilege  only  accorded  to  the  idol's  wife,  who  is  always  a  sister  of  the 
reijning  king.  To  test  the  supposed  feelings  of  awe  and  fear  in  which 
this  idol  was  held  by  the  common  people,  Cameron  on  several  occasions 
went  softly  behind  a  man  and  cried  suddenly,  "Kungwe-a-Banza!" 
The  man  invariably  gave  a  spring  into  the  air  and  darted  away  with, 
every  symptom  of  dread. 

SINGULAR    CUSTOMS    AT    THE    BURIAL   OF    A    CHIEF. 

At  Kilemba,  the  chief  residence  of  the  king,  Cameron  was  delayed 
for  a  long  time  as  a  prisoner,  being  only  allowed  to  make  short  excur- 
sions into  the  country.  Most  of  his  time  was  spent  in  gathering 
information  as  to  the  manners  and  customs  of  the  people,  many  of 
which  proved  to  be  of  a  cruel  and  savage  nature. 

The  first  proceeding  in  the  burial  of  a  king  is  to  divert  the  course 
of  ?»  stream,  and  in  its  bed  to  dig  an  enormous  pit,  the  bottom  of 
which   is  then  covered  with  living  women.     At  one  end  a  woman  is 


Stanley's  adventures  and  discoveries.  135 

placed  on  her  hands  and  knees,  and  upon  her  back  the  dead  chief, 
covered  with  his  beads  and  other  treasures,  is  seated,  being  supported 
on  each  side  by  one  of  his  wives,  while  his  second  wife  sits  at  his 
feet.  The  earth  is  then  shoveled  in  on  them,  and  all  the  women  are 
buried  alive  with  the  exception  of  the  second  wife.  To  her,  custom 
is  more  merciful  than  to  her  companions,  and  grants  her  the  privilege 
of  being  killed  before  the  huge  grave  is  filled  in.  This  being  com- 
pleted, a  number  of  male  slaves — sometimes  forty  or  fifty — are  slaugh- 
tered, and  their  blood  poured  over  the  grave,  after  which  the  river  is 
allowed  to  resume  its  course.  Smaller  chiefs  have  only  two  or  three 
wives  buried  with  them,  and  but  few  slaves  killed  over  the  grave ;  while 
one  of  the  common  people  is  buried  alone  in  a  sitting  posture,  his  right 
forefinger  pointing  to  the  sky. 

When  the  chiefs  are  summoned  to  pay  homage  to  their  king,  the 
ceremony  takes  place  in  the  courtyard  of  the  royal  settlement,  or 
Mussumba,  the  entrance  being  carefully  guarded  by  sentries,  and  a  por- 
ter clothed  in  a  leopard  skin  and  armed  with  a  huge  club.  Kasongo 
stands  with  his  spear  in  his  hand,  while  behind  him  are  women  carry- 
ing his  shields,  and  one  an  axe.  A  chief  approaches,  followed  by  a 
slave,  holding  an  axe  before  his  face  with  the  edge  presented  to  the 
king.  When  within  a  given  distance,  he  rushes  suddenly  forward,  as 
if  with  the  intention  of  slaying  his  ruler;  then,  as  suddenly  stopping, 
he  falls  prone  to  the  ground,  burying  his  face  in  the  dust,  and  throw- 
ing some  on  his  head.  This  same  ceremony  is  repeated  by  all  the 
chiefs  present. 

King  Kasongo's  rule  was  very  despotic ;  no  village  was  safe  while 
he  reigned,  and  when  maddened  by  smoking  and  drinking  bhang  he 
was  capable  of  committing  acts  of  great  cruelty.  On  one  occasion 
a  chief  paid  him  the  customary  taxes  of  the  village.  The  king  pro- 
fessed great  friendship  for  him,  and,  to  do  him  honor,  said  he  would 
accompany  him  back.  When  the  village  was  reached,  a  cordon  of 
men  were  stationed  round  it,  and  at  night  the  chief  was  compelled 
with  his  own  hands  to  fire  the  huts  of  the  sleeping  people,  and  was 
then  killed.  The  inhabitants,  aroused  by  the  fire,  rushed  from  their 
dwellings  to  plunge  into  the  jungle  for  safety,  but  the  troops  placed 
on  the  outside  of  the  village  slew  every  man,  while  the  women  and 
children  were  taken  away  for  slaves.  Such  things  can  these  barbarous 
kings  do,  murdering  by  the  wholesale  their  defenceless  subjects. 

Mr.  Cameron  paid  this  potentate  a  visit,  and  he  describes  his  settle- 
ment as  being  six  hundred  yards  long  and  two  hundred  yards  wide, 
fenced  round  with  sticks  five  feet  high,  and  lined  with  grass.  The 
interview  was  brief  and  of  a  formal  character,  but  when  the  traveler 


136         WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 

took    his    leave    the    king's  band  accompanied  him,  playing-   all    the 
way. 

While  detained  a  prisoner,  Cameron  made  an  excursion  to  Lake 
Mohrya,  to  the  north  of  the  capital — a  small  sheet  of  water  surrounded 
by  wooded  hills,  but  having  within  it  three  curious  villages  built  on 
piles,  a  platform  being  laid  on  these  and  the  huts  raised  on  the  plat- 


HUMAN    SACRIFICES  IN  THE  KASONGO  COUNTRY. 

form.  Some  of  these  huts  were  of  an  oblong  shape,  others  round, 
with  sloping  roofs.  The  people  live  entirely  in  these  huts  with  their 
domestic  animals,  very  seldom  coming  to  shore,  and  then  merely  for 


Stanley's  adventures  and  discoveries.  137 

the  purpose  of  cultivating  patches  of  ground  and  to  feed  their  goats. 
Men  were  seen  swimming  from  one  village  to  another,  although  it 
was  said  that  large  snakes  inhabit  the  water,  whose  bite  is  fatal. 

A    QUAINT    old    LEGEND. 

In  an  excursion  to  the  south,  Cameron  discovered  Lake  Kassali, 
concerning  the  origin  of  which  the  people  told  him  the  following : — 

Once  there  stood,  where  Lake  Dilolo  now  is,  a  large  and  prosperous 
village.  The  inhabitants  were  all  rich  and  well-to-do,  possessing  large 
flocks  of  goats,  many  fowls  and  pigs,  and  plantations  of  corn  and  cassava 
far  exceeding  anything  that  is  now  granted  to  mortals.  They  passed 
their  time  merrily  in  eating  and  drinking,  and  never  thought  of  the 
morrow.  One  day,  an  old  and  decrepit  man  came  into  this  happy 
village,  and  asked  the  inhabitants  to  take  pity  on  him,  as  he  was  tired 
and  hungry,  and  had  a  long  journey  to  travel.  No  one  took  any 
notice  of  his  requests,  but  he  was  instead  pursued  with  scoffs  and 
jeers,  and  the  children  were  encouraged  to  throw  dirt  and  mud  at  the 
unfortunate  beggar  and  drive  him  out  of  the  place. 

Hungry  and  footsore,  he  was  going  on  his  way,  when  a  man  more 
charitable  than  his  neighbors  accosted  him  and  asked  him  what  he 
wanted.  He  said  all  he  wanted  was  a  drink  of  water,  a  little  food,  and 
somewhere  to  rest  his  weary  head.  The  man  took  him  into  his  hut, 
gave  him  water  to  drink,  killed  a  goat,  and  soon  set  a  plentiful  mess  of 
meat  and  porridge  before  him,  and  when  he  was  satisfied  gave  him  his 
own  hut  to  sleep  in. 

In  the  middle  of  the  night  the  poor  beggar  got  up,  and  aroused  the 
charitable  man,  saying,  "  You  have  done  me  a  good  turn,  and  now  I 
will  do  the  same  for  you ;  but  what  I  tell  you  none  of  your  neighbors 
must  know."  The  charitable  man  promised  to  be  as  secret  as  the 
grave,  on  which  the  old  man  told  him  that  in  a  few  nights  he  would 
hear  a  great  storm  of  wind  and  rain,  and  that  when  it  commenced  he 
must  arise  and  fly  with  all  his  belongings.  Having  uttered  this  warn- 
ing, the  beggar  departed.  Two  days  afterward  the  charitable  man 
heard  rain  and  wind  such  as  he  had  never  before  heard,  and  said,  "The 
words  that  the  old  man  spoke  are  true."  He  got  up  in  haste,  and  with 
his  wives,  goats,  slaves,  fowls,  and  all  his  property,  left  the  doomed 
place  safely.  Next  morning,  where  the  village  had  stood  was  Lake 
Dilolo ;  and  to  the  present  day  people  camping  on  its  banks,  or  crossing 
in  canoes  on  still  nights,  can  hear  the  sound  of  pounding  corn,  the 
songs  of  women,  the  crowing  of  cocks,  and  the  bleating  of  goats. 

LIONS    WALKING    THE    VILLAGE   STREETS. 

It  was  here,  too,  that  our  traveler  heard  of  the  village  where  the 
people  were  on  friendly  relations  with  lions,  which  walked  about  the 


Stanley's  adventures  and  discoveries.  13^ 

streets  as  dogs  do,  and  that  on  certain  festival  days,  when  they  were 
feasted,  as  many  as  two  hundred  at  a  time  would  visit  the  village  and 
each  answer  to  a  name.  He  was  also  told  of  a  people  who  lived  in 
underground  dwellings  which  were  situated  in  immense  caverns  on  the 
banks  of  the  river  Lufira,  where  there  were  whole  villages  and  their 
chiefs,  and  that  the  people  very  seldom  visited  the  upper  air.  Then 
there  was  a  mysterious  island  called  Ngornanza,  somewhere  on  Lake 
Tanganyika,  where  the  inhabitants  were  all  afflicted  with  the  leprosy,  and 
not  allowed  to  leave  the  island  or  intermarry  with  any  other  tribe;  and 
that  when  the  natives  of  the  surrounding  country  were  compelled  by 
business  to  pass  through  its  villages,  they  did  so  hurriedly,  with  their 
mouths  covered  and  their  eyes  averted.  Many  other  marvelous 
stories  were  related. 

After  a  lengthened  stay  at  the  capital  of  the  Urua  country.  King 
Kasongo  was  at  length  pleased  to  give  our  traveler  permission  to 
depart,  of  which  he  was  glad  to  avail  himself  Journeying  across 
Ulunda  from  east  to  west,  he  entered  the  countries  of  Lovale  and 
Kibokwe,  in  the  first  of  which  he  found  the  people  very  savage,  and, 
possessing  guns,  were  much  feared  by  passing  caravans,  as  they  made 
many  claims  upon  them  and  extorted  large  tribute;  and  as  the  fetish 
men  are  all-powerful  in  this  country,  the  stranger  was  compelled 
to  keep  a  sharp  look-out  and  be  careful  of  his  actions,  for  should  he 
chance  to  rest  his  gun  against  a  hut  in  one  of  their  villages,  it  was 
instantly  seized,  and  not  returned  unless  a  heavy  fine  was  paid;  for  it 
was  maintained  that  it  was  an  act  of  magic,  intended  to  cause  the 
death  of  the  owner  of  the  hut.  These  people  dress  their  hair  in  a  very 
singular  fashion,  by  plaiting  it  into  a  kind  of  pattern,  and  then  plaster- 
ing it  with  mud  and  oil,  till  the  head-dress  looks  as  if  carved  out  of 
wood. 


CHAPTER  V. 


EXPLORATIONS    OF   DU    CHAILLU,    SPEKE,   GRANT, 
AND  OTHER  CELEBRATED  TRAVELERS. 

Handsome  Savages — Penetrating  the  Wilderness — The  Muni  Men — Horrible  Customs — 
A  Stampede  of  Gorillas— King  of  the  Cannibals — Monkey  Ingenuity — Slaughter  of 
Witches — King  Du  Chaillu — A  Chimpanzee — Boa-constrictors — Small-pox — Otando 
Land — A  Race  for  Life — Speke  and  Burton — A  Strike  — Robbers — "A  Stumpy  Old 
Dame" — Grant's  Exploits — Wife  Fattening— Mtesa,  the  Greatest  of 
African  Kings — Human  Sacrifices — Great  King  Munza. 

'AUL  DU  CHAILLU,  an  American  by  birth,  but  a 
Frenchman  by  parentage,  between  1856  and  1859,  trav- 
ersed the  regions  of  Africa  on  the  line  of  the  equator, 
and  made  scientific  discoveries  of  great  importance. 

A  second  journey,  in  which  Ashango  Land  was  visited, 
and  the  most  westerly  buttresses  examined  of  the  great 
mountain  range  supposed  to  divide  the  continent  of  Af- 
rica nearly  along  the  line  of  the  equator,  was  also  fruitful 
of  results,  and  the  two  expeditions  may  be  looked  upon 
as  steps  towards  the  realization  of  that  dream  of  the  present  age,  the 
connection  of  the  eastern  and  western  coasts  of  Central  Africa,  a  dream 
now  become  almost  a  waking  reality  by  the  conclusion  of  Lieutenant 
Cameron's  and  Stanley's  world-famous  journeys. 

Du  Chaillu,  whose  expenses  were  paid  by  a  Philadelphia  scientific 
society,  arrived  at  the  mouth  of  the  Gaboon  River,  already  dotted  with 
missionary  settlements,  early  in  1856,  having,  in  several  years'  residence 
on  the  coast  as  a  trader,  acquired  considerable  experience  in  dealing 
with  the  Mpongwcs,  the  chief  native  tribe  of  the  coast  di.stricts.  Being 
anxious  to  harden  himself  to  the  climate  of  the  interior,  so  often  fatal  to 
the  white  man,  he  took  up  his  quarters  at  Baraka,  eight  miles  up  the 
river,  the  station  of  an  American  mission  founded  about  1842.  Here 
our  hero  was  most  hospitably  entertained,  and  the  early  part  of  his  nar- 
rative is  occupied  in  describing  the  results  already  achieved  by  the  little 
band  of  Christian  teachers  there  at  work,  who  devoted  most  of  their 
time  to  the  instruction  of  the  children,  teaching  them  to  read  the  Scrip- 
tures in  their  own  language,  and  to  master  the  first  principles  of  geog- 
raphy and  arithmetic.  They  hoped,  by  these  means,  gradually  to 
change  the  whole  character  of  the  Mpongwe  race,  many  members  of 
which  have  good  intellectual  ability. 
(140) 


EXPLORATIONS    OF   CELEBRATED    TRAVELERS.  141 

Here  the  antecedents  of  the  natives  were  carefully  studied,  and 
according  to  Du  Chaillu,  the  Mpongwe  are  but  one  branch  of  a  great 
negro  family  which  has  moved  gradually  down  from  the  interior  to  the 
sea-coast,  taking  the  place  of  other  tribes,  the  Ndina,  for  instance,  who 
have  disappeared — we  might  almost  say  melted  away — in  that  mysteri- 
ous way  peculiar  to  native  races,  leaving  scarcely  a  trace  of  their  exis- 
tence. The  Mpongwes  are  a  fine-looking  sturdy  set  of  men,  resembling 
in  their  general  appearance  the  Mandingoes,  so  often  met  with  in  our 
travels  further  north.  Eager  traders,  they  and  their  neighbors  to  the 
north-west,  the  Shekiani  and  others,  mistrust  all  explorers  who  seem 
likely  to  interfere  with  their  gains,  and  only  by  repeated  assurances  of 
his  innocence  of  any  such  intention  was  our  hero  able  to  obtain  permis- 
sion to  traverse  their  country,  and  even  then,  many  of  the  merchants 
with  whom  he  had  done  a  brisk  business  in  ivory  and  dyes,  in  former 
times,  tried  to  scare  him  from  visiting  the  interior  by  terrible  stories  of 
the  ferocity  of  the  cannibal  tribes  living  to  the  east,  and  of  the  untama- 
ble gorillas  and  other  wild  beasts  haunting  the  impenetrable  forests  and 
impassable  swamps. 

OFF   FOR   THE   WILDERNESS. 

Nothing  daunted  by  all  he  heard,  but  more  eager  than  ever  to  see 
and  judge  for  himself,  our  hero  sailed  from  the  Gaboon  early  in  April, 
1856,  intending  first  to  explore  the  Muni,  flowing  into  the  Atlantic,  and 
for  this  purpose  he  landed  at  Corisco  Island,  situated  in  the  bay  of  the 
same  name,  where  he  was  to  obtain  canoes  and  men  to  help  him  to 
ascend  the  river.  Here,  as  at  Baraka,  Du  Chaillu's  hosts  were 
missionaries,  who  had  three  important  stations  on  the  island,  and  had 
done  much  good  work  amongst  the  native  Mbengas,  formerly  a  warlike, 
quarrelsome  race,  but  now  quiet  and  peaceable  converts  to  Christianity, 
retaining,  however,  many  strange,  superstitious,  and  cruel  practices,  the 
relics  of  their  former  faith. 

Du  Chaillu's  efforts  at  Corisco  resulted  in  his  obtaining  the  escort  of 
a  certain  chieftain  named  Mbango,  who  was  to  introduce  him  to  an 
influential  king  on  the  Muni,  and  he  started  for  that  river  in  Mbango's 
canoe,  with  a  crew  of  twelve  negroes,  all  armed  with  guns,  and  a  per- 
sonal outfit  of  a  chest  containing  one  hundred  fathoms  of  print,  nineteen 
pounds  of  white  beads,-  a  quantity  of  small  looking-glasses,  steels  and 
flints,  a  quantity  of  leaf-tobacco,  eighty  pounds  of  shot  and  bullets, 
twenty-five  pounds  of  powder,  and  a  few  guns.  Thus  provided,  he 
proposed  penetrating  to  the  very  heart  of  the  Sierra  del  Cristal,  a  chain 
running  parallel  with  and  about  eighty  or  a  hundred  miles  distant  from 
the  coast,  between  the  equator  and  two  degrees  north  latitude,  visiting 
the  cannibal  tribes  supposed  to  lead  a  wild  life  in  those  mountain  fast- 


'^f^^V  M 


IlillilllU      !, 

'LI 


IM^^^^^^^ 


M     'i 


142 


EXPLORATIONS  OF  CELEBRATED  TRAVELERS.        '   143 

nesses,  and  ascertain  if,  as  reported,  the  Congo  continued  its  course  in 
a  north-easterly  direction  above  the  equator.  How  far  this  programme 
was  reahzed  our  narrative  will  show. 

A    SUDDEN    CHECK. 

Passing  in  rapid  succession  the  little  islands  of  Leval,  Banian,  and 
Big  and  Little  Alobi,  dotting  the  bay  of  Corisco,  the  canoe  was  making 
rapid  progress,  when  a  detention  suddenly  occurred  of  a  character  so 
thoroughly  African  as  to  merit  detailed  relation  here. 

We  must  explain  that  Mbango  was  a  very  great  trader,  and,  as  such, 
the  possessor  of  many  creditors,  who,  like  their  compeers  all  the  world 
over,  were  more  ready  to  borrow  than  to  pay.  Now,  as  the  little  bark 
containing  our  hero  and  his  sable  attendants  shot  along,  a  large  boat 
came  slowly  sailing  towards  it,  which,  when  near  enough  for  its  inmates 
to  recognize  Mbango,  was  hurriedly  put  about,  and  paddled  off,  not  quite 
quickly  enough,  however,  for  Mbango  had  already  caught  sight  of  an 
old  debtor  of  his  on  board,  and  urging  his  men  to  put  on  all  speed,  he 
gave  chase,  shouting  '*  Stop !  stop  !  "  and  threatening  to  fire  on  the 
fugitives  if  he  were  not  obeyed.  In  vain  !  At  every  shout  the  rowers 
on  the  larger  vessel  redoubled  their  efforts,  and  a  few  random  shots 
from  the  canoe  only  frightened  them  still  more.  To  make  a  long  story 
short,  the  smaller  and  swifter  vessel  won  the  race ;  it  was  hauled  along- 
side the  enemy  ;  a  fierce  hand-to-hand  fight  ensued,  and  the  debtor's 
party,  finding  they  were  getting  the  worst  of  it,  finally  sprang  into  the 
water  and  swam  off,  leaving  three  prisoners,  one  a  woman,  in  Mbango's 
hands.  These,  he  coolly  informed  Du  Chaillu — who  throughout  the 
scufifle  had  gesticulated  and  protested  unnoticed — he  should  retain  as 
hostages  until  he  got  some  bar-wood  for  which  he  had  paid  in  advance. 
That  matter  settled,  the  canoe's  head  was  once  more  turned  towards 
the  Muni ;  but  our  hero,  not  quite  so  much  accustomed  to  unexpected 
fights  as  his  escort,  was  so  exhausted  as  to  be  obliged  to  land  on  the 
island  of  Little  Alobi,  where  he  passed  the  night,  and  took  some  doses 
of  quinine  to  ward  off  fever. 

A    NOISY    WELCOME. 

The  next  morning  he  was  visited  by  several  Muni  men,  and  in  the 
afternoon  sailed  with  a  favorable  tide  up  the  river  for  the  village  of 
Mbango's  friend  Dayoko.  An  uninteresting  paddle  of  about  forty 
miles  brought  our  hero  to  Dayoko's  village,  a  miserable  collection  of 
huts  rising  from  a  mud  bank  forming  its  chief  protection  from  attacks 
from  the  river.  The  natives,  roused  from  their  "  beauty  sleep  "  by  the 
arrival  of  the  strangers,  poured  out  armed  with  old  muskets,  expecting 
nothing  less  than  a  raid  from  the  interior ;  but  recognizing  the  friendly 
Mbangos,  they  flung  down  their  arms,  rent    the  air  with  shouts  of 


144  WONDERS    OF   EXPLORATION   AND   ADVENTURE. 

welcome,  and  conducted  them  to  the  stranger's  house,  always  kept 
empty  for  visitors. 

Presently  Dayoko  himself  appeared,  followed  by  his  numerous  wives, 
all  eager  to  stare  at  the  white  man,  and  the  tedious  ceremony  of  a  so- 
called  "salutation,"  inseparable  from  a  West  African  welcome,  ensued, 
Mbango  making  an  oration,  giving  a  most  minute  account  of  every 
incident  of  the  trip  from  Corisco.  Not  until  twelve  o'clock  was  our 
weary  hero  allowed  to  enjoy  either  supper  or  bed. 

The  next  morning  Du  Chaillu  had  an  early  interview  with  Dayoko 
— who,  in  spite  of  the  wretched  appearance  of  his  village,  was  the 
oldest  and  most  influential  chief  of  the  Mbousha  tribe — and  consulted 
with  him  as  to  the  best  plan  for  carrying  out  his  scheme  of  a  journey 
into  the  Fan  country  beyond  the  Sierra  del  Cristal.  As  usual,  the  first 
reply  was,  "  Impossible ;  you  will  die  on  the  road  ;  you  will  be  murdered 
by  the  cannibals,  and  eaten ;  there  is  war  on  the  river,  and  the  tribes 
will  not  let  you  pass  ;  the  country  is  sick."  To  all  this  Du  Chaillu 
merely  answered  that  his  mind  was  made  up ;  he  would  go,  and  if  not 
with  Dayoko's  people,  then  with  some  one  else. 

HORRIBLE   PRACTICES. 

This  settled  the  matter ;  the  Mbousha  chieftain  promised  his  protec- 
tion, and  it  was  arranged  that  after  a  few  days'  rest  our  hero  should  go 
on  with  some  of  his  men  to  Mbene's  village,  a  little  further  up  the 
river,  and  there  obtain  natives  for  his  proposed  journey  into  the  interior. 
The  interval  of  waiting  was  employed  partly  in  hunting  and  partly  in 
examining  the  beautiful  flora  of  the  banks  of  the  river,  but  just  before 
leaving  the  village,  Du  Chaillu's  favorable  impression  of  his  hosts 
received  a  severe  shock,  for,  though  not  an  eye-witness  of  the  actual 
deed,  he  saw  all  the  attendant  horrors  of  the  murder  of  a  poor  old 
negro,  said  to  be  a  great  wizard,  and  to  have  done  much  harm.  In 
vain  did  the  white  man  plead  his  cause  with  Dayoko  ;  he  was  dragged 
down  to  the  river,  and  there  literally  hacked  to  pieces  by  some  half- 
dozen  of  his  fellow-countrymen. 

Dayoko's  men  were  sent  home,  and  Mbene,  having  agreed  that  his 
brother  Ncomo  and  some  of  his  own  men  should  accompany  the  ex- 
plorer as  far  as  the  Fan  country,  Du  Chaillu  resigned  himself  to  wait 
till  the  party  should  be  collected.  In  the  latter  part  of  August  the  start 
was  made  for  the  Sierra  del  Cristal,  the  party  this  time  consisting  of  Du 
Chaillu,  the  Ncomo  already  mentioned,  two  of  Mbene's  sons,  named 
Miengai  and  Maginda,  a  young  man  named  PouHandai,  and  half-a-dozen 
sturdy  Mbondemo  women  to  carry  the  baggage.  A  walk  of  a  few  miles 
brought  the  expedition  to  a  table-land  some  six  hundred  feet  high  and 
three  miles  long,  strewn  with  masses  of  quartz  and  granite,  passing. 


EXPLORATIONS  OF  CELEBRATED  TRAVELERS. 


145 


which  another  tier  of  hills,  steeper  and  higher  than  the  first,  had  to  be 
climbed.  The  path  was  crooked,  poorly  marked,  and  wound  about 
in  devious  courses,  rendering  their  progress  very  difficult. 

Following  his  guides,  who,  he  tells  us,  scudded  up  the  rocks  like  mon- 
keys, clinging  to  every  little  foothold  with  their  bare,  supple  toes,  in  a 


A    CHIEF    IN    WAR    COSTUME. 

manner  impossible  for  him  to  imitate  in  his  heavy  shoes,  Du  Chaillu  was 
about  to  begin  the  ascent  of  this  second  tier,  when  Miengai  suddenly 
made  him  a  sign  to  pause.  He  had  probably  caught  sight  of  a  herd 
of  elephants  or  of  a  tiger,  and  cocked  his  gun  in  readiness  to  fire,  his 
master  following  his  example.  Five  minutes  of  breathless  silence 
followed,  and  then  a  long,  loud  hurrah  rung  out,  answered  by  shouts 
10 


146  WONDERS    OF    EXPLORATION    AND    ADVENTURE. 

from  the  rocks  and  trees  around.  What  could  it  be  ?  No  elephant,  no 
tiger  was  ever  greeted  in  such  wise.  Du  Chaillu  was  still  looking  about 
him  in  wonderment,  when  Miengai  raised  the  fierce  war-cry  of  his 
nation  and  darted  forward,  his  master  close  behind  him.  Another 
moment  and  the  mystery  was  explained,  for  our  hero  came  in  sight  of 
an  encampment  of  Mbene's  people  on  their  way  home  from  a  trading 
expedition  to  the  interior.  There  lay  some  hundred  weary  black  men 
taking  their  ease  about  their  fires,  whilsttheir  women  cooked  and  slaved 
for  them,  and  their  children  gathered  sticks  and  branches.  Pitching  his 
own  camp  near  them,  Du  Chaillu  allowed  his  men  to  fraternize  with 
their  comrades,  and  did  not  resume  his  march  the  next  morning  till  they 
had  started  for  home ;  the  men  carrying  only  their  arms,  the  women 
and  children  staggering  under  the  weight  of  the  baskets  of  india-rubber 
and  ivory,  and  constituting  the  beasts  of  burden  for  the  journey. 

TROUBLE    IN    THE   CAMP. 

A  tramp  of  eighteen  miles  through  rain  and  mud,  and  up  a  continuous 
ascent,  brought  our  explorer  late  on  the  same  day  to  a  large  Mbondemo 
encampment  in  the  hills,  where  he  made  himself  comfortable,  and  in- 
dulged in  a  good,  long  rest  before  he  began  the  ascent  of  the  second 
range  of  the  Sierra  del  Cristal.  Here,  however,  he  had  some  little 
difficulty  with  his  men,  who  declared  they  would  not  go  a  step  further 
unless  he  paid  them  more  cloth.  Putting  a  bold  face  on  the  matter, 
though  to  have  been  deserted  then  would  have  been  certain  death,  our 
hero  went  amongst  the  mutineers,  pistol  in  hand,  declaring  that  he 
would  give  them  nothing  more,  nor  would  he  permit  them  to  leave  him, 
for  had  not  their  father,  Mbene,  given  them  to  him  to  go  with  him  to 
the  Fan  tribe  ?  They  must  go  on,  or — here  followed  a  demonstration 
with  the  pistol — there  would  be  war  to  the  death  between  them  and 
their  master. 

This  steady  demeanor  had  the  desired  effect ;  the  men  wavered,  con- 
sulted together,  withdrew  their  threats  and  their  demands,  and  shaking 
hands  with  Du  Chaillu,  promised  fidelity  and  friendship.  The  ascent 
of  the  second  range  of  the  Sierra  del  Cristal  began,  and  struggling  up 
and  up  through  a  wild  country,  densely  wooded  and  apparently  unten- 
anted by  a  single  living  creature,  they  came  about  midday  to  the  head 
waters  of  the  Ntambounay,  dashing  down  hill  in  the  form  of  a  mountair 
torrent,  extending  for  a  mile,  right  before  the  explorer,  like  a  vast  seeth- 
ing billowy  sea.  Pausing  but  to  drink  a  few  handfuls  of  the  pure,  clear 
water,  Du  Chaillu  pressed  on,  and  an  hour's  further- ascent  brought  him 
to  a  clearing  once  occupied  by  a  Mbondemo  village,  on  the  very  summit 
of  the  range,  some  five  thousand  feet  above  the  sea-level,  from  which 
he  had  an  uninterrupted  view  of  the  hills  ascended  the  day  before,  and 


EXPLORATIONS    OF   CELEBRATED    TRAVELERS.  147 

tlie  apparently  endless  virgin  forests  on  the  west,  whilst  far  away  in  the 
east  loomed  the  blue  tops  of  the  farthest  heights  of  the  Sierra  del  Cristal, 
reminding  him  that  his  work  was  as  yet  but  begun. 

Roused  from  a  dreamy  reverie  by  the  yells  of  his  men  at  the  dis- 
cover}'  of  a  snake,  which  they  killed  and  ate  on  the  spot,  Du  Chaillu 
was  seeking  about  the  ruins  of  the  village  for  something  to  satisfy  his 
own  hunger,  when  he  saw  the  unmistakable  traces  of  the  recent  passage 
of  gorillas  in  patches  of  beaten-down,  torn-up,  and  chewed  sugar-cane. 

A    GORILLA    HUNT. 

Joy,  he  tells  us,  filled  his  heart  at  the  sight,  and,  calling  hi-s  men 
together,  he  ordered  some  to  remain  and  protect  the  women,  and  others 
to  join  him  in  following  the  tracks.  Armed  to  the  teeth,  and  not 
daring  to  speak,  for  the  gorilla  is  keen  of  hearing  and  prompt  in  action, 
the  hunters  crept  cautiously  along,  descended  a  hill,  crossed  a  stream  on 
a  fallen  log,  forced  their  way  through  the  dense  bush  on  the  other  side, 
and  were  finally  rewarded  by  the  sight  of  four  young  gorillas  speeding 
along  on  their  hind  legs,  their  heads  down,  their  bodies  inclined 
forwards,  looking  like  haiiy  men  running  for  their  lives.  Fierce, 
discordant,  half-human,  half-devilish  cries  testified  to  their  alarm  and 
distress ;  but  though  a  perfect  volley  was  fired  at  them,  they  got  off 
unhurt,  and  were  careful  not  to  show  themselves  again. 

Feeling  rather  crestfallen  at  their  ill  success,  the  party  returned  to  the 
camp  to  find  large  fires  burning  as  a  protection  from  the  gorillas,  and 
their  supper  ready  cooked.  Refreshed  by  a  night's  rest,  they  made 
another  expedition  with  no  better  results  the  next  day,  and  then,  pro- 
visions being  exhausted,  they  were  compelled  to  resume  their  march,  a 
heavy  day's  tramp  along  a  mere  elephant  track  bringing  them  to  a 
deserted  village,  where  they  were  presently  joined  by  some  Mbichos 
from  a  neighboring  settlement,  who  had  never  before  seen  a  white  man, 
and  expressed  the  greatest  astonishment  at  Du  Chaillu's  appearance. 
Plantains  were  the  only  food  they  could  spare  for  their  famishing  guests, 
but  the  next  day  our  hero's  old  friend  Mbene  arrived,  who  at  once  set 
off  to  a  Fan  village  near  to  obtain  provisions. 

A    STARTLING    MEETING. 

Unable  to  bear  the  pangs  of  hunger  until  Mbene's  return,  Du  Chaillu 
took  his  gun  and  started  to  meet  him,  hoping  to  be  able  to  shoot  some- 
thing on  the  way.  Giving  chase  to  a  monkey,  which  dodged  him 
whenever  he  took  aim,  he  became  separated  from  his  escort,  and  came 
suddenly  face  to  face  with  a  Fan  warrior  and  two  Fan  women,  his  wives. 
Startled  at  this  unexpected  apparition,  our  hero  was  about  to  beat  a 
retreat,  when  it  dawned  upon  him  that  the  blacks  were  as  much  alarmed 
as  himself,  and  it  subsequently  transpired  that  they  took  him  for  a 


148  WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 

spirit  fresh  from  the  sky.  SmiHng  and  looking  as  pleasant  as  he  could, 
he  advanced  close  to  the  sable  warrior,  who  seemed  ready  to  sink  into 
the  ground  with  fright,  and  at  this  juncture  the  Mbondemo  people  came 
up,  mutual  explanations  ensued,  Du  Chaillu  gave  the  women  some 
strings  of  white  beads,  and  the  Fan  trio  went  off  highly  delighted. 
These,  the  first  acquaintances  made  by  a  European  in  Fan  country, 
were  tall,  strong,  active-looking  people,  with  skins  rather  less  dark  than 
those  of  their  sea-coast  neighbors,  woolly  hair  drawn  out  into  long 
thick  plaits,  high  cheek  bones,  prominent  lips,  and  large  black  deep-set 
eyes.  They  wore  the  minimum  of  clothing — nothing  more,  in  fact, 
than  a  piece  of  the  soft  inside  bark  of  a  tree  covered  with  the  skin  of 
a  wild  cat  or  tiger,  and  hung  round  the  waist. 

ASTONISHMENT    AT    A    WHITE    MAN. 

The  news  of  the  arrival  of  a  white  man  soon  spread  through  the 
neighborhood,  and  Du  Chaillu  was  presently  mobbed  by  a  crowd  of 
men  and  women,  who  touched  everything  he  had  on,  and  were  especially 
astonished  at  the  appearance  of  his  feet,  taking  his  thick  boots  for  a 
new  variety  of  limb.  Being  anxious  to  impress  his  admirers  with  his 
power  as  well  as  his  beauty,  and  knowing  only  too  well  that  their 
enthusiasm  would  not  prevent  his  being  killed  and  eaten  should  oppor- 
tunity offer — for  the  Fans  are  undoubtedly  cannibals — Du  Chaillu  shot 
two  swallows  on  the  wing  in  their  presence,  a  feat  which  they  thought 
more  wonderful  than  anything  else.  At  four  o'clock,  much  to  the 
weary  explorer's  delight,  he  was  at  last  left  alone,  his  visitors  promising 
to  send  him  plenty  of  fowls  on  the  morrow.  This  they  did,  and,  the 
claims  of  exhausted  nature  being  at  last  satisfied,  our  hero  lost  no  time 
in  beginning  the  gorilla-hunting,  which  was  one  of  the  secondary 
objects  of  his  journey. 

SHOOTING    A    GORILLA. 

The  first  day  one  female  only  was  wounded,  and  escaped,  but  the 
next,  after  pushing  through  a  dense  and  all  but  impenetrable  forest,  the 
very  home  of  a  huge  male  was  reached,  and  Du  Chaillu  found  himself 
for  the  first  time  face  to  face  with  what  he  calls  the  "  king  of  the 
African  forest."  Rising  to  his  full  height,  nearly  six  feet,  he  glared 
upon  the  intruders  with  his  large  deep  gray  eyes,  beating  his  fists  upon 
his  breasts,  and  barking  like  an  angry  dog.  Motionless  stood  Du 
Chaillu,  his  gun  pointed  at  the  enemy's  heart ;  motionless  stood  the 
Mbondemo  warriors,  a  little  further  back,  awaiting  the  onslaught  which 
they  knew  would  not  long  be  delayed.  Then,  as  the  great  beast  dashed 
forward,  with  eyes  flashing  fire,  to  stop  within  six  yards  of  his  adver- 
saries and  utter  a  fearful  roar  of  defiance,  the  word  to  fire  was  given, 
and  with  an  almost  human  moan  he  fell  forward  on  his  face — dead  !    A 


EXPLORATIONS    OF   CELEBRATED    TRAVELERS.  149 

few  days  after  this  successful  hunt  our  hero  moved  on,  by  invitation,  to 
a  Fan  village,  and  on  his  very  first  entrance  saw  unmistakable  evidence 
of  the  existence  of  cannibalism  in  the  human  remains  lying  outside  the 
houses,  and  a  human  thigh  carried  by  a  woman  as  indifferently  as 
any  poor  person  in  our  own  country  would  take  home  the  meat 
purchased  at  a  butcher's. 

THE    KING    OF    THE   CANNIBALS. 

Arrived  at  the  palaver-house,  Du  Chaillu  had  to  wait  a  little  time  for 
an  audience  with  the  cannibal  king,  his  majesty  being  engaged  in 
superintending  the  division  of  a  human  body  ;  and  when  his  host  did 
arrive,  escorted  by  a  tumultuous  crowd  of  warriors,  he  turned  out  to  be 
a  savage,  ferocious-looking  fellow,  naked  except  for  the  small  waist 
garment  mentioned  above,  but  tattooed  with  all  manner  of  weird  and 
fantastic  designs.  With  Mbene  as  interpreter,  Du  Chaillu  had  a  short 
and  not  very  interesting  talk  with  the  king,  who  seemed  rather  afraid 
of  him,  and  sent  his  queen  to  get  a  lodging  ready  for  him  with  rather 
more  alacrity  than  politeness.  Only  too  glad  to  get  away,  the  white 
man  was  soon  ensconced  in  a  small  bark  house  with  a  roof  of  palm- 
leaf  matting,  and  containing  as  a  bed  a  rough  bamboo  frame,  sleeping 
on  which  left  him  bruised  and  aching  all  over.  The  next  morning,  the 
first  sight  which  met  his  eyes  on  opening  the  door  of  his  hut  was  a 
pile  of  human  ribs,  leg  and  arm  bones,  and  on  taking  a  short  stroll, 
fresh  evidences  of  cannibalism  stared  him  in  the  face  at  every  turn.  In 
spite  of  all  these  horrors,  however,  and  the  full  conviction  that  he 
might  any  day  himself  fall  a  victim  to  the  man-eating  propensities  of 
his  hosts,  the  intrepid  traveler  remained  some  weeks  in  the  village, 
joining  in  a  grand  elephant-hunt,  witnessing  a  Fan  wedding,  and  paying 
a  visit  to  the  neighboring  Osheba  tribe,  greatly  resembling  the  Fans, 
by  whom  he  was  very  courteously  received.  He  even  contemplated 
penetrating  further  to  the  east,  but  he  frankly  owns  that  he  was  deterred 
by  the  stories,  only  too  likely  to  be  true,  which  he  heard  on  every  side 
of  the  bloodthirsty  character  of  the  cannibal  tribes  through  which  he 
would  have  to  pass  alone,  Mbene  being  unable  to  accompany  him 
further.  He  therefore  determined  to  make  at  once  for  the  coast, 
intending  to  go  from  there  across  country  to  Sangatanga,  the  head- 
quarters of  the  Oroungou  tribe. 

After  a  somewhat  tempestuous  voyage  down  the  coast,  our  hero  ar- 
rived at  the  mouth  of  the  Fernand  Vaz,  the  largest  river  of  the  Ogobai 
delta,  and  landing  at  a  village  in  the  dominions  of  King  Ranpano,  after 
that  potentate  and  a  neighboring  chief  had  almost  gone  to  war  for  the 
honor  of  entertaining  him,  he  gave  out  that  he  had  come  to  trade,  and 
had  a  house  built  on  a  beautiful  situation  a  little  apart  from  the  native 


150  WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 

huts.  In  April  he  took  possession  of  his  new  home,  to  which  he  gave 
the  name  of  Washington,  and  with  an  escort  of  Cammamen,  whom  he 
had  bound  to  his  service  by  judicious  bribery,  he  started  up  the  river 
Fcrnand  Vaz  in  a  fine  canoe,  for  which  he  had  paid  some  thirty  dollars' 
worth  of  goods.  Passing  between  dense  tropical  forests,  tenanted  by 
numerous  monkeys  with  white  whiskers,  and  amongst  huge  hippopotami, 
the  party  came  in  a  couple  of  days  to  the  important  Camma  village, 
Aniambia,  the  river  running  in  the  earlier  part  of  its  course  parallel  with 
the  sea. 

STRANGE    ANTICS    OF    MONKEYS. 

One  could  scarcely  help  laughing  aloud  at  the  odd  manner  in  which 
the  monkeys  made  their  way  among  the  branches,  now  swinging  down 
by  their  tails,  now  catching  another  branch,  and  hanging  on  by  their 
arms.  .They  were  extraordinarily  thin  creatures,  with  long  arms  and 
legs,  and  still  longer  tails.  Those  tails  of  theirs  were  never  quiet,  but 
kept  whisking  about  in  all  directions.  They  caught  hold  of  the  branches 
with  them,  and  then  hung  by  them  with  their  heads  downwards,  an  in- 
stant afterwards  to  spring  up  again.  Presently  they  came  close  to  the 
water,  when  one  of  them  caught  hold  of  a  branch  with  his  fore-hands 
and  tail,  another  jumped  down  and  curled  his  tail  round  the  body  of  the 
first.  A  third  descended  and  slung  himself  in  a  similar  manner.  A 
fourth  and  fifth  followed,  and  so  on  ;  and  there  they  hung,  a  regular 
monkey  chain.  Immediately  the  lowest,  who  hung  with  his  head  down- 
wards, gave  a  shoxe  with  his  fore- paws,  and  set  the  chain  swinging, 
slowly  at  first  but  increasing  in  rapidity,  backwards  and  forwards  over 
the  water.  The  swinging  increased  in  violence,  till  the  lowest  monkey 
got  his  paws  round  the  slender  trunk  of  a  tree  on  the  opposite  side. 
Immediately  he  drew  his  companions  after  him,  till  the  next  above  him 
was  within  reach  of  it.  That  one  caught  the  tree  in  the  same  way,  and 
they  then  dragged  up  their  end  of  the  chain  till  it  hung  almost  hori- 
zontally across  the  water.  A  living  bridge  having  thus  been  formed, 
the  remainder  of  the  troop,  chiefly  consisting  of  young  monkc}-s  who 
had  been  amusing  themselves  meantime  frisking  about  in  the  branches, 
ran  over.  Two  or  three  of  the  mischievous  )oungsters  took  the  opjjor- 
tunity  of  giving  a  sly  pinch  to  their  elders,  utterly  unable  just  then  to 
retaliate  ;  though  it  was  evident,  from  the  comical  glances  which  the 
latter  cast  at  them,  that  the  inflictors  of  the  pinches  were  not  unnoticed. 
One,  who  had  been  trying  to  catch  some  fisli  apparently  during  the  in- 
terval, was  nearly  too  late  to  cross.  The  first  two  who  had  got  across 
now  climbed  still  further  up  the  trunk  ;  and  when  they  had  got  to  some 
distance,  the  much-enduring  monkey,  who  had  been  holding  the  weight 
of  all  the  others,  let  go  his  hold,  and  now  becoming  the  lowest  in  the 


EXPLORATIONS  OF  CELEBRATED  TRAVELERS. 


151 


chain,  swung  towards  the  bank.  As  soon  as  he  and  his  companions 
reached  it,  they  caught  hold  of  the  trunk  either  with  their  hands  or 
tails.  The  whole  troop  thus  got  safely  across,  having  effected  the 
transit  by  their  wits  and  extraordinary  agility. 

On  his  return  to  Washington  Du  Chaillu  found,  to  his  great  delight, 
that  a  )^oung  gorilla  had  been  taken  alive  by  his  men,  a  little  fellow  of 
between  two  and  three  years  old,  two  feet  six  inches  in  height.  Hoping 
to  be  able  to  tame  him,  his  master  named  him  Joe,  and  shut  him  up  in 


CURIOUS    MONKEY    BRIDGE. 

■a.  strong  bamboo  hut  built  expressly  for  him,  but  the  poor  captive,  un- 
able to  reconcile  himself  to  his  confinement,  managed  to  force  aside  the 
stakes  of  his  prison,  and  was  found  concealed  under  Du  Chaillu's  bed. 
A  terrible  scene  ensued,  the  frightened  beast  being  ready  to  tear  to 
pieces  every  one  who  approached,  but  he  was  at  last  secured,  and  once 
more  shut  up,  only  to  escape  again,  just  as  his  master  thought  he  was 
winning  his  affections  by  unwearying  attentions.  A  third  time  he  was 
secured,  a  light  chain  being  now  fastened  to  his  neck  ;  but  this  last  in- 
dignity was  too  much  for  him,  and  he  died  miserably  ten  days  afterwards. 


152  WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 

Poor  Joe  Gorilla  being  dead,  Du  Chaillu  again  started  on  his  explora- 
tions. Soon  after  this  he  narrowly  escaped  death  from  poison  adminis- 
tered by  his  cook,  a  native  of  Sangatanga,  who  was  condemned  to  death 
for  this  offense  by  Ranpano,  but  begged  off  by  Du  Chaillu,  who  got  his 
sentence  commuted  into  the  infliction  of  one  hundred  and  ten  lashes 
with  a  whip  of  hippopotami-hide.  These  were  given  with  a  severity 
appropriate  to  the  serious  nature  of  the  offense. 

TERRIBLE    COMBAT    WITH    THE    KING    OP'    THE    FOREST. 

His  health  restored  after  all  his  sufferings,  our  hero  started  on  a  trip 
up  the  Rembo,  a  large  river  joining  the  Fernand  Vaz,  near  its  mouth, 
to  pay  a  visit  to  King  Quengueza  of  Goumbi,  an  important  village  some 
hundred  miles  from  the  sea-coast,  and  from  thence  he  made  his  way  in 
an  easterly  direction  from  one  village  to  another  to  the  Balakai  country 
— inhabited  by  roving  negro  tribes,  who  lead  a  simple  life,  possessing 
no  property  but  their  wives  and  slaves,  and  showiitg  marvelous  courage 
in  hunting  the  gorilla — which  he  scoured  again  and  again  on  many  an 
exciting  expedition,  including  one  in  which  a  poor  native  was  fatally 
injured.  The  actual  conflict  was  not  witnessed  by  Du  Chaillu,  but  he 
came  up  with  the  victim  just  before  his  death,  and  the  man  related  how 
he  had  suddenly  come  face  to  face  with  a  huge  male  gorilla,  who  made. 
no  attempt  to  escape,  and  seemed  very  savage.  He  fired  at  a  distance 
of  about  eight  yards,  but  the  ball  only  wounded  the  animal's  side,  and, 
roaring  with  rage,  he  began  beating  his  breasts,  and  dashed  upon  his 
victim,  knocking  his  gun  out  of  his  hand,  and  striking  him  a  fearful  blow 
with  his  open  paw,  which  felled  him  to  the  ground.  The  gorilla  then 
seized  the  gun,  wrenched  it  out  of  all  shape,  and  made  off,  leaving  the 
native  to  die.  The  poor  fellow  lingered  on  for  some  days  in  great  agony, 
and  then  expired.  In  another  .struggle  with  the  fierce  king  of  the 
forest,  the  man  turned  out  to  be  the  victor,  his  loaded  gun  going  off  in 
the  gorilla's  face  before  it  could  be  rendered  useless. 

During  a  short  necessary  halt  made  at  Goumbi,  our  hero  was  witness 
of  a  terrible  execution,  proving  how  savage  were  the  hearts  of  the  natives, 
in  spite  of  their  unfailing  courtesy  and  kindness  towards  himself  An 
old  friend  of  his,  a  sturdy  young  native  named  Mpomo,  had  been  taken 
ill  during  his  absence,  and  died  the  day  after  his  return.  Du  Chaillu 
hastened  at  once  to  his  house,  to  find  his  wives  sitting  weeping  on  the 
ground,  throwing  a.shes  and  dust  over  their  bodies,  shaving  their  heads, 
and  tearing  their  clothes.  Their  grief  was  evidently  real,  but  the  day 
after  the  funeral  our  hero's  feelings  of  pity  for  the  mourners  were  changed 
into  indignation  at  the  scenes  which  ensued. 

The  natives,  unable  to  believe  that  any  but  the  old  could  die  from 
natural  causes,  sent  for  a  great  doctor  from  a  distance  to  discover  who 


EXPLORATIONS    OF    CELEBkATED    TRAVELERS. 


153 


had  bewitched  Mponio,  and  caused  his  death.  Two  days  of  frantic 
excitement  were  succeeded  by  the  assembly  of  all  the  inhabitants  of 
the  village  in  the  market-place  to  witness  the  doctor's  final  incantations 
for  disclosing  the  names  of  the  sorcerers.     Every  man  and  boy  was 


ENCOUNTER    WITH    A    GORILLA. 

armed  with  spears,  swords,  guns,  or  axes,  and  on  every  face  was  written 
the  lust  for  blood.  In  vain  did  Du  Chaillu,  who  had  hitherto  generally 
been  able  to  obtain  a  hearing,  lift  up  his  voice  in  favor  of  mercy  ;  permis- 
sion to  kill  the  witches  had  already  been  obtained  from  King  Qucngueza^ 
and  the  white  man's  protests  were  only  laughed  at. 


154  WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 

Determined  to  see  the  end.  no  matter  how  awful  that  sight  might  be, 
Du  ChaiUu  drew  back  amongst  the  gesticulating  crowds,  and,  silence 
being  with  great  difficulty  enforced,  he  heard  the  doctor  say  :  "  There 
is  a  very  black  woman,  who  lives  in  a  house  "  (here  followed  its  descrip- 
tion);  "she  bewitched  Mpomo."  The  words  had  scarcely  left  his  lips 
when  the  armed  natives,  leaping  and  yelling,  rushed  to  the  place  indi- 
cated, and  brought  back  a  poor  girl  named  Okandaga,  sister  of  a  guide 
who  had  faithfully  served  Du  Chaillu.  Bound  with  cords,  and  with 
spears  waving  above  her  head,  she  was  swept  down  to  the  river  side, 
catching  sight,  as  she  passed,  of  our  hero  looking  on  with  horror-struck 
dismay.  "  Chally,  Chally!"  she  cried,  "  do  not  let  me  die  !  "  and  for  a 
moment  the  white  man  thus  appealed  to  was  tempted  to  rush  in 
amongst  her  murderers  and  try  to  rescue  her.  But  it  would  have  been 
useless,  and.  turning  away,  he  owns  he  shed  bitter  tears  at  his  own 
helplessness. 

Okandaga  gone,  the  people  waited  in  eager  silence  for  the  name  of 
the  next  victim,  and  soon  a  harsh  voice  again  rang  out,  shouting : 
"  There  is  an  old  woman  in  a  house  ;  she  also  bewitched  Mpomo."  This 
time  a  niece  of  King  Quengueza  was  seized,  a  fine,  noble-looking  crea- 
ture, who  met  her  accusers  with  quiet  dignity,  motioning  to  them  to 
keep  their  hands  off,  and  saying  :  "  I  will  drink  the  mboundou,  but  woe 
to  my  accusers  if  I  do  not  die."  Then  she  too  was  taken  down  to  the 
river,  but  unbound.  A  third  time  silence  fell  upon  the  multitude,  and 
a  third  time  the  doctor's  voice  proclaimed  the  name  of  a  sorceress, 
.singling  out  a  woman  with  six  children,  one  of  Quengueza's  slaves. 

DRINKING    THE    FATAL    CUP. 

The  unhappy  trio  now  awaited  their  doom  upon  the  river  bank,  and 
the  doctor  having  recited  their  crimes,  calling  upon  the  people  to  curse 
them,  they  were  put  into  a  canoe  with  the  executioners,  the  doctor,  and 
some  others,  all  armed.  The  tom-toms  or  native  drums  were  then 
beaten,  and  the  mboundou  was  prepared.  The  cup  was  held  by 
Quabi,  Mpomo's  eldest  brother,  and  at  sight  of  it  Okandaga  wept,  and 
even  Quengueza's  niece  grew  pale.  First  the  old  slave  woman,  then  the 
royal  lady,  and  lastly  Okandaga  drank,  the  people  .shouting :  "  If  they 
are  witches,  let  the  mboundou  kill  them  ;  if  they  are  innocent,  let  the 
mboundou  go  out."  A  few  moments  of  expectant  silence  ensued,  and 
then  the  slave  fell  down.  Before  life  was  extinct  the  executioners  fell 
upon  her,  and  hacked  off  her  head.  Next  came  Quengueza's  niece,  and 
lastly  Okandaga,  their  blood  dyeing  the  waters  of  the  river  for  some 
distance.  The  awful  tragedy  was  terminated  by  the  cutting  up  of  the 
bodies  into  small  pieces  and  strewing  them  on  the  river. 

In  the  evening  the  guide  Adouma,  brother  of  the  hapless  Okandaga, 


EXPLORATIONS    OF    CELEBRATED    TRAVELERS.  155 

came  to  Du  Chaillu,  and  poured  out  all  his  grief  and  horror.  He  had 
been  obliged  to  take  part  in  the  awful  scene,  to  curse  his  sister  himself, 
or  he  would  have  had  to  share  her  fate,  and  now  his  heart  misgave  him. 
Our  hero  did  his  best  to  comfort  him,  telling  him  of  the  true  God  to 
whom  Okandaga's  spirit  was  gone,  and  the  poor  fellow  said  at  last,  "  Oh, 
Chally  !  when  you  go  back  to  your  far  country,  let  them  send  men  to 
us  poor  people  to  teach  us  from  that  which  you  call  God's  mouth  "  (the 
Bible).     The  man  was  a  savage  in  name,  yet  not  in  heart. 

AN  OFFER  OF  A  FAT  NATIVE  FOR  SUPPER. 

A  tramp  across  a  swamp,  a  perilous  climb  along  a  rope  bridge  over 
the  roaring  Ovigni  River,  brought  our  hero  into  a  rugged  and  mount- 
ainous country,  covered  with  dense  forests,  haunted  by  gorillas,  whose 
fearful  roars,  to  which  the  explorer  tells  us  he  never  became  accustomed, 
alone  broke  the  awful  stillness.  Beyond  that  again  came  a  high  table- 
land, forming  the  entry  to  the  Alpine-like  range  running  eastwards  for  a 
distance  not  yet  determined  from  the  Balakai  country  ;  and  in  December, 
as  the  party  were  passing  through  a  dense  wood,  they  suddenly  arrived 
at  the  encampment  of  Remandjii,  the  king  of  the  Apingi  tribe,  a  fine- 
looking  old  negro,  who  immediately  began  to  skip  and  jump  in  a  very 
undignified  manner,  crying,  "  The  spirit  has  come  to  see  me !  the  spirit 
has  come  to  see  me  !  " 

When  his  majesty's  excitement  subsided  a  little,  Du  Chaillu  asked 
him  to  direct  him  to  the  next  village,  and,  following  the  instructions 
obtained,  with  some  difficulty  he  came  to  a  magnificent  stream  called 
the  Rembo  Apingi,  some  three  hundred  and  fifty  yards  wide.  Rafts 
and  canoes  were  at  once  put  off  from  the  opposite  side,  and  he  was 
triumphantly  escorted  by  Apingi  boatmen  to  their  principal  town, 
where  a  hut  was  immediately  assigned  to  him.  Here  he  was  soon 
visited  by  Remandjii  and  the  chiefs  from  the  neighboring  villages,  who 
astonished  him  by  presenting  him  with  a  slave,  bound,  ready  for  execu- 
tion, with  the  words  :  "  Be  glad,  O  spirit!  and  eat  of  the  things  we  give 
thee!"  "Kill  him  for  your  evening  meal."  added  Remandjii;  "he  is 
tender  and  fat,  and  you  must  be  hungry."     This  was  the  fare  offered. 

Shaking  his  head  and  spitting  on  the  ground  to  show  his  disgust,  Du 
Chaillu  made  his  host  understand  that  he  could  not  oblige  him  in  this 
particular,  and  with  some  reluctance  the  white  visitor's  prejudices  were 
humored.  He  was  allowed  to  sup  off  fowls  and  plantains,  Remandjii 
tasting  everything  first  lest  it  should  have  been  poisoned. 

Du  Chaillu  describes  the  Apingi  as  a  savage  looking,  yellowish-black 
race,  with  the  usual  woolly  hair,  broad  nostrils,  and  thick  lips,  and 
much  the  same  superstitions  respecting  death  and  witchcraft,  as  their 
neighbors  of  Ashira  Land.     After  he  had  been  amongst  them  but  a  few 


156  WONDERS    OF    EXPLORATION    AND    ADVENTURE. 

days,  and  had  excited  much  wonder  by  his  powers  of  writing,  he  was- 
surprised  at  being  urged  by  thirty  of  the  great  chiefs,  with  Remandjii 
at  their  head,  to  be  their  king.  "  Spirit,  you  are  our  king,"  said  their 
spokesman.  "  You  have  come  to  our  country  to  do  us  good.  You  can 
do  everything.  Now  make  us  a  pile  of  beads  as  high  as  the  highest  tree 
in  the  village,  that  we  and  our  women  and  children  may  go  and  take  as 
much  as  we  wish."      They  ascribed  to  him  supernatural  powers. 

DU    CHAILLU    MADE    KING. 

His  refusal  to  accomplish  this  impossible  feat  was  considered  unkind, 
but  he  could  not  convince  them  of  his  powerlessness,  and  was  formally 
invested  by  Remandjii,  in  the  presence  of  an  immense  crowd,  with  the 
insignia  of  royalty,  and  from  that  time  till  his  return  home  he  was 
treated  with  all,  and  more  than  all,  the  honor  due  to  a  native  potentate. 
But  not  even  this  distinction  could  reconcile  him  to  a  further  protracted 
exile.  He  made,  it  is  true,  another  unsuccessful  attempt  to  reach  the 
Falls  of  Samba  Nagoshi,  but  on  the  very  eve  of  a  trip  into  Ashango 
Land,  an  attack  of  fever  so  completely  prostrated  him,  that  he  resolved, 
as  soon  as  he  could  walk,  to  return  to  Europe. 

Of  the  journey  back  to  Remandjii's  he  retained  but  a  faint  remem- 
brance, and,  arrived  there,  he  lost  no  time  in  explaining  that  he  must 
resign  his  royal  dignity,  and  go.  "We  are  sorry,"  said  his  subjects; 
"  but  as  it  is  the  will  of  the  spirit,  we  must  submit.  Wait,  however, 
that  we  may  get  him  food,  that  he  may  not  be  hungry  by  the  way." 
Plantains  and  fowls  were  then  brought  to  him  ;  he  was  requested  to 
keep  his  kondo,  or  insignia  of  royalty,  that  he  might  be  master  again 
when  he  came  back,  and  bidding  his  simple  friends  farewell,  he  started 
for  the  coast,  arriving  in  the  Gaboon  early  in  June. 

On  the  publication  of  Du  Chaillu's  account  of  his  experiences  in  this 
eventful  journey,  a  perfect  storm  of  accusation  arose  against  him.  His 
visit  toAshira  Land  and  discovery  of  the  Ngouyai  River  were  spoken 
of  as  pure  inventions,  and  his  descriptions  of  the  gorilla,  and  the  nest- 
building  ape,  were  laughed  at  as  widely  exaggerated.  In  1 862,  however, 
a  French  Government  expedition  ascended  the  Ogobai  for  some 
distance,  confirming  in  the  main  all  their  great  predecessor's  state- 
ments, converting  his  adverse  critics  into  admiring  friends,  and 
encouraging  him  to  undertake  a  new  journey  in  1863-65,  in  which  he 
penetrated  still  further  into  the  interior  than  before,  and  fixed  with 
scientific  accuracy  the  geographical  position  of  places  discovered  in  his 
former  explorations.  He  tells  us  that  he  also  cherished  a  secret  hope, 
unfortunately  not  realized,  of  reaching  in  the  far  interior  some  unknown 
western  tributary  of  the  Nile,  and  to  descend  by  it  to  the  great  river^ 
and  thence  to  the  Mediterranean. 


EXPLORATIONS    OF    CELEBRATED    TRAVELERS.  157 

Following  out  his  determination  to  add  to  his  previous  discoveries, 
on  this  new  journey  Du  Chaillu  arrived  off  the  Camma  coast  in 
October,  1H63,  and  two  days  later  in  the  same  month  at  the  mouth  of 
the  Fernand  Vaz.  Two  canoes  were  put  off  from  shore  as  soon  as  his 
vessel  was  sighted,  m  one  of  which  he  recognized  an  old  negio  friend. 


REMARKABLE    FOREST    GROWTHS    IN    AFRICA. 

who  exclaimed  on  seeing  him  :  "Are  you  Chally,  or  are  you  his  spirit  ? 
Have  you  come  from  the  dead  ?  Tell  me  quick,  for  I  don't  know 
whether  I  am  to  believe  my  own  eyes  ;  perhaps  I  am  getting  a  kende  '" 
,(fool).     Assured    of    Du   Chaillu's    identity,   the   warm-hearted   native 


158  WONDERS    OF    EXPLORATION    AND    ADVENTURE. 

flung  his  arms  round  his  neck  and  hugged  him  in  a  transport  oi  joy ; 
and  as  soon  as  this  rather  too  warm  greeting  was  over,  came  a  nephew 
of  our  old  acquaintance,  Chief  Ranpano,  whose  enthusiasm  at  the  white 
man's  return  was  equally  great.  After  a  somewhat  perilous  paddle 
from  his  vessel  to  the  shore  in  one  of  the  frail  canoes,  Du  Chaillu 
landed  amongst  a  crowd  of  gesticulating  and  yelling  natives,  frantic 
with  joy  at  his  return,  and  was  escorted  up  the  river  to  his  old  home 
of  Washington,  which  lie  found  in  ruins,  a  few  loose  bamboos  and 
rotting  poles  alone  remaining. 

Having  determined  to  fix  his  new  quarters  about  two  miles  above  the 
site  of  Washington,  our  hero  returned  to  the  schooner  to  superintend 
the  disembarkation  of  his  outfit  and  goods,  hoping  almost  immediately 
to  begin  his  explorations.  But,  alas !  the  canoe  in  which  he  and  the 
captain  of  the  schooner  embarked  with  all  the  valuable  scientific  instru- 
ments was  upset,  and  though,  thanks  to  the  eager  devotion  of  the  na- 
tives, the  two  white  men  escaped  with  their  lives,  all  the  instru- 
ments which  were  recovered  were  rendered  useless  by  the  salt  water. 
There  was  nothing  to  do  but  to  wait  until  others  could  be  obtained  from 
England.  In  November- a  young  male  chimpanzee  about  three  years 
old  was  brought  to  him  by  a  negro,  who  had  caught  him.  The  little 
fellow,  whom  Du  Chaillu  christened  Thomas,  proved  tractable  though 
mischievous,  and  was  sent  to  England.  He  lived  for  some  years  in  the 
Crystal  Palace,  but  perished  In  the  great  fire  of  1867. 

GORILL.\S    ON    THE    RUN. 

On  this  journey  Du  Chaillu's  main  object  in  passing  through  Ashira 
Land  was  to  visit  the  Falls  of  Samba  Nagoshi,  which  he  had  already 
made  two  abortive  attempts  to  reach,  and  well  provided  by  Olenda  with 
guides  and  porters,  he  started  on  this  interesting  excursion  in  Decem- 
ber. Following  a  north-easterly  direction,  he  quickly  reached  the 
Ovigni  River,  and  crossing  it  with  great  difficulty  by  means  of  a  single 
tree-trunk  thrown  carelessly  over  its  foaming  waters,  he  began  a  weary 
march  along  the  western  foot  of  the  hilly  range  shutting  in  Ashira  Land, 
through  an  almost  impenetrable  forest,  to  the  Opangano  prairie,  a  little 
beyond  which  he  came  to  the  first  Bakalai  village.  Passing  through  its 
single  street,  with  a  gate  at  each  end  and  houses  with  no  doors  in  the 
outer  walls,  our  hero  passed  on  in  a  north-easterly  direction  till  he  came 
to  the  wild  Lambcngue  prairie,  succeeded  by  a  dense  forest,  where, 
marching  somewhat  in  advance  of  his  party,  he  surprised  a  group  of 
some  ten  gorillas  in  a  single  tree.  With  nothing  in  his  hand  but  a 
walking-stick,  and  feeling  discretion  to  be  the  better  part  of  valor,  our 
hero  was  about  to  beat  a  retreat,  when  his  men  coming  up  altered  the 
aspect  of  affairs  ;  the  gorillas,  who  were  hurrying  down  to  the  attack  of 


EXPLORATIONS  OF  CELEBRATED  TRAVELERS. 


159 


a  single  enemy,  uttered  wild  cries  of  fright,  and  disappeared  in  the  thick 
jungle.  The  negroes  ru.shed  after  them  with  their  guns,  but  were  un- 
able even  to  bring  down  one,  ov\ing  to  the  bad  markmanship  of  the 
natives,  and  great  agility  on  the  part  of  the  gorillas. 

The  first  white  man  to  visit  the  country  between- Ashira  Land  and 
the  mountains  inhabited  by  different  A\iia  Iriljcs,  Du  Chaillu's  approach 
caused  the  immedi- 
ate evacuation  ot 
every  village,  and 
only  with  great  diffi- 
culty were  the  in- 
habitants coaxed 
back  to  their  homes 
and  induced  to  sup- 
ply their  visitors 
with  food.  Ever\'- 
where  famine  had 
been  doing  its  ghast- 
ly work,  and  in  one 
miserable  hut  our 
hero  was  shocked  to 
see  an  old  woman,  a 
mere  skeleton,  left 
to  die  alone.  She 
was  infirm  and  use- 
less ;  why  should 
any  of  the  small 
store  of  food  left  be 
given  to  her  ?  urged 
the  men  to  whom 
he  expressed  his 
horror. 

In  December, 
finding  the  river  n(- 
longer  navigable,  Du 
Chaillu  started  on 
foot  for  the  falls  with  A  strange  Combat. 

an  Aviia  guide,  and  after  an  exciting  march  through  dense  jungle^ 
across  small  tributaries  of  the  Ngouyai,  some  so  deep  as  to  involve 
swimming,  he  came  at  last  in  view  of  the  object  of  his  journey.  The 
stream,  he  tells  us,  just  above  the  falls  is  one  hundred  and  fifty  yards 
wide,  but  a  rocky  island  in  the  middle,  covered  with  trees,  divides  the 


160         ■  WONDERS    OF    EXP1.0RATI0N    AND    ADVENTURE. 

water  in  two  unequal  parts,  only  one  of  which  can  be  seen  at  a  time. 
The  right  hand  fall,  some  seventy  yards  wide,  rushes  down  a  steep 
incline  in  immense  volume,  but  the  left  is  comparatively  insignificant. 
The  right,  on  the  whole,  though  grand  and  wild,  was  not  in  fact  so 
impressive  as  our  hero  had  expected,  and  he  found  the  less  important 
rapids  lower  down  more  beautiful.  Still  he  had  achieved  the  object  of 
his  journey. 

A  singular  combat  he  witnessed  in  the  depths  of  the  forest  between  two 
huge  boas,  probably  of  different  species.  One  lay  coiled  on  the  ground, 
the  other  had  taken  post  on  the  branch  of  a  tree.  It  ended  by  the 
former  seizing  the  head  of  its  opponent  with  its  wide  open  jaws,  sucking 
in  a  part  of  its  huge  body,  gradually  unwinding  it  from  the  tree.  It 
had  attempted,  however,  a  dangerous  operation.  Suddenly  down  came 
the  tail,  throwing  its  coils  round  the  victor,  and  the  two  monsters  lay 
twisting  and  writhing  in  the  most  terrific  manner,  till  both  were  dead. 

A    PLAGUE   AMONG    THE    NATIVES. 

Eager  now  to  pursue  his  course  eastwards,  Du  Chaillu  lost  not  one 
moment  in  pressing  forward  his  preparations,  but  before  he  was  able  to 
start  a  terrible  calamity  overtook  Ashira  Land,  involving  not  only 
serious  delay,  but  personal  danger  to  the  explorer.  This  was  the 
breaking  out  of  small-pox,  a  disease  never  before  known  among  the 
natives.  Elanga,  one  of  Olenda's  nephews,  was  the  first  to  fall  a  victim, 
and  being  in  Du  Chaillu 's  service,  suspicions  of  witchcraft  having  been 
exercised  by  the  white  man  were  at  once  aroused.  A  few  da)'s  later, 
two  other  cases  occurred,  also  amongst  our  hero's  .servants,  and  when 
he  separated  the  survivors  from  those  whom  he  thought  infected,  giving 
them  strict  orders  to  keep  away  from  the  places  where  the  disease  had 
broken  out,  public  opinion  ran  high  against  him.  He  was  boldly  accused 
of  having  introduced  the  plague,  of  having  brought  death  instead  of 
the  promised  good  to  the  people,  of  having  killed  Remandjii,  who  had 
died  since  his  last  visit  to  Apingi  Land. 

But  for  Quengueza's  and  Olenda's  faithfulness,  thmgs  might  have 
gone  badly  with  Du  Chaillu,  for  a  word  from  cither  of  them  would  have 
fanned  the  smouldering  fire  into  a  flame,  and  another  fearful  execution 
would  have  taken  place,  with  the  once-beloved  "  spirit  "  as  the  central 
figure.  Fortunately,  Quengueza  became  very  angry  at  the  suspicions  of 
"  his  white  man,"  asking  the  people  whether  he,  the  king,  who  held  the 
passage  of  the  Rembo,  had  come  with  him  into  the  bush  amongst  these 
pigs  of  Ashira  to  be  cursed  ?  This  protest  was  seconded  by  Olenda, 
who  Jield  his  royal  guest  in  great  respect,  and  sent  round  at  his  sugges- 
tion to  the  neighboring  villages  to  try  and  collect  porters  and  guides. 

Du  Chaillu,  after  many  difficulties  from  the  dishonesty  of  his  Ashira 


EXPLORATIONS    OF    CELEBRATED    TRAVELERS.  161 

porters,  arrived  in  safety  at  Mayolo,  an  important  village  of  Otando 
Land,  early  in  April,  but  he  had  not  long  been  there  when  the  chief 
was  taken  ill.  This  was  embarrassing,  for,  should  he  die,  further  pro- 
gress would  be  impossible,  as  the  negroes  would  certainly  have  driven 
away  the  man  at  whose  coming  their  head  men  were  thus  stricken 
down.  To  add  to  the  visitor's  troubles,  a  conflagration  of  the  prairie 
round  the  village  took  place  immediately  afterwards,  but  the  fire  was 
checked  in  time  to  save  his  goods,  and  Mayolo  recovered,  not,  however, 
without  suspicion  of  witchcraft  again  fallen  on  the  "  spirit."  A  grand 
palaver  was  held,  in  which  Du  Chaillu  was  put  on  his  trial,  and,  thanks 
to  the  friendship  of  Mayolo,  came  off  with  glowing  colors,  the  chief 
winding  up  a  long  oration  by  shouting,  with  repeated  blows  on  his 
chest  to  give  force  to  his  words  :  "  Here  I  am  alive  ;  they  said  I  should 
die  because  the  spirit  had  come,  but  here  I  am."  This  quieted  suspicion. 

FOES    LN    THE    PATH. 

At  Dilolo,  a  very  dubious  reception  was  given  to  the  travelers.  The 
entrance  to  the  village  was  barricaded  and  guarded  by  all  the  fighting 
men,  armed  with  spears,  bows,  arrows,  and  sabres,  who  cursed  the 
Oguizi  carrying  with  him  the  plague  into  their  country,  and  declining 
to  give  him  permission  to  enter.  Anxious  to  avoid  an  encounter,  the 
travelers  turned  off  into  a  path  leading  round  the  village,  but  they  were 
met  by  a  fresh  body  of  natives,  \\'ho  drew  their  bows,  ready  to  fire. 
The  Cammi  men,  who  from  the  first  had  behaved  with  admirable  pluck, 
gathered  round  their  master,  and  the  lad  Rapelina  pointed  his  gun  in 
the  face  of  one  sturdy  fellow,  telling  him  he  would  be  a  dead  man  if  he 
let  fly  his  arrow.  This  demonstration  was  immediately  effective,  the 
Ishogo  warriors  drew  back,  yelling  and  gesticulating,  and  the  little 
caravan  passed  unmolested. 

Similar  difficulties  occurred  in  the  more  easterly  villages,  and  as  the 
party  penetrated  further  and  further  into  the  unexplored  interior,  the 
people  became  more  suspicious  and  traveling  more  arduous.  One 
range  of  mountains  succeeded  another,  one  village  after  another  sent 
out  its  crowd  of  Aponos  or  Ishogos  to  stare  at  and  interrogate  the 
white  man,  but  his  guides  remained  faithful,  and  his  own  courage  never 
failed.  Ishogo  Land,  with  its  well-watered  prairies  and  densely-wooded 
hills,  its  well-built  towns  and  sturdy  inhabitants,  was  traversed  in  safety, 
and  the  end  of  June  found  our  hero  entering  Ashango  Land,  the  most 
easterly  province  explored,  where  he  made  acquaintance  with  the 
curious  dwarf  tribe  known  as  Obongos,  living  in  low  oval  diminutive 
huts,  and  keeping  themselves  apart  from  all  intercourse  with  their  fel- 
low-countrymen, the  true  Ashangos,  a  race  differing  in  language,  but 
in  little  else,  from  their  neighbors  the  Ishogo. 
11 


162  WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 

An  unfortunate  accident  alone  prevented  Du  Chaillu  from  realizing 
his  dream  of  returning  home  by  way  of  Abyssinia  and  Egypt,  and 
for  the  time  being  placed  his  expedition  in  jeopardy.  He  had 
penetrated  as  far  as  the  east  of  Ashango  Land,  he  had  quelled  a 
dangerous  mutiny  amongst  his  porters,  he  had  overcome  the  reluct- 
ance of  the  natives  to  allow  him  to  proceed,  and  persuaded  them  that 
he  meant  no  harm  to  anyone,  when  his  man  Igala  accidentally  let  off 
his  gun  and  killed  an  Ashango.  The  effect  was  electric  and  instanta- 
neous. The  war  drums  began  to  beat,  and  the  chief  shouted  indignantly, 
"You  say  you  do  not  come  here  to  do  us  harm,  and  do  not  kill  people; 
is  not  this  the  dead  body  of  a  man  ?  " 

SUDDENLY    ATTACKED    BY    A    SHOWER    OF    ARROWS. 

No  more  hope  now  of  further  progress,  scarcely  any  of  escape  with 
life.  Knowing  that  hundreds  of  natives  armed  with  spears  and  pois- 
oned arrows  would  be  upon  him  in  a  few  minutes,  Du  Chaillu  called 
his  men  hastily  together,  loaded  them  with  his  most  valuable  posses- 
sions, and  with  the  words,  "  Now,  boys,  keep  together  ;  do  not  be  afraid; 
let  us  try  our  best,  and  we  may  reach  the  sea  in  safety,"  he  prepared 
to  sound  the  retreat  should  the  worst  come  to  the  worst.  For  one 
moment  there  seemed  to  be  a  chance  of  peace.  Igala  had  explained 
that  the  man  had  been  killed  by  accident,  and  that  his  master  would 
pay  the  value  of  twenty  men  in  goods.  The  war  drums  ceased  to  beat. 
A  headman  cried,  "A  palav^er,  a  palaver ! "  but  before  Du  Chaillu  had 
time  to  hope,  a  woman  came  rushing  out  of  a  hut  declaring  that  her 
husband  also  had  been  killed  by  the  fatal  bullet,  which,  after  passing 
through  the  head  of  the  negro,  had  pierced  the  thin  wall  of  her  hut. 

It  was  too  true  !  A  general  shout  of  war  was  raised,  and  every  war- 
rior rushed  for  his  weapon.  The  order  was  given  for  retreat,  and  away 
went  the  little  band — first  Igala,  then  his  Cammi  comrades,  then  Du 
Chaillu  himself  Not  a  moment  too  soon  !  Showers  of  arrows  were 
discharged  even  before  they  left  the  village.  Makondai  and  Rebouka 
were  all  but  transfixed  by  spears,  Igala  was  hit  in  the  leg,  and  Du 
Chaillu  on  the  hand.  But  on,  on  they  sped,  their  blood  dyeing  the 
path  behind  them,  and  closer  and  closer  came  the  pursuers.  •  One  load 
after  another  was  flung  down,  one  man  after  another  staggered  as  some 
well-aimed  missile  quivered  in  his  flesh.  A  second  arrow  struck  Du 
Chaillu  in  the  side,  causing  exquisite  agony,  but  at  last  a  little  stream 
near  the  village  of  Mobana  was  crossed,  and  the  fugitives  managed  to 
elude  the  enemy  by  striking  into  a  secluded  forest  path.  One  negro 
alone  was  left  behind,  but  as  his  comrades  were  resting  for  a  few 
moments  and  trying  to  stanch  the  blood  from  their  wounds,  he  came 
up  unhurt,  with  the  good  news  that  the  natives  had  determined  to  fol- 


EXPLORATIONS  OF  CELEBRATED  TRAVELERS  163 

low  no  longer — so  many  of  their  men  had  fallen  already,  "  they  should 
all  be  killed  one  by  one  if  they  went  on." 

Cheered  by  this  good  news  the  fugitives  pressed  on,  and  after  many 
a  narrow  escape  they  got  back  to  Ishogo  Land,  where  they  were 
eagerly  welcomed  and  entertained  by  friends  made  on  the  journey  up. 
Mayolo  could  scarcely  believe  his  ears  when  he  heard  of  the  flight  with- 
out the  loss  of  a  single  man  from  the  poisoned  arrows  and  spears  of 
the  dreaded  Ashangos,  and  the  remainder  of  our  hero's  progress  to  the 
coast  was  one  long  triumph.  Avoiding  Olenda,  where  he  had  suffered 
so  terribly,  he  made  his  way  across  country  to  Goumbi,  and  thence  to 
his  own  little  settlement  on  the  Fernand  Vaz,  arriving  there  in  1865. 
Here  he  took  a  most  touching  farewell  of  the  faithful  Cammi  with 
whom  he  had  seen  and  suffered  so  much,  and  six  days  later  set  sail  for 
Europe,  having  considerably  supplemented  the  geographical  and  eth- 
nological discoveries  of  his  previous  journey  by  his  researches  in  Ishogo 
and  Ashango  Land,  escaping  as  many  if  not  more  perils  than  any  other 
hero  of  African  exploration,  either  north  or  south,  in  that  dark  countiy. 

CAPTAINS    BURTON    AND    SPEKE. 

The  cause  of  geographical  research  owes  much  to  Baker,  who  pur- 
sued his  travels  in  Africa  with  the  energy  of  an  enthusiast,  and  even 
more,  perhaps,  to  Burton,  Speke  and  Grant,  all  of  whom  have  made 
rich  contributions  to  our  knowledge  of  the  tropics,  and  have  rendered 
themselves  famous  by  their  successful  explorations.  Burton  and 
Speke  were  companion  discoverers,  and,  for  a  time,  fellow  travelers. 

The  end  of  May,  1857,  found  all  ready  for  their  great  expedition  to 
the  west,  and  early  in  June  they  left  Zanzibar  to  land  on  the  opposite 
coast  at  Kaole.  The  party  consisted  of  Burton  and  Speke,  the  Sheikh 
Said,  who  acted  as  leader  of  the  caravan ;  two  half-caste  boys  from 
Goa,  a  couple  of  negro  gun  carriers,  and  eight  men  as  general  helpers 
and  protectors,  all  of  whom  would  be  needed  in  the  journey. 

Towards  the  close  of  August  the  east  coast  range  of  mountains  was 
approached,  and  the  spirits  of  the  explorers  rose,  only  to  sink  again  as 
they  passed  the  skeletons  of  native  porters,  who  had  fallen  here  and 
there  upon  the  road  in  former  expeditions.  Some  of  their  own  men 
from  Zungomero  died,  but  they  themselves  escaped,  though  Burton's 
sufferings  were  very  great.  In  the  actual  transit  of  the  mountains 
several  men  struck  for  food,  as  they  were  disappointed  at  the  goats 
being  spared  for  future  contingencies  when  they  were  hungry,  a  diffi- 
culty which  Speke  settled  by  ordering  a  march,  and  going  on  without 
the  malcontents,  who  had  relied  on  his  finding  them  indispensable. 
Not  approving  of  being  left  behind  to  shift  for  themselves,  they  sulkily 
followed  the  caravan,  and  on  their  voluntarily  aiding  Burton,  who  fell 


164  WONDERS    OF    EXPLORATION    AND    ADVENTURE. 

down  by  the  wayside  in  a  paroxysm  of  fever,  they  were  forgiven,  and 
allowed  to  march  on  with  their  comrades.  This  incident  produced  a 
good  result,  and  pressing  on  with  fresh  courage,  in  spite  of  Burton's 
terrible  condition  of  health,  they  came  to  a  village  in  the  mountains, 
where  they  hoped  to  obtain  provisions  and  help.  But  alas  !  on  enter- 
ing it  they  found  it  deserted,  and  the  huts  burned  down.  It  had  evi- 
dently quite  recently  been  the  scene  of  an  outrage  by  slave-traders,  but 
our  heroes'  men  were  so  little  touched  by  what  they  saw  that  they 
spent  the  night  in  singing,  dancing,  and  ransacking  the  ruins. 

At  Rumuma,  a  well-known  resting-place  for  caravans,  plenty  of  pro- 
visions were  obtained.  Before  ascending  the  so-called  Windy  Pass, 
a  long  halt  was  made  in  a  cheerful  ravine.  When  they  were  about 
half-way  up,  and  the  animals  were  stumbling  at  every  step,  scarcely 
able  to  proceed,  the  native  war-cry  suddenly  rang  out,  and  from  every 
hill-top  near  poured  down  archers  and  spearmen  on  their  way  to  the 
villages  below.  The  presence  of  the  white  man's  carav^an  had  pro- 
tected the  inhabitants  for  a  time,  but  now  it  was  leaving,  and  a  fora- 
ging raid  was  at  once  sent  down,  yet  no  attempt  was  made  to  stop  the 
explorers,  nor  to  inflict  upon  them  any  bodily  injury. 

A    WHOLESALE    ROBBERY. 

Cheered  by  the  hope  of  crossing  the  intervening  plateau  of  Ugogo 
and  reaching  Kazeh,  the  great  emporium  of  Arab  traffic  in  the  lake 
regions,  without  much  further  difficulty.  Burton  and  Speke  pressed  on, 
but  their  troubles  were  not  yet  over.  The  mountains,  it  is  true,  were 
left  behind,  and  there  were  no  more  war  parties  to  be  encountered,  but 
at  every  village  the  unfortunate  travelers  were  delayed  to  be  plundered 
by  chief  and  people,  force  being  used  if  the  exorbitant  tribiite  de- 
manded was  not  readily  paid.  This  state  of  things  reached  its 
climax  at  a  place  called  N'yika,  or  the  wilderness,  the  home  of  the 
most  powerful  chief  of  the  Ugogo,  who  kept  our  heroes  prisoners  for 
five  days,  but  finally  let  them  go  on  payment  of  a  smaller  sum  than 
that  originally  demanded. 

Beyond  Ugogo,  the  last  and  most  interesting  stage  of  this  important 
journey  began,  for  the  now  famous  Land  of  the  Moon  was  entered,  the 
Garden  of  Central  Intertropical  Africa,  consisting  of  a  hilly  table-land, 
including  in  its  breadth  one  hundred  and  fifty-five  geographical  miles. 
Bounded  on  the  north  by  the  Nyanza  Lake,  afterwards  discovered  by 
Speke,  and  on  the  west  by  Lake  Tanganyika,  it  has  now  been  traversed 
from  end  to  end  by  modern  explorers,  and  the  origin  of  its  name  and 
its  former  history  have  alike  been  eagerly  studied  and  discussed.  It  is 
enough  for  us  to  state  that  there  is  evidence  of  its  having  once  existed 
as  a  great  empire,  and  that  its  general  character  is  rolling  ground,  inter- 


EXPLORATIONS  OF  CELEBRATED  TRAVELERS. 


165 


sected  with  low  and  conical  hills,  whose  lines  ramify  in  every  direction. 
The  reclaimed  tracts  and  clearings  are  divided  from  one  another  by 
strips  of  primeval  jungle  varying  from  two  to  twelve  miles  in  length, 
and.  as  in  so  many  parts  of  East  Africa,  the  country  is  dotted  with  fairy 
mounts,  dwarf  mounds,  the  ancient  sites  of  trees  now  crumbled  to  dust, 
and  the  debris  of  insect  architecture.  Villages  rise  at  intervals  above 
their  impervious  walls  of  milk-bush,  with  its  coral-shaped  arms,  and  in 
rich  pasture-lands  graze  extensive  herds  of  plump  high-humped  cattle. 
Lions,  leopards,  and  wild  cats  still  haunt  the  forests  ;  the  giraffe,  the 
rhinoceros,  the  Cape  buffalo,  the  zebra,  and  the  koodoo  roam  the  plains ; 
and  hippopotami  and  crocodiles  abound  in  every  large  pool. 


HUNTER  PURSUING  A  GIRAFFE. 

The  giraffe  is  one  of  the  curiosities  of  the  animal  kingdom.  In  nearly 
every  part  of  Africa  it  is  found,  is  wild  in  its  natural  state,  yet  easily  be- 
comes domesticated,  and  in  captivity  is  extremely  gentle,  becoming 
strongly  attached  to  those  who  treat  it  with  kindness.  It  sometimes 
grows  to  such  a  height  that  its  head  is  sixteen  or  seventeen  feet  from 
the  ground.  Formerly  it  was  supposed  that  its  fore-legs  were  longer 
than  those  behind,  but  actual  measurement  shows  them  to  be  an  inch 
shorter.  Its  eyes  are  very  beautiful,  large,  and  brilliant,  and  its  skin  is 
finely  marked  with  dark  brown  spots  surrounded  by  a  narrow  white 
strip.  It  feeds  upon  grass  and  the  leaves  and  tender  branches  of  trees, 
and  when  startled  by  the  hunter  darts  away  with  a  speed  nearly  equal 
to  that  of  the  swiftest  horse. 


166  WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 

The  two  chief  races  inhabiting  this  favored  district  are  the  Wakimbu 
and  the  Wanyamwezi,  the  former  an  immigrant  tribe  from  the  south, 
the  latter  the  original  proprietors  of  the  soil,  and  a  typical  race  of  this 
part  of  Africa,  its  industry  and  commercial  activity  having  given  it  a 
superiority  over  kindred  tribes.  Tall  and  stout,  with  a  dark  sepia  com- 
plexion and  crisp  curly  hair,  but  with  features  less  strongly  marked  than 
is  usual  with  negroes,  the  Wanyamwezi  distinguish  themselves  from 
other  clans  by  removing  the  eyelashes,  enlarging  the  lobe  of  the  ear, 
and  branding  a  double  line  of  little  cuts  from  the  eyes  to  the  middle  of 
tne  cheek.  Sometimes  a  third  line  or  band  of  three  small  lines  is  drawn 
from  the  forehead  to  the  bridge  of  the  nose.  The  women  extract  the 
lower  central  teeth,  and  the  men  chip  away  the  inner  corners  of  the  front 
upper  incisors.  The  long  tobe  or  loose  mantle  is  the  favorite  garment 
of  both  sexes,  and  beads  and  copper  ornaments  are  worn  in  profusion. 

AN    ECCENTRIC    QUEEN. 

Leaving  Unyanyembe  in  July,  Speke  crossed  a  broad  valley  with  a 
gentle  declination,  full  of  tall  and  slender  forest  trees,  and  lined  on  either 
side  by  low  hills,  and  entered  the  Unyambewa  district,  ruled  over  by  a 
sultana  named  Ungugu,  on  whom  every  traveler  was  obliged  to  call, 
but  who,  as  usual  with  African  potentates,  detained  our  hero  several 
days  before  she  granted  him  an  interview.  A  messenger  came  to  fetch 
the  white  man  to  the  royal  abode,  and  he  was  conducted  to  a  palisaded 
house  set  down  in  a  wave-like  valley,  one  of  many  undulations  charac- 
teristic of  Unyambewa.  Arrived  in  a  yard  full  of  cows,  serving  as  an 
ante-room,  a  number  of  negroes  welcomed  him  with  a  salute  of  drum- 
beating,  and  in  ten  minutes  a  body  of  slaves  came  rushing  in  and  hastily 
desired  him  to  follow  them. 

Obeying  orders,  as  in  duty  bound,  Speke  and  his  servants  were  led 
down  one  passage  and  up  another  into  the  centre  of  the  sultana's  estab- 
lishment, a  small  court  full  of  mushroom  huts.  Seated  on  a  wooden 
stool  set  upon  an  outspread  ox-hide,  and  with  his  suite  squatting  round 
him  on  the  floor,  the  white  man  now  awaited  the  arrival  of  his  hostess, 
who,  however,  sent  her  "lady's-maid"  first,  just  to  make  sure  of  the 
harmlessness  of  the  visitor.  Being  very  hungry,  Speke's  first  request 
was  for  food,  and  this  the  "lady's-maid,"  an  ugly,  dirty,  but  kindly  ne- 
gress,  at  once  supplied.  Then,  having  watched  the  eggs  and  milk  pro- 
vided disappear  with  extraordinary  rapidity,  and  convinced  that  the 
white  man  would  not  hurt  her  mistress,  the  maid  disappeared,  to  return 
almost  immediately  and  usher  in  her  mistress.- 

The  sultana  wms  a  .stumpy  old  dame,  with  a  short,  squat,  flabby  nose, 
and  an  everlasting  smile,  dressed  in  a  dirty  Arab  costume,  with  a  pro- 
fusion of  brass,  horn,  and  ivory  ornaments.     Squatting  by  Speke's  side^ 


EXPLORATIONS    OF    CELEBRATED    TRAVELERS.  167 

she  first  shook  hands,  and  then  felt  her  visitor's  boots,  trousers,  coat, 
and  waistcoat  all  over.  What  a  beautiful  coat  he  wore,  to  be  sure — 
could  he  not  give  it  to  her?  No.  What  nice  soft  fingers  and  hands 
he  had — they  were  like  a  child's,  and  what  hair — like  a  lion's  mane. 
Where  was  this  wonderful  hero  going?  "To  the  lake,  to  barter  his 
cloth  for  large  hippopotami  teeth,"  answered  a  dozen  voices  ;  and,  sat- 
isfied with  this  reply,  her  highness  took  her  leave,  followed  by  Speke's 
slave  laden  with  the  inevitable  present,  and  charged  to  obtain  permis- 
sion for  his  master  to  depart. 

Of  course  the  present  was  voted  poor,  and  not  what  the  sultana  would 
have  expected  from  so  distinguished  a  guest.  She  herself  w^ould  give 
him  a  bullock,  but  that  bullock  was  out  grazing,  it  could  not  at  once  be 
caught ;  Speke  must  wait.  The  old  story  told  in  so  many  different 
ways  on  every  journey  in  Africa — the  explorer  must  never  be  in  a 
hurry.  Only  after  much  persuasion  would  the  sultana  allow  our  hero 
to  proceed  without  the  bullock,  which  he  did  not  want,  and  when  he  at 
last  got  away,  he  had  to  leave  three  porters  behind  him  to  drive  the 
animal  after  him. 

THE   LONG-SOUGHT   SOURCE    OF    THE    NILE. 

Speke  at  last  discovered  a  sheet  of  water  on  the  left,  which  ultimately 
turned  out  to  be  a  creek,  and  the  most  southern  point  of  the  Nyanza. 
Crossing  a  grassy  and  jungly  depression,  he  arrived  at  a  deep,  dirty 
watercourse,  the  fording  of  which  delayed  him  several  hours,  and  follow- 
ing its  right  bank  the  whole  of  the  next  day,  he  came  to  another  and 
yet  another  jungle,  ever,  as  he  knew,  close  to  the  lake,  but  still  unable 
to  see  it,  until  at  last  he  ascended  a  long  but  gradually  inclined  hill, 
from  the  summit  of  which  the  vast  expanse  of  the  pale  blue  waters  of 
the  Nyanza  burst  suddenly  upon  his  gaze.  Thus  took  place  the  dis- 
covery of  the  second  of  the  great  Central  African  lakes,  and,  convinced 
that  he  had  found  the  true  and  long-sought  source  of  the  Nile.  Speke 
at  once  conceived  the  idea  of  undertaking  a  new  expedition  which 
should  place  the  fact  beyond  a  doubt.  In  this  he  was  accompanied  by 
Grant,  his  old  friend  and  brother  sportsman  in  India. 

FATTENING     WIVES. 

Speke  remained  in  Karagwe  for  a  month,  but  Grant  was  detained 
there  by  serious  illness  until  the  .spring  of  1862,  when  he  rejoined  his 
comrade  in  Uganda.  During  their  stay  with  the  celebrated  chief  Ru- 
manika,  neither  of  the  explorers  .saw  cause  to  change  the  first  opinion 
they  had  formed  of  that  chieftain's  personal  character,  but  more  intimate 
intercourse  with  him  showed  that  he  held  many  strange  and  supersti- 
tious beliefs,  and  indulged  in  practices  the  reverse  of  civilized.  One 
of  the  latter,  which  appears  to  have  struck  Speke  most  unpleasantly, 


168  WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 

was  the  fattening  of  the  women  of  the  court  to  such  an  extent  that  they 
could  not  stand  upright. 

Scarcely  able  to  credit  the  reports  he  heard  of  this  peculiarity  in  the 
royal  females,  the  English  leader  obtained  an  interview  with  the  king's 
eldest  brother  and  his  wife.  On  entering  the  hut,  he  found  the  old 
man  and  his  chief  wife  sitting  side  by  side  on  a  bench  of  earth  strewed 
over  with  grass,  and  partitioned  like  stalls  for  sleeping  apartments.  The 
wife  could  not  rise,  and  so  large  were  her  arms  that  between  the  joints 
the  flesh  hung  down  like  large  loose-stuffed  puddings.  This  result  the 
husband  triumphantly  informed  his  guests  had  been  obtained  by  milk, 
and  milk  alone.  "  From  early  youth  upwards,"  he  said,  pointing  to  rows 
of  milk  bowls  on  the  ground,  "  we  keep  these  pots  to  our  women's 
mouths."  Wife-fattening  is  also  practiced  in  the  north-west  of  Africa, 
where  obesity  is  considered  the  chief  beauty  in  a  woman.  Another 
revolting  custom  in  Karagwe  was  the  mode  of  burial  of  members  of 
the  royal  family.  Speke  relates  that  the  body  of  Rumanika's  prede- 
cessor, after  floating  about  in  a  boat  on  the  lake  until  decomposition  set 
in,  had  been  shut  up  in  a  hut  with  five  living  maidens  and  fifty  cows,  so 
inclosed  that  the  whole  of  them  subsequently  died  of  starvation. 

A    VISIT    TO    THE    GREATEST    OF    AFRICAN    KINGS. 

Early  in  January,  1862,  messengers  arrived  from  Mtesa,  king  of 
Uganda,  inviting  Speke  and  Grant  to  visit  him,  and  reluctantly  leaving 
the  latter  under  the  charge  of  Rumanika,  the  former  started  with  a 
party  of  Arab  traders.  Speke  entered  Uganda  in  February,  and  came  in 
sight  of  the  king's  kibuga  or  palace,  which  he  described  as  a  magnifi- 
cent sight — a  whole  hill  being  covered  with  gigantic  huts,  such  as  he 
had  never  seen  in  Africa  before.  Eager  at  once  to  open  relations  with 
the  owner  of  this  handsome  residence,  our  hero  was  advancing  towards 
it,  when  he  was  stopped  by  some  officers  of  the  court,  who  told  him 
that  to  enter  unannounced  would  be  considered  indecent  in  Uganda; 
the  men  must  be  drawn  up,  the  guns  must  be  fired  to  let  the  king  know 
of  the  arrival,  then  a  house  would  be  assigned  to  the  visitor,  and  to- 
morrow he  would  be  sent  for. 

Disappointed  at  this  check,  Speke  ordered  his  men  to  fire,  and  was 
then  shown  some  miserable  huts  for  the  accommodation  of  himself  and 
his  suite.  Indignant  at  what  he  thought  the  disrespect  of  this  welcome, 
Speke  declared  that  the  palace  was  the  place  for  him,  and  if  he  could 
not  go  there  at  once  he  would  return  without  seeing  the  king;  but  a 
native  who  had  acted  as  messenger  to  Mtesa,  persuaded  him  to  have 
patience,  or  the  consequences  might  be  terrible — no  stranger  was  ever 
allowed  to  enter  the  palace ;  the  white  man  must  conform  to  the  cus- 
toms of  the  country. 


169 


170  WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 

Giving  way  to  the  man's  appeal,  which  was  evidently  well  meant, 
Speke  entered  the  hut  assigned  to  him,  and  was  almost  immediately 
molified  by  a  message  brought  by  the  king's  pages  that  a  levee  would 
be  held  in  his  honor  the  next  day,  which  levee,  the  first  of  many  since 
witnessed  in  the  Palace  of  Uganda  by  white  men,  duly  came  off 
Dressed  in  his  best,  in  which,  however,  he  tells  us  he  fears  he  cut  but 
a  sorry  figure,  Speke,  accompanied  by  his  traveling  escort,  decked  out 
in  gorgeous  array,  started  for  the  palace  in  high  spirits,  the  courtiers 
lining  the  way  shouting  as  he  passed,  "  Irungi !  Irungi  !"  (beautiful  ! 
beautiful !).  The  Union  Jack,  carried  by  a  guide,  led  the  way,  followed 
by  twelve  men  as  a  guard  of  honor,  dressed  in  red  flannel  cloaks,  and 
carrying  their  arms  sloped  with  fixed  bayonets,  whilst  in  their  rear  were 
the  rest  of  our  hero's  men,  each  carrying  some  article  as  a  present. 
Winding  up  the  sides  of  the  hill,  the  procession  entered  the  palace,  and 
passing  first  the  inclosure,  in  which  the  lesser  female  celebrities  of  the 
court  reside,  Speke  was  met  beyond  it  by  the  high  officers  of  the  king, 
who  stepped  forth  and  greeted  him  with  courteous  dignit}-.  Men, 
women,  bulls,  dogs,  and  goats,  were  being  led  about  by  strings ;  cocks 
and  hens  were  carried  in  men's  arms  ;  and  little  pages,  with  rope  tur- 
bans, rushed  about  conveying  messages,  as  if  their  lives  depended  on 
their  swiftness,  every  one  holding  his  skin-cloak  tightly  round  him,  lest 
his  naked  legs  might  by  accident  be  shown,  for  it  was  against  Uganda 
etiquette  that  anything  should  be  uncovered  in  or  near  the  royal 
presence.  In  fact,  but  for  Speke's  interference,  all  his  presents  would 
have  been  wrapped  in  chintz,  even  to  inanimate  objects! 

SPEKE   STANDS    ON    HIS    DIGNITY. 

In  the  ante-rece]ition  court  our  hero  was  requested  by  the  chief 
officers  in  waiting  to  sit  on  the  ground  in  the  sun  with  his  servants, 
but  he  had  determined  beforehand  neither  to  do  that  nor  to  make  any 
obeisance  but  such  as  is  customary  in  England.  An  English  gentle- 
man, he  determined  on  being  treated  as  such,  and  the  event  proved 
him  to  have  been  wise,  for  this  rather  vigorous  standmg  up  for  his 
dignity  gave  the  natives  an  impression  of  reserved  power.  Surely, 
they  thought,  this  white  man  must  be  possessed  of  resources  of  which 
we  know  nothing,  or  he  would  never  thus  brave  our  master  in  his 
very  stronghold. 

On  the  reiterated  but  hesitating  request  of  the  officers  that  he 
would  be  seated,  Speke  declared  that  he  gave  them  five  minutes'  grace, 
and  if  a  proper  reception  were  not  then  recorded  him,  he  would  walk 
away  without  seeing  the  king.  There  was  a  hut  close  by;  why  should 
he  not  enter  and  wait  there?  The  five  minutes  passed  in  anxious  sus- 
pense.    Speke's  servants  trembled  for  his  fate  and  their  own.     The 


EXPLORATIONS    OF    CELEBRATED    TRAVELERS.  171 

officers  looked  at  each  other  in  despair.  Finally  our  hero  turned  on 
his  heel,  ordered  a  porter  to  leave  the  present  he  held  on  the  ground 
and  follow  him,  and  walked  straight  away  home.  Intelligence  of  the 
white  man's  behavior  at  once  reached  the  king,  who  seems  at  first  to 
have  thought  of  leaving  his  toilet-room,  where  he  was  donning  all  his 
finery,  and  run  after  his  guest  himself,  but  his  second  impulse  was  to 
send  messengers  entreating  him  to  return  ;  he  would  not  himself  taste 
food  until  his  guest  was  with  him.  All  in  vain  ;  Spcke  merely  shook 
his  head ;  and  at  last  came  an  humble  message  that  if  he  would  only 
return  he  might  bring  his  own  chair  with  him,  and  sit  upon  that, 
tliough  an  artificial  seat  was  exclusively  the  attribute  of  the  king. 

GAY    FESTIVITIES    AT    THE    PALACE. 

The  point  was  gained,  and  having  refreshed  himself  with  coffee  and 
a  pipe,  our  hero  returned  to  the  palace,  bearing  his  iron  chair  with 
him.  The  officers  were  now  all  obsequious  ceremony ;  would  their 
visitor  sit  down — would  he  hear  some  music  ?  A  band  of  performers, 
wearing  long-haired  goat-skins  down  their  backs,  then  passed  before  him, 
dancing  as  they  went  along  like  bears  in  a  fair,  and  playing  on  reed 
instruments  worked  over  with  beads  in  various  patterns;  drums  were 
vigorously  beaten  by  other  attendants  ;  and  these  preliminaries  over, 
the  white  man  was  ushered  into  the  presence  of  his  majesty,  who 
turned  out  to  be  a  good-looking  young  man  of  about  five-and-twenty, 
wearing  a  loose  flowing  garment  fastened  on  the  shoulder,  and  a 
quantity  of  really  pretty  ornaments  made  of  beads,  brass,  and  copper. 
His  hair  was  cut  short,  except  at  the  top,  where  it  was  combed  up 
into  a  high  ridge.  Staff-officers  on  one  side,  a  group  of  female  sor- 
cerers on  the  other,  and  numerous  wives  behind  him,  made  up  the 
court,  who  were  one  and  all  squatting  on  the  ground  in  tailor  fashion. 

A  little  chat  about  the  object  of  the  white  men  in  coming  to  these 
parts  closed  the  first  interview,  and  those  which  succeeded  it  were  but 
repetitions  of  the  same  kind  of  thing.  A  few  days  after  his  arrival, 
however,  Speke  was  admitted  to  an  interview  with  the  queen-mother 
in  which  he  was  entertained  with  music,  and  allowed  to  remain  seated. 
Her  majesty,  fat,  fair,  and  forty-five,  greatly  amused  her  guest  by  run- 
ning away  several  times  to  change  her  clothes,  with  a  view  to  impress- 
ing him  with  her  wealth  and  importance.  All  the  vagaries  of  the 
court  were,  in  short,  very  amusing  ;  and  Speke,  feted  everywhere,  had 
nothing  to  desire  except  permission  to  send  an  escort  for  Grant,  and 
with  him  proceed  on  his  journey.  But  here,  as  everywhere  else  in 
Africa,  the  king  would  fain  have  kept  his  white  man  with  him  for- 
ever. As  in  Karagwe,  further  acquaintance  with  the  natives  revealed 
many  terrible  practices,  the  worst  of  which  was  perhaps  the  daily  offer- 


172 


WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 


ing  of  a  human  sacrifice  for  the  good  of  the  state,  though  Speke  seems 
to  have  been  more  impressed  by  the  occasional  sudden  execution  of 


THE    GREAT    I 

one  or  another  of  the  king's  wives  for  some  trifling  offense.  The  be- 
lief in  magic,  and  many  absurd  superstitions  connected  with  that 
belief,  also  prevailed  throughout  Uganda,  but  neither  king  nor  people 


EXPLORATIONS    OF    CELEBRATED    TRAVELERS.  173 

were  as  bigoted  as  either  the  coast  or  southern  tribes  of  Africa.  Mtesa 
knew  of  the  navigation  of  the  Nile  by  white  men  ;  he  had  heard  of 
Gondokoro,  and  was  anxious  to  open  relations  with  its  merchants. 

The  explorers  have  given  some  account  of  the  powerful  tribe  called 
the  Akkas,  who  have  been  conquered  by  King  Munza,  of  the  Monbuttoo 
tribe,  and  are  now  his  subjects.  This  African  monarch  is  second  in 
power  and  wealth  only  to  Mtesa,  of  Uganda,  but  is  grossly  addicted  to 
cannibalism.  A  distinguished  traveler,  who  recently  visited  his  country, 
and  was  received  with  royal  honors  by  the  king  on  his  throne,  says  : 
I  was  intensely  interested  in  gazing  at  the  strange,  weird-looking 
sovereign,  of  whom  it  was  commonly  reported  that  his  daily  food  was 
human  flesh.  With  arms  and  legs,  neck  and  breast,  all  bedizened  with 
copper  rings,  chains,  and  other  strange  devices,  and  with  a  great  copper 
crescent  at  the  top  of  his  head,  the  potentate  gleamed  with  a  shimmer 
that  was  to  our  ideas  unworthy  of  royalty,  but  savored  far  too  much 
of  the  magazines  of  civic  opulence,  reminding  one  almost  unavoidably 
of  a  well-kept  kitchen !  His  appearance,  however,  was  decidedly 
marked  with  his  nationality,  for  every  adornment  that  he  had  about  him 
belonged  exclusively  to  Central  Africa,  as  none  but  the  fabrications  of 
his  native  land  are  deemed  worthy  of  adorning  the  person  of  a  king  of 
the  Monbuttoo. 

Agreeably  to  the  national  fashion,  a  plumed  hat  rested  on  the  top 
of  his  chignon,  and  soared  a  foot  and  a  half  above  his  head  ;  this  hat 
was  a  narrow  cylinder  of  closely-plaited  reeds  ;  it  was  ornamented  with 
three  layers  of  red  parrots'  feathers,  and  crowned  with  a  plume  of  the 
same ;  there  was  no  brim,  but  the  copper  crescent  projected  from  the 
front  like  the  vizor  of  a  Norman  helmet.  The  muscles  of  Munza's  ears 
were  pierced,  and  copper  bars  as  thick  as  the  finger  inserted  in  the 
cavities.  The  entire  body  was  smeared  with  the  native  unguent  of 
powdered  cam-wood,  which  converted  the  original  bright  brown  tint  of 
his  skin  into  the  color  that  is  so  conspicuous  in  ancient  Pompeian  halls. 
His  single  garment  consisted  of  a  large  piece  of  fig-bark  impregnated 
with  the  same  dye  that  served  as  his  cosmetic,  and  this,  falling  in  grace- 
ful folds  about  his  body,  formed  breeches  and  waistcoat  all  in  one. 
Around  the  king's  neck  hung  a  copper  ornament  made  in  little  points 
which  radiated  like  beams  over  his  chest ;  on  his  bare  arms  were  strange- 
looking  pendants  which  in  shape  could  only  be  compared  to  drumsticks 
with  rings  at  the  end.  Halfway  up  the  lower  part  of  the  arms  and  just 
below  the  knee  were  three  bright,  horny-looking  circlets  cut  out  of 
hippopotamus-hide,  likewise  tipped  with  copper.  As  a  symbol  of  his 
dignity,  Munza  wielded  in  his  right  hand  the  sickle-shaped  Monbuttoo 
scimitar,  in  this  case  only  an  ornamental  weapon. 


CHAPTER   VI. 
NORTH   AND   SOUTH   AFRICA. 

Tlie  Pyramids,  One  of  the  "Seven  Wonders  of  the  World" — Their  Use — Ascending  the 
Pyramids — Egyptian    Mummies — Ruins   of   Thebes — Mamelukes — Diamond    Fields — 
Kimberly    Mine — Mode    of    Operations — "Claims" — A     Fight    with 
Baboons — Ostrich  Farming — The  Hunter's  Paradise — Dangers  of  Ele- 
phant and  Buffalo  Hunting — Adventures  of  the  Chase. 

'HE  ancients  were  in  the  habit  of  speaking  of  the  "seven 
wonders  of  the  world,"  one  of  which  was  the  pyramids 
of  Egypt.  There  are  three  principal  pyramids,  three 
that  we  hear  most  about,  but  there  are  nine,  which  form 
part  of  the  vast  necropolis  or  graveyai"d  of  Memphis, 
stretching  out  for  miles  along  the  sandy  desert. 

At  a  distance  the  pyramids  are  not  impressive.  It  is 
after  you  have  climbed  the  long  sand-slope  leading  to 
the  rocky  platform  on  which  they  stand,  and  find  your- 
self a  mere  pigmy  looking  up  at  the  vast  array  of  colossal  steps  of 
the  Pyramid  of  Khufu,  commonly  called  Cheops,  the  perpendicular 
height  of  which  is  four  hundred  and  eighty  feet,  that  you  really  feel 
overwhelmed.  And  when  you  call  to  mind  that  six  decades  of  cen- 
turies have  clasped  since  its  builders  were  in  the  flesh  like  ourselves, 
and  think  of  the  enormous  amount  of  money  and  labor  which  it  cost 
to  erect  this  vast  pile,  your  astonishment  increases  still  more. 

Herodotus  tells  us  that  the  onions,  garlic,  and  ruphanus  roots  con- 
sumed by  the  workmcMi  cost  one  thousand  and  six  hundred  talents,  or 
one  million  dollars.  But  it  is  not  so  much  the  money  spent  on  the 
pyramids  as  the  wonderful  scientific  knowledge  and  skill  required  to 
build  them  that  gives  cause  for  surprise.  There  have  been  a  great  many 
theories  as  to  their  use,  but  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  they  are  simply 
royal  sepulchres,  and  when- you  reach  the  summit  of  the  great  Pyramid 
you  can  see  quite  clearly  that  the  k:ng  lay  buried  among  his  family 
and  his  nobles,  his  colossal  funereal  edifice  towering  over  the  many 
smaller  tombs  which  are  placed  round  him  in  a  square,  the  little 
pyramids  being  those  of  the  princes  of  his  hou.se. 

But  quiet  thought  is  impossible  until  one  has  been  some  time  on  the 
ground,  for  the  Arabs  are  clamorous  to  assist  in  the  ascent,  and  though 
an  active  climber  can  do  without  them,  you  cannot  send  them  away. 

174 


NORTH  AND  SOUTH  AFRICA. 


175 


It  is  most  amusing  to  watch  them  helping  a  lady,  and  as  they  do  the 
business  much  better  than  those  who  are  unaccustomed  to  it,  the  best 
plan  is  to  let  them  have  their  way.  The  steps  are  generally  about  two 
feet  in  height,  and  some  of  them  as  much  as  three  or  four,  so  two 
Arabs  take  hold  of  the  lady's  hands,  and  a  third  follows  behind  to  give 
her  a  friendly  lift  when  needed.  The  affair  takes  about  twenty  minutes, 
if  she  does  not  stop  too  often.  The  Arabs  say  that  ladies  always  go  to 
the  top,  but  they  find  gentlemen  are  by  no  means  so  fond  of  doing  so. 
The  whole  exterior  surface  of  the  pyramids  was  originally  polished, 
and  also — as  is  believed — covered  with  inscriptions,  but  the  blocks 
forming  this  surface  were  taken  away  by  the  Khalifs  as  material  for 
other  buildings,  and  it  is  their  removal  which  has  left  the  series  of 
steps  by  meaiis  of  which  one  now  climbs  to  the  top. 

INTERIOR  OF  THE  OLD  PYRAMIDS. 

An  Arabian  writer  of  the  thirteenth  century,  tells  us  how  "people 
without  sensf  "  destroyed  ancient  monuments  in  their  search  for  con- 
cealed wealth.,  and  adds  that  when  treasure  was  no  longer  expected, 
the  stones  wf>re  carried  away  to  be  used  as  building  material.  In  the 
clear  atmosphere  of  Egypt  you  can  see  an  immense  distance  from  the 
summit  of  Cephren,  and  the  view  is  full  of  interest.  The  desert  lies 
at  your  feet,  stretching  away  to  the  south  and  west,  a  billoAvy  waste 
of  sand  dotted  at  intervals  with  other  pyramids;  and  not  far  off  Cairo, 
with  its  creamy  domes  and  minarets,  backed  by  a  belt  of  palms,  makes 
a  lovely  picture. 

The  entrance  to  the  Pyramid  of  Cheops  was  formerly  quite  con- 
cealed, only  the  priests  knowing  where  to  find  the  movable  stone 
that  would  admit  them;  now,  however,  we  go  in  by  an  opening  made 
in  the  north  side,  about  forty-five  feet  from  the  ground,  covered  with  a 
pent-house  roof,  and  then  descend  by  a  narrow  passage  some  three 
hundred  and  twenty  feet  in  length,  which  probably  led  straight  to  the 
sepulchral  chamber,  but  is  now  cut  off  by  the  falling  of  a  granite 
block,  so  that  one  has  to  turn  aside  and  scramble  up  one  passage  and 
down  another,  now  leaping  across  a  chasm,  now  climbing  with  the  help 
of  a  ladder,  if  one  wishes  to  visit  all  these  strange  chambers,  which  look 
like  a  fit  prison  for  fallen  angels.  There  is,  however,  only  one  thing  to 
be  seen,  the  great  red  granite  sarcophagus  now  emptied  and  broken; 
but  the  effect  of  the  vast  cavern-like  place,  partially  revealed  by  torches, 
or  perhaps  wholly  so  for  a  moment  by  magnesium  light,  is  very  striking. 

On  coming  out  of  the  pyramid  the  great  Sphinx  stands  before  the 
visitor.  The  body  is  one  hundred  and  forty  feet  long,  and  its  head  is 
thirty  feet  in  height.  It  has  an  altar  between  its  paws  to  which  you 
ascend  by  a  long  flight  of  steps.     It  is  now,  however,  so  mutilated  and 


NORTH  AND  SOUTH  AFRICA. 


177 


covered    by  sand    that    it    is    difficult    to    form    any  idea   of  its  real 
grandeur.     The  Arabs  call  it  "the  father  of  terror." 

Of  the  many  wondrous  discoveries  made  by  Belzoni,  none  was  more 
noteworthy  than  that  of  the  entrance  to  Cephren,  the  second  of  the 
mighty  pyramids  of  Ghiza.  Seated  during  his  travels  at  the  foot  of 
this  second  pyramid,  Belzoni  mused  as  to  the  probability  of  there 
being  an  entrance  to  its  interior,  arguing  that  it  was  highly  improbable 
that  such  a  magnificent  structure  should  have  been  reared  without 
containing  chambers  and  a  means  of  entrance  thereto.  He  knew  that 
the  first  pyramid  had  been  explored,  but  every  historical  account,  from 
those  of  Herodotus  downward,  joined  in  declaring  the  second  pyramid 


ANCIENT     EGYPTIAN     TEMPLE. 

to  be  one  huge  monumental  blank.  But  Belzoni,  carefully  examining 
the  exterior,  at  length  came  to  the  conclusion  that  there  must  be  a  way 
to  the  interior,  and  set  himself  boldly  to  the  discovery.  The  first  step 
to  be  taken  was  to  obtain  permission  from  the  Bey,  and  that  accorded, 
he  collected  sixty  workmen,  and  set  them  to  break  with  their  hatchets 
through  a  heap  of  debris  joined  together  by  the  pulverized  mortar 
that  had  fallen  from  far  up  the  side  of  the  pyramid,  and  then  been 
moistened  by  the  heavy  night  dews. 

A  long  period  of  toil  then  followed,  ending  in  the  discovery  of  a 
cavity  in  the  side,  but  no  means  of  entrance.     Disappointed  but  not 

12 


NORTH  AND  SOUTH  AFRICA. 


179 


daunted,  Bclzoni  again  surveyed  the  vast  sides  of  the  building,  and 
determined  to  try  in  another  spot,  where,  after  the  kbor  of  many  days, 
first  one  and  then  another  block  of  granite  was  uncovered,  and  at  last 


the  entrance  to  the  pyramid  reached — a  low  passage  choked  up  with 
fallen  stones,  which  required  arduous  toil  to  draw  them  out.  But  in 
spite  of  the  opposition  and  idleness  of  his  Arab  laborers,  Belzoni  per- 


180 


WONDERS    OF    EXPLORATION    AND    ADVENTURE. 


severed,  till  a  passage  large  enough  to  admit  one  of  the  men  was 
cleared,  and  soon  after,  armed  with  a  torch,  the  traveler  stepped  in,  and 
began  to  look  for  the  reward  of  his  thirty  days  of  incessant  labor. 

His  light  burned  dimly  in  the  gloomy  echoing  passage  leading  to  the 
vast  solitudes  that  had  not  been  invaded  for  more  than  two  thousand 
years,  and  it  was  with  a  strange  feeling  of  awe  that  this  enterprising 
man  passed  on,  breathing  the  dust  of  a  vast  antiquity,  and  with  lifted 
torch  trying  to  pierce  the  gloom.  Passage  after  passage  he  explored 
through  the  huge  rock-built  structure;  peering 
anxiously  forward  lest  he  should  be  plunged  un- 
awares into  some  deep  pit  yawning  to  engulf 
him;  but  he  passed  on  in  safety  till  he  reached  a 
door,  evidently  leading  into  some  great  chamber, 
and  then,  stepping  boldly  forward,  he  stood  in 
the  centre  of  the  huge  building,  trying  to  pierce 
the  darkness  around,  and  gazing  wonderingly  at 
this  mausoleum  of  an  antiquity  so  great  that 
human  history  gives  but  a  poor  clue  to  its  age. 

The  contents  proved  to  be  a  large  sarcophagus 
of  granite;  but  far  from  satisfied  with  this  result 
of  his  research,  Belzoni  sought  on,  and  explored 
passage  after  passage,  and  echoing  gloomy 
chambers,  evidently  formed  to  be  the  last  resting 
places  of  the  kings  of  some  ancient  dynasty ;  but 
the  grandeur  of  this  solemn  temple  of  the  dead 
.seemed  to  lie  in  its  vast  solidity  and  massive- 
ness  of  construction,  qualities  which  have  been 
the  admiration  of  travelers  of  every  country. 

The  preservation  of  dead  bodies  in  an  uncor- 
rupted  state  was  one  of  the  principal  arts  of 
ancient  nations,  while  with  some  it  was  also  a 
sacred  duty.  Prescott  says  that  the  Peruvians 
were  in  the  habit  of  placfng  the  bodies  of  their 
dead  upon  the  high  levels  of  the  Andes,  where 
the  continuousness  of  the  draught  of  pure  air 
acted  as  an  antiseptic,  and  prevented  natural  decay.  In  deserts,  corpses 
have  been  found,  presumably  hundreds  of  years  old,  preserved  by  the 
action  of  sand  and  wind  ;  and  it  is  known  that  in  the  Arctic  regions  the 
intense  cold  of  the  atmosphere  acts  as  a  preservative  against  corrup- 
tion; but  in  both  cases  equally,  the  preserved  bodies  have  been  the 
result  of  accident  rather  than  design. 

The  Egyptians  were  of  all  people  the  most  particular  about  insisting 


A    MUMMY    CASE. 


NORTH    AND    SOUTH    AFRICA. 


181 


on  the  preservation  of  their  dead  bodies,  and  the  most  skillful  in  carry- 
ing it  out.  They  used  to  keep  the  bodies  of  their  ancestors  embalmed, 
in  little  houses,  beautifully  adorned,  and  took  great  pleasure  in  behold- 
ing them,  as  it  were  alive,  without  change,  and  with  "  no  hint  of  death 
in  all  their  frame."  Testimony  to  their  skill  in  embalming  is  borne  by 
the  mummies  that  remain  even  to  this  day,  many  of  them  being 
upward  of  two  thousand  years  old.  They  used  several  processes  for 
embalming.  After  injecting  medicaments,  which  consisted  of  myrrh, 
cassia,  and  other  spices,  and  soaking  the  body  in  nitre  seventy  days,  it 
was  wrapped  in  swathes  of  fine  linen  and  gums,  and  these  were  covered 

again,  according  to  fancy,  with 
robes  and  tissues,  or"  were  sim- 
ply placed,  as  it  were,  in  bed  in 
the  dead-room. 

Another  process,  used  for  in- 
expensive embalming,  was  to  in- 
ject a  liquor  extracted  from  the 
cedar-tree,  into  the  body  of  the 
dead,  which  caused  the  corrupt- 
ing elements  to  come  away  with 
the  liquor.     The  body  was  then 
wrapped  in  a  winding  sheet  con- 
taining a  quantity  of  salt  of  nitre, 
and  so  was  preserved  for  a  time; 
but  this  process,  as  it  was  not  so 
costly,  was  not  so  durable  as  the 
other.     The  modern  process  of 
embalming  is  different  from  both 
A  VFTLED  BEAu-i\-i  (Am  \N   CUSTOM    of  thcsc,  and  though  very  suc- 
cessful cases  of  preservation  have  been  effected  by  it,  it  is  to  Egypt 
that  must  be  ascribed  the  greatest  excellence  in  the  mummy-mak- 
ing art. 

In  the  Etruscan  Vase  Room  at  the  British  Museum  is  to  be  seen 
the  skeleton  of  one  Pharaoh  Mykerinus,  decently  encased  in  its  original 
burial-clothes,  and  surrounded  by  fragments  of  the  coffin,  whereon 
the  name  of  its  occupant  can  be  easily  read  by  Egyptologists,  afford- 
ing conclusive  evidence  that  it  once  contained  the  mummy  of  a  king 
who  was  reigning  in  Egypt  more  than  a  century  before  the  time  of 
Abraham.  Astronomical  evide  .2  enables  us  to  determine  the  time 
of  two  important  epochs  in  the  history  of  Egypt,  one  of  which  is 
connected  with  this  mummy.  Sir  John  Herschel  has  fixed  the  age 
of  the  Great  Pyramid  of  Ghizeh  to  the  middle  of  the  twenty-second 


182 


WONDERS    OF    EXPLORATION    AND    ADVENTURE. 


century  b.  c.  The  tablet  of  Abydos  shows  that  the  Pharaoh  whose 
bones  still  exist  succeeded  the  builder  of  the  Great  Pyramid  with  only 
two  intervening  kings.  We  are  therefore  warranted  in  assuming  that 
the  remains  of  Pharaoh  Mykerinus  belong  to  the  age  to  which  they 
have  been  assigned.  They  are  the  dusly  relics  which  remind  us  of  a 
period  far  remote  in  antiquity. 

One  of  the  most  wonderful  sights  this  country  contains  are  the  ruins 
of  the  city  of  Thebes,  in  upper  Egypt,  "the  city  of  a  hundred  gates," 
the  admiration  and  theme  of  ancient  poets  and  historians.  This 
venerable  city,  the  date  of  whose  destruction  is  older  than  the  founda- 


EGYPTIAN    MUSEUM. 

tion  of  other  cities,  and  the  extent  of  whose  ruins,  and  colossal  frag- 
ments, still  offers  so  many  astonishing  objects,  is  so  full  of  interest, 
that  one  is  riveted  to  the  spot,  unable  to  decide  whither  to  direct  the 
step  or  fix  the  attention.  For  eight  miles  on  either  bank  of  the  Nil: 
do  these  ruins  extend,  retreating  inland  until  enclosed  by  mountains, 
and  describing  a  circuit  of  twenty-seven  miles.  Perhaps  the  most 
remarkable  of  these  ruins  are  those  of  Carnac  and  Luxor  on  the 
eastern  bank,  and  the  palace  of  Memnon  on  the  western,  the  sepulchre 
of  the  kings,  and  the  temple  of  Mcdinct  Abu. 

The  temple  of  Carnac  has  twelve  principal  entrances ;  tiie  body  of 


NORTH  AND  SOUTH  AFRICA.  183 

the  temple,  which  is  preceded  by  a  lar^re  court,  is  a  prodigious  hall,  the 
roof  being  supported  by  one  hundred  and  thirty-four  columns,  some  of 
them  no  less  than  thirty-four  feet  in  circumference  ;  four  obelisks  mark 
the  entrance  to  the  shrines,  which,  built  of  granite,  consists  of  three 
apartments.  The  temple  of  Luxor  is  not  so  extensive,  but  is  con- 
sidered to  be  of  a  superior  style  of  architecture  and  in  better  preser- 
vation ;  at  the  entrance  are  two  of  the  finest  obelisks  in  the  world, 
made  of  rose-colored  granite,  and  rising  to  the  height  of  one  hundred 
feet.  What  most  attracts  attention  are  the  sculptures  on  the  east  wing 
of  the  northern  front,  said  to  be  a  pictorial  representation  of  a  victory 
gained  by  some  ancient  king  over  his  enemies.  But  to  describe  all  the 
wonders  of  these  amazing  series  of  ruins  would  take  volumes.  Many 
learned  men  have  made  these  and  other  relics,  such  as  Rameses' 
Palace,  the  tombs,  Pyramids,  and  labyrinths,  their  study,  so  as  to  try 
and  master  the  history  of  a  people  and  civilization  dating  so  many 
hundreds  of  years  back,  even  to  the  early  morning  of  time,  ere  history 
began  to  be  recorded.  Hitherto  the  results  of  their  labors  have  been 
most  interesting  and  satisfactory,  for  in  some  measure  they  have 
enabled  us  to  picture  to  ourselves  cities  as  they  were  in  that  far-back 
time,  when  thronged  with  living  men,  women,  and  children. 

SAILING    UP    THE    NILE. 

As  the  boat  glides  up  the  Nile  towards  the  first  cataract,  every  few 
miles  sighting  some  object  of  interest,  it  often  touches  at  a  village  or 
town  on  the  banks,  where  on  one  side  may  be  seen  the  fishermen's 
boats,  hauled  on  shore,  and  on  the  other  the  white  mud  or  stone-built 
houses,  gleaming  in  the  sunshine,  fringed  by  palm-trees,  while  the 
ever-graceful  minaret  of  the  mosque  of  the  Mohammedan  points  its 
finger  to  the  sky. 

The  two  most  important  cities  in  the  country — Cairo  and  Alex- 
andria— are  both  situated  in  Lower  Egypt.  Alexandria  is  seated  on 
the  Mediterranean  sea-coast,  and  the  ground-plan  of  the  city  was 
traced  by  the  hand  of  Alexander  the  Great  more  than  three  hundred 
years  before  the  birth  of  Christ.  In  the  present  day  it  contains  a  pop- 
ulation of  more  than  200,000.  It  is  divided  into  two  sections,  one  of 
which  is  occupied  by  Europeans  and  the  other  by  Arabs.  The  first  is 
of  recent  date,  and  consists  of  broad  and  straight  streets,  many  of  them 
shaded  by  row^s  of  fine  trees,  squares  tastefully  laid  out  with  evergreen 
plants  and  sweet-scented  flowers.  The  houses  are  well  and  solidly 
built,  and  many  of  them  are  large  and  commodious,  while  elegant 
shops  abound,  replete  with  both  European  and  Eastern  goods.  At 
night  the  streets  are  lit  by  gas,  and  a  company  supplies  the  inhabitants 
with  water  from  the  Nile,  which  is  said  to  be  the  best  for  drinking  in 


184 


WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 


all  the  world.  The  Arab  quarter  pre.sents  quite  a  contrast  to  the 
European,  the  streets  being  narrow  and  crooked,  and  so  muddy  in 
winter  and  dusty  in  summer  as  to  make  walking  quite  unpleasant,  and 
sometimes  even  impossible.  The  houses  are  mostly  of  one  story,  and,, 
with  but  few  exceptions,  present  bare  walls  to  the  street. 

To  see  real  glimpses  of  Egyptian  life  a  traveler  must  not  linger  in 
a  coast  city,  or  even  the  capital  itself,  but  sail  slowly  up  the  Nile,  visit- 


|r<;H&=>-: -'■  -  ^'--^■T^-p-t-:'-^^-^'--^-^^ 

^-^r^"^'"-^^ -'?:i:^^^' '^^^^  ■  *-  '^  ^^^mt 

\":. f<(.-'"'f,t>:*','7^"  ^  -  ,  -J  '■  r^J'' ,-'-!/  "  [(.'T' 

•' -Ti^"  ",-7-^''  v^  ■"-,  '^  ■\-~^'-:^'--;.<)-^^r^  \yy'i>  •; '/is  ".'i?^  1; 

^^^t~-^-'^^>^\)g^^ii:'-:,-.i  ^)pj-} 

^rSil-i^-Y^v.^^^  ^  ^  ;i'-7V^?:^:-;r^1/.^^=-^^'^^ 

i;iiil?^MMi^jii]iilTiiMt]ijiM^ 


INTERIOR    OF    PORTICO    OF    THK    TEMPLE    AT    DENDERAH,    EGYPT. 

ing  the  various  villages  scattered  along  its  banks.  As  the  vessel  glides 
smoothly  along,  we  are  .struck  by  the  verdant  richness  of  the  level 
plains,  as  contrasted  Avith  the  rocky  and  sandy  deserts  by  which  they 
are  bounded.  The  river  itself  contains  but  few  of  those  rushes  which 
anciently  were  so  plentiful,  and  in  which,  as  we  are  told  in  Genesis,  the 
future   lawgiver    of  Israel    was    hidden.       Lady    Duff  Gordon,    who- 


NORTH  AND  SOUTH  AFRICA.  185 

traveled  in  Egypt,  relates  that,  meeting  a  troop  of  graceful  Arab 
women,  carrying  jars  poised  upon  the  head,  they  all  wished  her  to  go 
to  their  village  and  partake  of  food  ;  while  an  old  weaver,  whose  loom 
she  walked  in  to  inspect,  wished  to  set  a  piece  of  bread  before  her. 

The  voyage  terminates  for  a  time  at  Cairo,  the  capital  of  Egypt  ; 
and  that  which  first  demands  attention  is  the  great  citadel,  which, 
standing  on  a  slight  elevation,  commands  the  city.  Some  of  the 
Government  buildings  are  within  its  walls,  and  a  splendid  mosque  con- 
taining" the  body  of  Mehemet  Ali,  that  able  yet  unscrupulous  man  who 
nearly  succeeded  in  shaking  off  his  allegiance  to  the  Porte.  Meet  it 
is  that  his  remains  should  rest  within  the  enclosure  which  witnessed 
his  most  terrible  act  of  perfidy ;  for  it  was  here  that  he  massacred  the 
Mamelukes. 

FEROCITY    OF    THE    MAMELUKES. 

These  Mamelukes  were  a  brave  but  turbulent  body  of  warriors,  at 
one  time  so  formidable  from  their  number  and  daring,  that  they  deposed 
the  Egyptian  Sultan  and  chose  one  of  their  own  Beys  to  reign  in  his 
stead,  and  their  rule  lasted  in  Egypt  for  more  than  two  hundred  years. 
But  when,  in  15 17,  Selim  the  First  destroyed  their  power,  he  appointed 
a  Turkish  Pasha  as  Governor ;  yet  so  mighty  were  they  that  this  Pasha 
had  to  rule  according  to  their  will  and  pleasure.  When  the  French 
invaded  Egypt  under  Napoleon,  these  Mamelukes  played  a  dis- 
tinguished part ;  their  furious  attacks  upon  the  army  were  with  diffi- 
culty repulsed,  and  then  only  by  the  army  forming  into  hollow  squares. 
One  officer  who  shared  in  the  campaign  says,  "  One  of  the  Mamelukes 
entered  the  square  near  where  I  was  stationed.  The  ferocity  of  this 
man  was  scarcely  to  be  imagined.  When  he  found  himself  to  be 
encircled,  he  fought  so  desperately  that  his  sabre  was  dripping  with 
blood,  his  horse  was  in  a  violent  perspiration,  and  wounded  in  several 
places  with  bayonets ;  but  finding  no  hope  of  escaping,  he  threw  his. 
arms  on  the  sand,  and  then  dismounted,  patted  his  horse's  neck,  and 
kissed  it." 

Because  of  their  power,  their  bravery,  and  restlessness,  Mehemet 
Ali  determined  on  their  destruction.  Having  defeated  one  portion  with 
great  slaughter,  and  driven  many  of  them  into  Nubia,  he  still  remained 
uneasy  at  the  numbers  left ;  orders  were  sent  that  the  Mameluke 
Beys — to  the  number  of  four  hundred  and  eighty — should  be  present 
at  a  grand  ceremony,  to  be  given  in  honor  of  his  son,  who  was  shortly 
to  depart  for  Mecca.  Not  dreaming  of  treachery,  they  came  on  the 
day  appointed,  and  were  received  within  the  citadel  with  all  expressions 
of  Eastean  flattery ;  Ali  called  them  the  eldest  sons  of  the  Prophet, 
and  invited  them  to  celebrate  with  him  the  departure  of  his  son  for  the 


186         WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 

holy  tomb.  Meanwhile,  he  had  concealed  a  number  of  his  most  faith- 
ful troops  upon  the  ramparts,  the  towers,  and  behind  the  walls  of  the 
fortress.  At  a  signal  the  gates  were  closed,  while  the  Pasha  seated 
himself  on  a  carpet  on  the  summit  of  a  terrace,  smoking  a  magnificent 
Persian  pipe,  from  whence  he  could  see  all  without  himself  being  seen. 
He  gave  the  word  to  fire,  and  the  massacre  commenced.  Encumbered 
with  their  arms,  unable  to  reach  their  foes,  they  fell  thick  and  fast;  one 
alone  survived,  he  being  saved  by  his  horse  taking  a  leap  over  the 
breastwork  of  the  citadel.  The  remainder  in  the  provinces  were  also 
put  to  death.     Such  was  the  fate  of  the  Mamelukes. 

A  splendid  view  of  Cairo  is  gained  from  the  walls  of  the  citadel — 
the  tapering  minarets  of  four  hundred  mosques,  a  sea  of  houses,  and 
in  the  background  the  yellow  mountains  of  the  desert.  Behind  the 
city  lies  a  green  plain, -well  watered  by  the  Nile;  and  then,  farther  still, 
are  seen  the  mysterious  Pyramids,  aloft  in  their  awful  grandeur,  a 
witness  at  once  to  the  power  and  vanity  of  man. 

WHIRLWINDS    IN    THE    DESERT. 

It  is  a  well-established  fact  that  two  thousand  six  hundred  miles  of 
desert  in  North  Africa  may  be  traversed  without  crossing  a  stream. 
There  are  dry  sand,  rock,  and  stone  in  abundance ;  but  they  are  not 
covered  with  mould,  and  without  this  nothing  can  grow.  The  sand 
is  often  very  dust-like,  and  the  slightest  breeze  keeps  the  top  of  it  on 
the  move.  It  puffs  upwards  in  the  traveler's  face  as  he  walks,  and 
irritates  the  eyes  and  skin.  A  gentle  gale  moves  the  sand  in  low 
clouds,  and  waves  of  it  are  formed  to  be  destroyed  and  scattered 
about  hour  after  hour.  No  road  can  be  distinguished,  on  account  of 
this  constant  movement  of  the  sand  ;  and  the  dead  and  dying,  which 
the  caravans  leave  behind,  are  soon  covered  up.  They  may  remain 
under  the  sand  until,  during  some  terrific  wind-storm,  succeeding 
travelers  hurrying  on  over  the  trackless  waste  see  them  white  and 
fleshless,  and  are  warned  of  their  own  danger. 

The  wind  is  the  thing  to  be  feared  on  the  desert,  and  the  heated 
soil,  the  ab.sense  of  moisture,  and  the  vast  extent  of  the  surface,  where 
there  is  nothing  to  break  the  force  of  a  moderate  gale,  combine  to 
make  its  effects  very  terrible.  Whirlwinds  rush  over  the  sand  and 
twist  it  up  in  gigantic  columns,  darkening  the  noonday  light,  and  the 
travelers  are  surrounded  with  clouds  of  dust  moving  on  in  the 
direction  of  the  storrn.  The  columns  of  sand  are  often  many  yards 
in  height,  and  they  move  like  waterspouts  at  sea.  Woe  to  the  caravan 
or  the  camp  they  overtake !  for  those  that  are  not  killed  by  the  weight 
of  the  sand  poured  over  them,  are  liable  to  be  suffocated  by  the  dust 
and  the  hot  wind. 


NORTH  AND  SOUTH  AFRICA. 


187 


The  bricks  of  Egypt  are  among  the  most  interesting  reUcs  of 
•antiquity,  preserved,  as  it  seems,  in  an  imperishable  form.  A  brick 
from  the  Pyramid  of  Bashour  has  been  examined,  which  dates  from 
between  3400  and  3300  B.C.,  and  was  found  embedded  among  the 
Nile  mud  or  slime,  chopped  straw,  and  sand  of  which  it  is  composed, 
remains  of  animal  and  vegetable  forms,  and  of  the  manufacturing  arts, 
entirely  unchanged.  So  perfectly,  indeed,  have  they  been  preserved 
in  the  compact  substance  of  the  brick,  that   little  or  no  difficulty  is 


^WDSlUKM     IN     \(JklH      \1  RICA 

experienced  in  identifying  them.  By  this  discovery  we  are  made 
acquainted  with  wild  and  cultivated  plants,  which  were  growing  in 
the  pyramid-building  days;  with  fresh  water  shells,  fishes,  remains  of 
insects,  and  so  forth ;  and  a  swarm  of  organic  bodies,  which,  for  the 
most  part,  are  represented,  without  alteration,  in  Egypt  at  the  present 
time.  Besides  two  sorts  of  grain — wheat  and  barley — were  found 
the  field  pea  and  the  common  flax,  the  latter  having,  in  all  probability. 


188  WONDERS    OF    EXPLORATION    AND    ADVENTURE. 

been  cultivated  as  an  article  of  food,  as  well  as  for  spinning.  The 
relics  of  manufacture  consist  of  fragments  of  burnt  tiles,  of  pottery, 
and  a  small  piece  of  twine,  spun  of  flax  and  sheep's  wool,  significant 
of  the  advance  which  civilization  had  made  more  than  five  thousand 
years  ago.  The  presence  of  the  chopped  straw  confirms  the  account 
of  brick  making  as  given  in  Exodus,  and  by  Herodotus. 

Egyptian  architecture  has  always  been  a  thing  of  wonder.  While 
it  is  bold  and  massive,  it  is  not  without  the  most  elaborate  ornament, 
as  may  be  seen  from  the  workmanship  on  ancient  temples,  many  of 
which  are  beautiful. 

THE    LAND    OF    DIAMONDS. 

Not  in  Egypt  alone  have  remarkable  discoveries  been  made.  Of 
late  years  attention  has  been  turned  especially  to  the  southern  part  of 
Africa,  where  the  search  for  precious  stones  has  been  amply  rewarded. 
A  great  excitement  prevailed  in  Cape  Colony  in  the  year  1867.  A 
report  was  spread  abroad  that  an  African  trader  had  purchased  a 
diamond  from  a  native,  and  had  afterward  disposed  of  it  to  the 
governor,  Sir  Philip  Wodehouse,  for  no  less  a  sum  than  two  thousand 
five  hundred  dollars.  Furthermore,  it  was  rumored  that  a  colonist 
had  given  all  the. stock  on  his  farm  to  a  Bushman  for  a  diamond  which 
he  showed  him,  and  that  the  fortunate  purchaser  had  obtained  fifty- 
five  thousand  dollars  for  the  gem.  Then  came  the  news  that  a  native 
woman  had  dug  up  a  diamond  with  her  "  kcpo,"  a  sharp  pointed  piece 
of  wood,  for  which  her  husband  had  secured  in  exchange  a  wagon,, 
oxen,  and  a  load  of  goods.  These  rumors  were  at  first  received  with 
suspicion,  but  their  truthfulness  being  confirmed,  there  was  an  imme- 
diate rush  to  the  district  where  these  diamonds  were  to  be  found. 
Most  of  the  frontier  towns  were  speedily  deserted;  parties  started  from 
distant  colonial  towns,  while  at  Cape  Town,  all  sorts  of  conveyances 
were  placed  under  contribution,  from  the  heavy  and  lumbering  ox- 
wagon  to  the  light  cart,  which  is  the  South  African  express,  for  transit 
to  the  diamond  fields.  In  a  few  months,  where  before  a  scattered 
native  population  and  a  few  Europeans  existed,  no  less  than  ten 
thousand  people  were  hard  at  work,  eagerly  hoping  that  some  of  the 
precious  gems  would  fall  to  their  share.  The  natives  were  astonished, 
and  some  said,  "  Who  can  understand  you  white  men  ?  You  first 
clear  off  the  elephants  for  the  sake  of  the  ivory,  and  the  ostriches  for 
their  feathers,  and  when  you  have  swept  the  country  clean  as  to  what 
is  above  ground,  you  then  proceed  to  find  treasures  in  the  bowels  of 
the  earth  ?  " 

Situated  in  the  very  heart  of  Southern  Africa  lies  the  territory  of 
Griqualand  West,  bordering  on  the  great  Kalahari  desert,  and  extend- 


NORTH  AND  SOUTH  AFRICA. 


18i> 


ing  over  an  area  of  sixteen  thousand  square  miles.  In  the  centre  of 
this  great  plateau,  at  an  elevation  of  three  thousand  feet  above  the  .sea, 
is  the  diamond-field  country.  It  is  bare  and  uninviting  enough, 
except  along  the  banks  of  the  Orange  and  Vaal  rivers,  which  are 
well  wooded  and  picturesque.  Diamond-fields  were  discovered  on 
both  sides  of  the  Vaal  river,  at  places  named  Klip  Drift,  Pniel,  and 
Hebron,  and  also  in  the  Orange  Free  State.  In  the  last-mentioned 
places  the  dry  diggings  were  very  productive,  being  almost  literally 
sown  with  diamonds. 
But  it  was  on  the  Vaal, 
in  Griqualand,  that  the 
most  extensive  fields 
were  found. 

The  .scenes  presented 
at  these  diggings  were 
similar  to  those  witness- 
ed years  before  at  the 
gold  fields  of  California 
and  Australia.  Owing 
to  the  scarcity  of  wood, 
cantowns  sprang  up  as 
if  by  magic,  the  mixed 
inhabitants  of  v/hich 
would  willingly  toil  all 
day  in  the  dusty  mines, 
and  then  spend  the  night 
in  dancing,  gambling 
and  drinking.  In  the 
best  days  of  diamond 
hunting,  about  sixty 
thousand  people  gath- 
ered  round    the  dry 

and  river  diggings;  but  washing  diamonds. 

when  the  great  rush  was  over,  and  it  became  a  more  settled  industry, 
the  population  decreased  to  forty  thousand. 

The  centre  of  operations  is  at  the  New  Rush  Mine  of  Kimberly, 
round  which  a  town  has  been  built,  with  a  fine  market-place,  churches, 
clubs,  assembly  rooms,  and  hotels.  This  celebrated  mine  has  the 
appearance  of  a  hollow  about  three-quarters  of  a  mile  in  circumference. 
Before  it  became  a  digging  it  had  a  slight  elevation  above  the  sur- 
rounding plain.  It  is  now  scooped  out  to  a  considerable  depth,  the 
lowest  point  reached  being  about  two  hundred  and  twenty  feet. 


190 


WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 


Natives  do  a  considerable  deal  of  the  mining  work,  laboring  with 
pick  and  spade,  loading  buckets,  which  are  hauled  up  and  let  down  by- 
ropes.  These  buckets  are  carried  off  to  sorting  grounds,  where  the 
stuff  is  thrown  into  sieves  and  carefully  sieved,  and  afterward  examined 
with  the  aid  of  a  knife,  or  piece  of  tin,  on  a  table  in  the  open  air. 

In  the  earlier  rush  to  these  valuable  fields  the  mode  of  procedure 
was  as  follows :  Under  the  sanction  of  the  Provisional  Government, 
a  piece  of  ground  was  marked  off,  called  a  "claim."     The  owner  di- 


A  NATIVE  ATTACKED  BY  A  TIGER. 

rectly  sets  to  work  with  pick  and  shovel  to  collect  the  soil  into  a  heap. 
The  loose  stones  are  removed,  and  the  sand  separated  by  a  fine  sie\'e. 
The  residue  of  earth  and  pebbles  is  then  conveyed  to  the  washing  place 
on  the  bank  of  the  river.  The  washing  is  accomplished  b}'  means  of 
a  "  cradle,"  or  "  long  Tom,"  the  latter  of  which  consists  of  two  sieves, 
the  upper  one  having  holes  about  half  an  inch  in  diameter,  while 
the  under  one  is  made  so  as  to  detain  a  diamond  of  about  half  a  carat- 
After  the  washing  follows  the  sorting  process. 


NORTH  AND  SOUTH  AFRICA.  191 

As  possibly  a  rich  fortune  might  be  derived  from  a  single  gem, 
in  the  earlier  times  of  the  excitement  many  of  these  claims  were 
sold  for  almost  fabulous  prices;  in  one  instance  half  a  claim,  thirty 
feet  by  sixteen  feet,  already  worked  down  to  a  depth  of  fifty  feet, 
fetched  as  much  as  one  hundred  and  twenty  thousand  dollars.  And 
not  seldom  were  these  mines  worth  working,  and  not  rare  were  the 
finds  of  lucky  fortune-seekers;  for  we  are  told  that  an  Irishman,  after 
a  few  hours  search,  came  upon  a  stone  which  he  was  able  to  pawn  for 
fifteen  thousand  dollars,  while  another  discovered,  on  an  abandoned 
claim,  one  of  one  hundred  and  fifteen  carats.  One  of  the  greatest 
diamonds  found  in  these  rich  fields  was  named  the  "Star  of  South 
Africa,"  and,  before  cutting,  was  sold  for  fifty-five  thousand  dollars. 

To  the  northeast  of  Cape  Colony,  separating  it  from  Natal,  is 
Kaffraria,  a  country  rich  in  beautiful  scenery,  both  of  foliage  and 
mountain,  and  abounding  in  all  varieties  of  animal  life.  The  larger 
animals,  such  as  the  lion  and  the  elephant,  have  now  retreated  further 
inland,  to  be  beyond  the  reach  of  the  white  hunters  and  settlers.  Still, 
numbers  of  beasts  of  prey,  including  tigers,  infest  the  thickly-wooded 
forests,  lurking  in  their  green  retreats  till  darkness  or  hunger  drives 
them  forth  to  prey  upon  the  cattle  and  upon  the  natives  and  settlers. 
Huge  baboons,  too,  inhabit  the  tangled  recesses  of  the  bush,  traveling 
in  troops  varying  in  size  and  number.  Many  are  the  stories  told  of 
these  ugly  misshapen  creatures,  their  raids  upon  well-stocked  gardens, 
and  of  their  savageness  when  molested  by  man. 

PURSUED    BY    BABOONS. 

On  one  occasion  the  author  of  an  interesting  work  on  Kaffraria  was 
making  an  excursion  into  the  bush,  about  sixteen  miles  from  King 
William's  Town.  His  object  was  to  visit  some  saw-pits  situated  deep 
in  the  forest.  After  transacting  his  business,  he  started  alone  upon  a 
ramble  deeper  into  the  woods.  The  loveliness  of  the  scene  so  charmed 
him  that  he  was  induced  to  go  farther  than  he  at  first  intended,  and, 
leaving  what  is  called  the  Kaffir  path,  he  soon  became  entangled  in 
the  bush  and  underwood.  The  leaves  over  his  head  were  so  thick  as 
to  hide  from  him  the  sun,  so  that  he  was  compelled  to  have  recourse 
to  his  pocket-compass;  but  while  adjusting  this,  he  was  surprised  by 
receiving  a  salute  of  broken  sticks  and  berries.  Wondering  what  such 
an  attack  could  mean,  he  peered  up  into  the  foliage  over  his  head,  but 
seeing  no  animals  he  continued  his  occupation,  when  a  second  volley 
made  him  desist,  and  turn  in  all  haste  to  seek  the  lost  path.  The 
chattering  overhead  soon  told  him  that  his  assailants  were  a  large 
troop  of  baboons.  Having  got  clear  of  the  thicket,  he  thought  that 
now  he  might  retaliate  upon  his  enemies.     He  therefore  commenced 


192 


WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 


throwing  stones  at  those  who  were  within  reach;  but,  to  his  dismay, 
instead  of  taking  to  flight,  he  saw,  from  every  tree  near  him,  five  or 
ten  of  the  ugly  creatures  swinging  from  branch  to  branch  and  dropping 
upon  the  ground,  with  the  evident  intention  of  making  a  personal 
attack.  Unarmed,  and  totally  unable  to  cope  with  such  monsters,  he 
thought  the  best  thing  he  could  do  was  to  turn  and  run,  or  his  life 
would  not  be  worth  many  minutes'  purchase.  This  he  accordingly 
did,  with  the  whole  troop  in  full  cry  after  him.  He  never  ran  so  fast 
in  his  life,  while  at  the  same  time  he  bitterly  regretted  his  ill-advised 
attack.  At  the  saw-pits  he  hoped  to  gain  assistance,  but  found  the 
men  had  gone  to  dinner;  nothing  was  to  be  done  but  to  increase  his 
speed,  and  try  to  outdistance  his  pursuers.  This  he  finally  accom- 
plished, and  never  again  ventured,  when  unarmed  and  alone,  to  attack 
a  troop  of  baboons. 

One  of  the  great  scourges  of  Kaffraria,  and   also    of  other    parts 

of  Southern  Africa, 
is  the  periodical  vi- 
sits of  immense 
flights  of  locusts. 
They  are  common 
to  nearly  all  eastern 
countries, and  work 
their  ruin  by  the 
sheer  power  of 
numbers.  The 
Bushmen  eat  them, 
and  consider  them 
a  great  delicacy; 
but  the  ruin  they 
effect  is  something 
■dreadful  to  think  of  In  one  of  these  periodical  visits,  we  are  told,  the 
sun  at  midday  was  quite  darkened  by  their  flight,  and  the  whole  country 
for  miles  was  covered  by  them.  When  they  alighted  upon  the  ground, 
they  lay  there  ten  and  twelve  inches  deep ;  if  disturbed,  they  arose  in 
such  dense  clouds  as  to  prevent  any  one  moving  forward  through  them 
without  the  face  and  eyes  being  endangered.  Wherever  they  alight, 
all  the  vegetation  disappears — leaves,  vegetables,  fruit  and  corn — leav- 
ing nothing  but  desolation  behind.  Whenever  they  are  seen  approach- 
ing, the  Kaffirs  light  large  fires  in  all  directions,  so  that  the  heat  and 
smoke  may  make  them  pass  on.  Horses,  dogs,  cats,  and  poultry  eat 
them  with  avidity,  while  the  Bushmen  collect  and  save  them  in  large 
quantities ;  grinding  them  between  two  stones  into  a  kind  of  meal. 


THE    LOCUSTS. 


NORTH    AND    riOUTH    AFRICA. 


193 


they  mix  with  them  fat  and  grease,  and  then  bake  them  in  cakes,  and 
upon  these  they  hve  for  months  together.  The  Kaffirs  dread  the 
approach  of  the  locusts,  but  the  Bushmen  hail  their  appearance  by 
clapping  of  hands,  leaping,  and  every  manifestation  of  joy. 

A  valuable  export  from  the  Transvaal  consists  of  ostrich  feathers. 
Vast  quantities  are  annually  sent  to  England,  and  to  supply  the  demand 
thousands  and  tens  of  thousands  of  these  birds  fall  victims  to  the 
hunters.  Both  in  the  Cape  Colony,  Transvaal,  and  the  Orange  Free 
State  one  of  the  most  singular  enterprises  is  that  of  ostrich  farming. 
The  idea  appears  to  have  been  borrowed  from  the  French,  who  tried  it 
in  Algeria.      All  ov'er  the  several  colonies   are   now  seen  flocks  of 


"Zl-^i-f**^'' 


THE    OSTRICH. 


ostriches.  Farmers  buy  and  sell  them  as  they  do  sheep ;  fence  their 
flocks  in,  stable  them,  grow  crops  for  them,  study  their  habits,  and  cut 
their  feathers.  At  eight  months  old  the  birds  begin  to  feather,  and  their 
plumes  improve  in  value  with  each  season,  the  feather  being  nipped  or 
cut,  not  plucked,  as  they  come  to  maturity.  In  1874  no  less  than  one 
million  dollars'  worth  of  these  feathers  were  exported  from  Cape  Town. 
Although  ostriches  have  a  somewhat  stupid  look,  they  are  more  on 
the  alert  than  is  supposed.  Timid  in  their  wild  state,  domesticated  they 
are  bold  and  dangerous.  They  will  attack  a  man  without  any  provo- 
cation ;  raising  their  foot  and  striking  forward,  they  will  cut  your  clothes 
the  whole  length  of  the  stroke.  The  only  safe  plan  for  the  assailed  to 
13 


194 


WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 


pursue  is  to  lie  down  on  his  face;  the  bird  cannot  kick,  but  amuses 
itself  by  trampling-  all  over  you. 


The  African  lion,  however,  is  not  always  so  tender  of  his  prey. 
The  Transvaal  has  been  called  the  paradise  of  the  hunter,  where 
game  of  all  sorts  and  in  vast  profusion  is  found — zebras,  the  spring- 


NORTH  AND  SOUTH  AFRICA.  195 

bock,  the  steinbock,  gnus,  and  others  too  numerous  to  mention,  beasts 
of  prey  as  well  as  inoffensive  creatures.  The  elephant,  rhinoceros, 
hippopotamus,  buffalo,  and  giraffe,  and  such  large  game,  have  retreated 
before  the  white  man  farther  into  the  interior.  The  lion  is  still  met 
with,  fierce  and  dauntless  as  ever,  although  seldom  attacking  man 
unless  disturbed  or  driven  by  hunger.  On  the  extreme  frontier  of  the 
Transvaal  flows  the  Limpopo  river,  beyond  which  was  the  scene  of 
Gordon  Cumming's  hunting  exploits,  of  which  aged  natives  still  talk 
Avith  wonder  and  admiration.  .  The  boomslang  tree  still  stands  with 
his  name  cut  deeply  in  the  bark,  and  that  of  other  African  hunters  as 
well.  It  was  while  encamped  beneath  this  tree,  that  his  faithful  driver, 
Hendrick,  was  seized  and  carried  off  by  a  lion.  He  had  arisen  in  the 
night  to  drive  in  a  wandering  ox,  and  lay  down  again  by  the  fire  with 
his  back  to  the  forest.  The  lion  had  evidently  watched  his  move- 
ments; for  no  sooner  had  he  resumed  his  position  by  the  fire  than  the 
brute  sprang  upon  him,  and  grappling  him  with  his  fearful  claws,  kept 
biting  him  on  the  breast  and  shoulders,  all  the  while  feeling  for  his 
neck,  which  when  he  succeeded  in  griping  he  at  once  dragged  him  into 
the  bush.  In  the  morning  search  was  made  for  the  unfortunate  driver, 
but  only  a  leg  and  fragments  of  clothes  were  found. 

DREADFUL  ENCOUNTER  WITH  AN  ELEPHANT. 

Hunting  large  game  is  not  unattended  with  danger;  the  ferocious 
beasts,  when  wounded,  turn  upon  their  assailants  with  sav^age  fury,  and 
the  hunter  has  need  of  all  his  coolness  and  presence  of  mind  to  avoid 
a  fatal  termination  to  his  sport.  We  have  a  very  graphic  instance  of 
this  in  the  case  of  Lieutenant  Moodie,  when  hunting  elephants  in 
Southern  Africa.  He  had  set  out  to  join  a  party  of  sportsmen,  when  he 
lost  his  way  in  the  jungle;  but  hearing  shots  at  some  distance  he  made 
for  the  spot,  when,  says  he,  I  was  suddenly  warned  of  approaching 
danger,  by  loud  cries  oVPassop  f — Look  out ! — coupled  with  my  name 
in  Dutch  and  English ;  and  at  the  same  moment  heard  the  crackling 
of  broken  branches,  produced  by  the  elephants  bursting  through  the 
wood,  and  the  tremendous  screams  of  their  wrathful  voices  resounding 
among  the  precipitous  banks.  Immediately  a  large  female,  accom- 
panied by  three  others  of  a  smaller  size,  issued  from  the  edge  of  the 
jungle  which  skirted  the  river  margin.  As  they  were  not  more  than 
two  hundred  yards  off,  and  were  proceeding  directly  toward  me,  I 
had  not  much  time  to  decide  on  my  motions.  Being  alone,  and  in  the 
middle  of  a  little  open  plain,  I  saw  that  I  must  inevitably  be  caught, 
should  I  fire  in  this  position  and  my  shot  not  take  effect.  I  therefore 
retreated  hastily  out  of  their  direct  path,  thinking  they  would  not 
observe  me,  until  I  should  find  a  better  opportunity  to  attack  them. 


NORTH  AND  SOUTH  AFRICA.  197 

But  ill  this  I  was  mistaken,  for,  on  lookini;  back,  I  perceived,  to  my 
disma\-,  that  they  had  left  their  former  course,  and  were  rapidly  pur- 
suing and  gaining  ground  on  me. 

Under  these  circumstances,  I  determined  to  reserve  my  fire  as  a 
last  resource;  and,  turning  off  at  right  angles  in  the  opposite  direction, 
I  made  for  the  banks  of  the  small  river,  with  a  view  to  take  refuge 
among  the  rocks  on  the  other  side,  where  I  shouM  have  been  safe. 
But  before  I  got  within  fifty  paces  of  the  river,  the  elephants  were 
within  twenty  paces  of  me,  the  large  female  in  the  middle,  and  the 
other  three  on  each  side  of  her,  apparently  with  the  intention  of 
making  sure  of  mc  ;  all  of  them  screaming  so  tremendously  that  I  was 
almost  stunned  with  the  noise.  I  immediately  turned  round,  cocked 
my  gun,  and  aimed  at  the  head  of  the  largest — the  female.  But  the 
gun,  unfortunately,  from  the  powder  being  damp,  hung  fire  till  I  was 
in  the  act  of  taking  it  from  my  shoulder,  when  it  went  off,  and  the 
ball  merely  grazed  the  side  of  her  head.  Halting  only  for  an  instant, 
the  animal  again  rushed  furiously  forward.  I  fell — I  cannot  say 
whether  struck  down  by  her  or  not.  She  then  caught  me  with  her  trunk 
by  the  middle,  threw  me  beneath  her  forefeet,  and  knocked  me  about 
between  them  for  a  little  space.  I  was  scarcely  in  a  condition  to 
compute  the  number  of  minutes  very  accurately.  Once  she  pressed 
her  foot  on  my  chest  with  such  force  that  I  actually  felt  the  bones,  as 
it  were,  bending  under  the  weight;  and  once  she  trod  on  the  middle 
of  my  arm,  which  fortunately  lay  flat  on  the  ground  at  the  time. 
During  this  rough  handling,  however,  I  never  entirely  lost  my  recol- 
lection, else  I  have  little  doubt  she  would  have  settled  my  accounts 
with  this  world.  Rut  owing  to  the  roundness  of  her  foot,  I  generally 
managed,  by  twisting  my  body  and  limbs,  to  escape  her  direct  tread. 

While  I  was  still  undergoing  this  buffeting,  Lieutenant  Chisholm, 
and  Diederik,  a  Hottentot,  had  come  up,  and  fired  several  shots  at 
her,  one  of  which  hit  her  in  the  shoulder ;  and  at  the  same  time,  her 
companions,  or  young  ones,  retiring,  and  screaming  to  her  from  the 
edge  of  the  forest,  she  reluctantly  left  me,  giving  me  a  cuff  or  two 
with  her  hind  feet  in  passing.  I  got  up,  picked  up  my  gun,  and  stag- 
gered away  as  fast  as  my  aching  bones  would  allow ;  but  observing 
that  she  turned  round,  and  looked  back  toward  me  before  entering 
the  bush,  1  lay  down  in  the  long  grass,  by  which  means  I  escaped  her 
observation. 

On  reaching  the  top  of  the  high  bank  of  the  river,  I  met  my  brother, 
who  had  not  been  at  this  day's  hunt,  but  had  run  out  on  being  told 
by  one  of  the  men  that  he  had  seen  me  killed.  He  was  not  a  little 
surprised  at  meeting  me  alone,  and  in  a  whole  skin,  though  plastered 


198  WONDERS    OF    EXPLORATION    AND    ADVENTURE. 

with  mud  from  head  to  foot.  While  we  were  talking  of  my  adven- 
ture, an  unlucky  soldier  attracted  the  attention  of  a  large  male  ele- 
phant, which  had  been  driven  toward  the  village.  The  ferocious 
animal  gave  chase,  and  caught  him  immediately  under  the  height 
where  we  were  standing,  carried  him  some  distance  in  his  trunk,  then 
threw  him  down,  and,  bringing  his  four  feet  together,  trod  and  stamped 
upon  him  for  a  considerable  time,  till  he  was  quite  dead.  Leaving 
the  corpse  for  a  little,  he  again  returned,  as  if  to  make  quite  sure  of  his 
destruction,  and,  kneeling  down,  crushed  and  kneaded  the  body  with 
his  forelegs.  Then,  seizing  it  again  with  his  trunk,  he  carried  it  to 
the  edge  of  the  jungle,  and  threw  it  among  the  bushes.  While  this 
tragedy  was  going  on,  my  brother  and  I  scrambled  down  the  bank 
as  far  as  we  could,  and  fired  at  the  frenzied  creature  ;  but  we  were  at 
too  great  a  distance  to  be  of  any  service  to  the  unfortunate  man,  who 
was  crushed  almost  to  a  jelly. 

Most  of  the  settlers  in  the  Transvaal  are  noted  hunters  and  splendid 
shots.  The  particular  game  they  chiefly  search  after  is  the  buffalo,  a 
more  dangerous  beast  than  is  generally  supposed,  for  he  is  as  cun- 
ning as  a  fox,  as  stealthy  as  a  cat,  almost  as  swift  as  a  horse.  He 
never  knows  when  he  is  beaten  ;  for  riddle  him  with  bullets,  he  will 
still  charge  you,  and  show'fight,  until  some  lucky  shot  touches  him 
in  a  vital  part.  When  Mr.  Parker  Gillmore  was  once  on  the  trail  of 
the  elephant,  five  buffaloes  charged  right  into  the  mid.st  of  his  men. 
His  own  horse  jumped  over  a  bush  and  placed  him  in  safety;  but 
when  he  turned  round  to  see  what  mischief  had  been  done,  he  saw 
one  poor  fellow  turning  a  somersault  in  the  air,  and  another  hanging 
by  his  hands  from  the  branch  of  a  tree,  beneath  which  an  infuriated 
animal  was  vainly  charging  backward  and  forward  at  him. 


CHAPTER   VII. 


WONDERS   OF   CHINA. 


The  Great  Wall — Pekin — Pagodas — Chinese  Mottoes  and  Signs — Curious  Conveyances- 
Puppet  Shows — Imperial  Navy — Temples  and  Idols — Veneration  for  the  Aged — Won- 
derful Porcelain  Tower — Vases  and  Screens — Small  Feet  of  Chinese  Ladies — Social 
Customs — Dinner  to  General  Grant — Chinese  Wedding — Dress — Treat- 
ment of  Criminals — Punishment  by  Decapitation. 

NE  of  the  early  emperors  of  China  devised  a  way  for 
defending  his  dominions  from  the  Tartars,  who  were 
making  constant  inroads,  and  waging  a  relentless  war- 
fare. He  erected  a  great  wall  along  the  whole  extent 
of  the  northern  frontier  of  China,  of  very  great  height, 
thickness,  and  strength,  made  of  two  walls  of  brick 
many  feet  apart,  the  space  between  them  being,  for  half 
the  length  of  the  wall,  filled  up  with  earth,  and  the 
other  half  with  gravel  and  rubbish.  On  it  were  square 
towers,  which  were  erected  at  about  a  hundred  yards' 
distance  from  one  another.  Some  say  this  wall  extended  one  thousand 
five  hundred  miles  from  the  sea  to  the  most  western  provinces  of  Shen- 
si ;  the  best  authorities  pronounce  it  to  be  one  thousand  two  hundred 
and  fifty  miles  in  length.  It  was  carried  over  mountains  and  across 
rivers.  Six  horsemen  could  ride  abreast  upon  it.  But  there  was  great 
cruelty  practiced  in  its  construction,  for  the  Emperor  obliged  every 
third  laboring  man  in  the  kingdom  to  work  at  this  wall  without 
payment.  It  took  five  years  to  finish,  and  has  now  existed  for  more 
than  two  thousand  years. 

The  material  in  the  Great  Wall,  including  the  earth  in  the  middle 
of  it,  is  said  to  be  more  than  enough  to  surround  the  world  with  two 
walls  six  feet  high  and  two  feet  thick.  Guards  are  stationed  in  the 
strong  towers  by  which  the  wall  is  fortified  ;  every  important  pass 
having  a  strong  fortress.  The  height  of  the  wall  is  about  twenty  feet ; 
and  there  are  steps  of  brick  and  stone  for  men  on  foot  to  ascend,  and 
slanting  places  for  cavalry. 

In  addition  to  the  Great  Wall,  China  can  boast  of  the  most  remark- 
able city  in  Asia.  Pekin  ranks  as  the  second  city  in  the  world,  only 
London  having  more  inhabitants,  Paris  about  the  same  number.    There 

are  about  two  million  inhabitants.     As  Pekin  was  built  many  centu- 

199 


200  WONDERS    OF    EXPLORATION    AND    ADVENTURE. 

ries  before  the  Christian  era,  it  is  a  very  old  city.  The  name  means 
Court  of  the  North.  After  the  conquest  by  the  Tartars  of  the  kingdom 
of  Yen,  of  which  Pekin  was  the  capital,  it  became  only  a  provincial 
town,  when,  at  the  beginning  of  the  fifteenth  centuiy,  it  was  again 
made  the  capital  of  China.  The  Chinese  sovereigns  used  to  live  at 
Nankin,  but  when  the  Tartars  had  so  often  invaded  the  country,  they 
removed  to  the  northern  province,  to  enable  them  the  more  easily  to 
keep  out  the  invaders. 

Pekin  is  situated  in  a  large  sandy  plain  on  a  small  tributary  of  the 
river  Peiho.  This  city  is  again  divided  into  the  Chinese  and  Tartar 
cities,  the  Imperial  city,  in  which  live  the  emperor  and  his  retainers, 
and  another  in  which  the  court  officials  have  their  residence.  Like 
all  other  Chinese  cities,  they  are  surrounded  by  high  walls.  At  the 
north,  south,  east,  and  west  sides  of  towns  are  large  folding-gates, 
which  are  often  further  secured  by  three  inner  gates.  The  one  in  the 
south  is  that  of  honor,  through  which  the  emperor  passes,  but  which 
is  usually  kept  closed  at  other  times. 

DEFENSES    OF    THE    GREAT    CITY. 

The  wall  of  Pekin,  which  is  sixteen  miles  round,  has  two  gates  on 
three  sides  and  three  on  the  other,  of  which  the  principal  is  Chean- 
Mun,  at  the  south  of  the  Tartar  city.  Over  the  gate  is  a  building 
occupied  by  soldiers,  who  are  there  for  purposes  of  defense.  The 
streets  in  Pekin  are  very  broad.  They  are  raised  in  the  centre,  and 
covered  with  a  kind  of  stone,  to  form  a  smooth,  hard  surface.  In 
summer  they  are  often  very  dusty,  and  during  the  rainy  seasons  very 
dirty.  At  the  end  of  each  street  is  a  wooden  barrier,  which  is  guarded 
day  and  night  by  soldiers.  The  barrier  is  closed  at  nine  o'clock  at 
night,  after  which  time  the  Chinese  are  only  allowed  to  pass  through 
if  they  have  a  very  good  rcasoil  to  give  for  being  out  so  late.  Order 
is  well  kept  in  the  streets  of  Pekin  by  the  soldiers  and  police,  who 
may  use  their  whips  on  troublesome  customers  whenever  they  think 
it  necessary  to  do  so. 

The  principal  streets,  or  main  thoroughfares,  extending  from  one 
end  of  the  city  to  the  other,  are  its  only  outlets.  Trees  grow  in 
several  of  these  streets.  Houses  in  which  the  inhabitants  live,  are  in 
smaller  streets  or  lanes,  the  houses  themselves  being  often  shut  in  by 
walls.  Pagodas  (temples  to  the  gods,  built  in  the  form  of  towers), 
monasteries,  and  churchyards,  are  all  outside  of  the  walls,  and  the  city 
itself  is  principally  kept  for  purposes  of  commerce. 

There  is  a  great  noise  in  some  of  the  streets,  for  instance  in  the 
Hata-mene-ta-kie,  where  many  people  are  to  be  seen  bustling  about 
and  talking  very  loudly  to  one  another.     Tents  are  here  put  up  in 


202  WONDERS    OF    EXPLORATION   AND    ADVENTURE. 

which  rice,  fruit,  and  other  things  are  sold,  and  any  one  wishing  for  a 
pretty  substantial  meal  can  be  supplied  with  it,  for  before  stoves  stand 
the  vendors  of  such  meals,  who  have  cooked  them  ready  for  purchasers. 
Other  tradesmen  carry  hampers,  slung  across  their  shoulders,  in  which 
they  keep  their  goods,  calling  out,  from  time  to  time,  to  let  people 
know  what  these  hampers  contain.  Carts,  horses,  mules,  wheel- 
barrows, and  sedan-chairs  pass  along,  the  whole  place  seeming  to  be 
alive  with  buyers  and  sellers.  The  cobbler  is  sure  to  be  somewhere 
close  at  hand  in  his  movable  workshop,  and  first  here  and  then 
there,  as  may  best  suit  himself  and  employers,  the  blacksmith  pitches 
his  tent,  which  sometimes  consists  of  a  large  umbrella;  whilst,  again, 
people  can  refresh  themselves,  if  they  do  not  care  for  a  heavier  meal, 
with  some  soup  or  a  patty  at  a  soup  stall. 

And  the  barber  does  not  forget  that  he  is  a  very  useful  person. 
There,  in  the  open  streets,  he  communicates,  by  the  tinkling  of  a  little 
bell,  the  fact  that  he  is  ready  to  shave  the  heads  and  arrange  the  cues 
or  pig-tails  of  those  who  may  require  his  services;  and  as  one  man 
after  another  takes  the  seat  that  is  ready  for  him,  the  barber  not  only 
shaves  and  plaits,  but  also  frequently  paints  his  customers  eyebrows 
and  gives  his  clothes  a  brush. 

After  the  Chinese  were  conquered  by  the  Tartars  they  were  obliged  to 
wear  the  pig-tail,  to  show  that  they  were  in  subjection  to  their  conque- 
rors; but  now  the  pig-tail  is  held  in  honor,  and  the  longer  it  will  grow 
the  better  pleased  is  the  Chinese  gentleman  who  wears  it.  Some  very 
bad  criminals  l^ave  their  hair  cut  off  as  a  great  punishment  and  disgrace. 

Most  of  the  shops  in  China  are  quite  open  in  front;  but  in  Pekin 
many  have  glass  windows.  In  China  there  are  certain  streets  for 
certain  shops,  where  the  different  branches  of  trade  have  generally 
their  own  sides  of  the  road.  A  shop  is  called  a  hong.  Sometimes 
the  master  sits  outside,  waiting  for  his  customers  to  arrive.  At  the 
door  of  each  hong  are  sign-boards,  upon  which  are  painted  in  gold,  or 
colored  letters,  a  motto  instead  of  a  name,  and  what  the  shop  offers  for 
sale.     A  motto  often  seen  contains  the  following  words: 

Teen 

Fung  Yee  Poo 

Seih  Shun         Tian 

Teen 

The  four  largest  characters,  which  form  the  motto,  may  be  taken 
to  signify  that  "  Heaven  favors  the  prudent."  The  other  smaller  char- 
acters designate  the  nature  of  the  business,  a  cushion  and  matting 
manufactory;  the  last  character,  without  which  no  sign-board  is  com- 
plete, meaning  shop  or  factory. 


A    CHINESE  PAGODA. 


203 


204  WONDERS    OF    EXPLORATION    AND    ADVENTURE. 

In  China  may  be  seen  both  shut  and  open  carts,  the  latter  being^ 
used  as  carriages.  Those  in  common  use  are  made  of  wood,  the 
body  of  the  cart  resting  on  an  axle-tree,  supported  by  the  wheels. 
Horses  and  mules  are  very  little  used  in  China,  except  for  traveling 
and  for  conveying  luggage  long  distances.  Horses  and  ponies  require 
very  little  guiding.  Sometimes  they  go  without  reins,  when  their 
masters  will  perhaps  walk  beside  them,  carrying  a  whip.  There  may 
also  be  seen  very  polite  drivers,  who,  whenever  the)'  meet  a  friend, 
jump  off  their  carts,  and  walk  on  foot  to  pass  one  another.  Govern- 
ment servants  generally  use  ponies,  but  as  China  is  so  densely  popu- 
lated— having,  it  has  been  estimated,  about  four  hundred  million 
inhabitants,  and  people  find  it  so  hard  to  obtain  enough  to  support 
themselves  and  families — they  keep  as  few  beasts  of  burden  as  pos- 
sible. The  farmer  employs  the  bullock  a  great  deal,  and  in  the  north 
of  China  the  camel  is  also  much  used.  Much  trade  is  carried  on  by 
boats,  and  where  there  is  no  water,  and  farmers  are  without  other 
conveyances,  they  will  sometimes  push  their  wives  along  the  roads  in 
wheel-barrows,  sons  giving  their  parents  similar  drives.  In  many 
parts  of  China  there  are  few  carriage  roads.  The  Chinese  have  all 
kinds  of  boats  for  use  on  their  rivers,  A  junk  has  sails  like  butter- 
flie's  wings.  But  the  kites  made  by  the  Chinese  are  very  curious. 
They  are  like  birds,  insects,  animals,  clusters  of  birds,  gods  on  clouds : 
all  kinds  of  things,  in  fact,  are  represented  by  these  kites,  which  the 
Chinese  are  most  clever  in  making,  and  also  in  flying.  Old  men, 
seventy  years  of  age,  may  be  seen  thoroughly  enjoying  flying  their 
kites.  The  Chinese  do  not  care  much  for  our  favorite  games.  They 
are  very  fond  of  battledore  and  shuttlecock,  but  instead  of  using  a 
battledore,  they  hit  the  shuttlecock  with  their  heads,  elbows,  or  feet. 
Seven  or  eight  children  play  together,  and  nearly  always  aim  the 
shuttlecock  rightly.  Girls  play  at  this  game  too,  in  spite  of  their 
small  feet.  Tops,  balls,  see-saws  and  quoits  are  also  favorite  toys  and 
games  among  the  Chinese. 

Puppet  shows  they  exhibit  in  the  streets,  amusing  the  spectators. 
The  pictures  in  these  shows  are  exhibited  by  means  of  strings,  which 
are  either  worked  from  behind  or  from  above  the  stand,  and  as  the 
people  look  through  a  glass,  the  views  are  displayed  to  them.  A  man 
standing  at  the  side  calls  out  loudly,  and  beats  a  little  gong  to  sum- 
mon people  to  attend  the  show. 

In  winter  the  people  of  China  sleep  on  kangs  to  keep  themselves 
warm.  The  kang  consists  of  a  platform  built  of  brick,  so  much 
larger  than  a  bed  that  several  people  can  sleep  on  it  at  once.  A  kind 
of  tunnel  passes  through   the  platform,  which   has  a  chimney  at  one 


WONDERS    OF    CHINA. 


205 


end,  while  at  the  other  end,  a  httle  while  before  bed-time,  a  small 
quantity  of  dry  fuel  is  set  on  fire,  when  the  flame  passes  through  the 
tunnel  and  out  of  the  chimney.  In  this  way  the  kang  is  warmed, 
when  felt  matting  is  put  upon  it  The  covering  is  a  kind  of  cotton- 
wool counterpane,  is  light,  at  the  same  time  affording  comfort. 

The   Imperial   Chinese   Navy  is   divided    into   river  and   sea-going 


INTERIOR  OF  A  CHINESE  TEMPLE,  SHOWING  THEIR  IDOLS. 

■vessels,  the  full  complement  consisting  of  nearly  two  thousand  of  the 
former,  and  one  thousand  of  the  latter,  with  abtuit  two  hundred  thousand 
sailors.  Ships  generally  fly  a  flag  at  the  main,  on  which  red  lines  are 
drawn,  or  sometimes  a  tri-color  is  hoisted  there  instead.  Red  would 
be  for  safety,  as  this  is  the  lucky  color  of  the  Chinese.     At  the  stern 


206         WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATIONS  AND  ADVENTTRE. 

of  the  vessel  may  be  seen  the  name  of  the  official  who  directs  and 
superintends  the  ship. 

As  to  religion  most  of  the  Chinese  are  either  Confucianists,  Buddhists, 
or  Taouists,  although  there  are  also  Jews  and  Mahometans  amongst 
them.  At  one  time  it  is  supposed  the  people  of  China  worshipped  in 
much  the  same  manner  as  did  the  Hebrew  patriarchs.  But  mixing 
with  this  an  idolatrous  worship  of  departed  ancestors,  they  nearly 
lost  sight  of  Wang-teen,  the  Supreme  Ruler. 

About  the  latter  half  of  the  sixth  century  before  Christ,  Confucius, 
a  great  and  clev^er  philosopher  of  China,  who  was  born  551  B.C.,  wrote 
and  put  together  books  that  held  very  moral  and  good  maxims,  after- 
wards called  "  The  Classics."  He  taught  that  men  must  always  be 
obedient  to  those  to  whom  they  are  in  subjection :  people  to  prince, 
child  to  parent,  filial  piety  being  enforced  before  every  other  duty. 
He  was  very  anxious  to  improve  the  manners  of  the  people ;  but 
women  he  ranked  very  low.  Confucianism  is  more  a  philosophy  than 
a  religion.  Its  followers  have  no  particular  form  of  worship,  and  no 
priesthood.  The  Pearly  Emperor,  Supreme  Ruler,  is  their  deity,  but 
worship  is  seldom  offered  to  him,  and  then  only  by  a  few.  Although 
Confucius  disapproved  very  much  of  idols,  after  he  was  dead  many  of 
his  followers  worshipped  him. 

CURIOUS    RELIGIOUS    BELIEFS    OF    THE    CHINESE. 

Confucianists  do  not  believe  in  a  future  state  of  rewaros  and 
punishments,  but  think  that  their  good  and  bad  deeds  will  be  rewarded 
here  by  riches  or  poverty,  long  or  short  life,  good  or  bad  health. 
Conscience  is  to  lead  people  aright,  and  tell  them  when  they  do  wrong. 
The  high  mandarins  and  literary  people  are  generally  Confucianists ; 
schoolboys  also  worship  an  idol  or  tablet  of  the  sage,  in  which  his 
spirit  is  supposed  to  dwell.  There  is  a  temple  to  the  honor  of  "  The 
Great  Teacher "  in  every  large  town ;  and  on  great  occasions,  and 
always  in  spring  and  autumn,  sacrifices  are  here  offered,  the  Emperor 
himself,  as  high  priest,  presiding  at  some  of  these  ceremonies. 

Mandarins  are  Chinese  officials,  of  which  there  are  many  grades, 
and  many  in  each  grade,  all  of  whom  are  paid  by  Government.  To 
every  province  there  is  a  viceroy,  to  every  city  a  governor,  and  to  the 
village  a  mandarin,  who  is  elected  to  rule  over  it  for  three  years;  and 
all  these,  again,  have  many  officers  under  them.  There  are  also  a 
great  many  military  mandarins.  A  great  mark  of  imperial  favor  is  to 
allow  mandarins,  civil  or  military,  to  wear  a  peacock's  feather  in  their 
caps,  which  hangs  down  over  the  back,  and  the  ball  placed  on  the  top 
shows,  by  its  color  and  material,  the  rank  of  the  wearer.  Soldiers 
fighting  very  bravely  are  often  buoyed  up  with  the  hope  of  receiving 


CHINESE  MANDARIN  AND  HIS  BRIDE. 


207 


208  WONDERS    OF    EXPLORATION    AND    ADVENTURE. 

one  of  these  feathers.  Mandarins,  who  stand  in  a  sort  of  fatherly- 
relationship  toward  their  people,  although  they  do  not  always  behave 
like  fathers  toward  them,  look  for  implicit  obedience  from  them.  Man- 
darins who  are  in  high  office,  wear  a  long,  loose  robe  of  blue  silk, 
embroidered  with  gold  threads.  This  reaches  to  their  ankles,  being 
fastened  round  their  waists  with  a  belt.  Over  this  is  a  violet  tunic, 
coming  just  below  the  knees,  which  have  very  wide,  long  sleeves, 
usually  worn  turned  back,  but  if  not,  hanging  over  the  hands.  The 
Buddhism  of  China  is  not  at  all  the  pure  Buddhism,  and  has  been 
much  corrupted  by  its  professors.  The  founder  was  an  Indian  prince, 
of  beautiful  character,  born  620  B.C.,  and  called  Shakyamuni  Buddha, 
who  left  wealth  and  luxury  to  go  about  relieving  suffering  wherever 
he  found  it.  After  he  died  his  followers  believed  that  he  was  trans- 
formed into  a  god,  having  three  different  forms. 

A    GREAT    VARIETY    OF    DEITIES. 

Some  of  the  gods  are  a  god  of  rain;  a  god  of  wind;  a  god  of 
thunder;  a  god  of  wealth,  the  latter  worshiped  very  much  by  trades- 
men; a  god  of  thieves;  a  goddess  of  thunder;  a  guardian  goddess  of 
women  and  little  children,  called  Kum-fa,  whose  ten  attendants  watch 
over  children,  helping  them  to  eat,  and  teaching  them  to  smile  and 
walk;  a  god  of  wine;  a  god  of  fire;  a  goddess  of  mercy;  a  goddess 
of  sailors;  a  goddess  of  children,  called  "Mother;"  a  god  of  the 
kitchen  ;  a  god  of  measles;  a  god  of  small-pox.  Then  the  Confucian- 
ists  worship  two  stars,  who  are  supposed  to  look  after  literature  and 
drawing,  the  former  called  the  god  of  literature.  And  besides  house- 
hold gods  belonging  to  every  family,  there  is  a  god  of  the  passing 
year,  and  numerous  others.     Many  of  the  gods  are  deified  persons. 

There  is  another  form  of  Buddhism,  called  Lamaism,  and  this, 
though  it  prevails  principally  in  Thibet  and  Mongolia,  has  also  its 
followers  in  Pekin.  The  Great  Lama,  or  Living  Buddha,  is  the  head 
of  this.  His  soul  is  said  never  to  die ;  therefore,  when  he  dies  it  is 
supposed  to  pass  into  an  infant  whom  the  priests  select  by  a  likeness 
that  they  trace  to  the  late  Lama.  In  the  centre  of  a  Lama  temple 
facing  the  worshipers,  is  a  very  large  idol  of  Buddha.  To  the  right 
and  left  of  the  temple  are  smaller  idols.  Some  gods  in  temples  do  not 
receive  worship,  but  guard  the  doors.  Incense  is  burning  in  front; 
the  high  priest,  to  the  right,  is  lifting  up  his  hands  in  adoration,  whilst 
the  people  offer  scented  rods  and  tapers  to  Buddha.  As  they  light 
their  offerings  they  kow-tow,  or  hit  their  heads  upon  the  floor.  This 
is  the  Chinese  way  of  reverent,  respectful  salutation.  The  devotees 
are  grouped  fn  squares. 

The  Sun  and  Moon  are  also  worshiped.    At  Pekin  there  is  a  temple 


210  WONDERS    OF    EXPLORATION    AND    ADTENTUR^l 

of  the  Moon.  On  the  day  of  the  autumnal  equinox,  at  six  o'clock  in 
the  evening,  a  very  solemn  sacrifice  is  offered,  and  the  great  ladies 
of  the  capital  meet  to  burn  tapers.  This  temple  is  approached  by 
a  long  avenue  of  beautiful  trees.  The  building  is  large  ;  but  more 
women  than  men  come  to  attend  the  ceremonies. 

The  more  enlightened  heathen  only  regard  their  idols  as  represen- 
tations of  the  Deity  they  are  feeling  after,  but  many  of  the  simpler 
sort,  in  different  degrees,  regard  their  idols  with  great  religious  awe. 
Then,  many  Chinamen,  again,  often  seem  to  have  no  religion  at  all. 
Confucius  having  for  nearly  twenty  centuries  held  such  a  sway  over 
the  minds  of  the  Chinese,  they  do  not  care  to  listen  to  new  teachers. 
They  had  a  literature  seven  hundred  years  before  Christ. 

REMARKABLE    VENERATION    FOR    THE    AGED. 

The  sacred  regard  which  Chinese  pay  to  the  claims  of  kindred, 
secures  to  the  patriarchs  of  respectable  families  ample  support  in  the 
advanced  and  helpless  stage  of  their  pilgrimage ;  and  charity  often 
relieves  poor  septuagenarians  whose  relations  may  be  unable  to  supply 
them  with  comforts  or  necessaries  at  their  mature  age.  In  China  one's 
feelings  are  not  harrowed  with  the  sad  spectacle  of  an  aged  parent 
discarded  by  his  children,  and  left  to  perish,  unattended  and  unnursed, 
under  a  scorching  sun,  or  on  the  banks  of  a  rolling  river.  But  you 
will  see  the  tottering  senior,  man  or  woman,  who  has  not  the  means  to 
hire  a  sedan,  led  through  the  alle}'s  and  streets  by  a  son  or  a  grand- 
child, commanding  the  spontaneous  respect  of  each  passer-by,  the 
homage  of  every  junior. 

The  deference  of  the  public  to  the  extreme  sections  of  old  age  is 
manifest  likewise  from  the  tablets  and  monuments  you  may  any  day 
stumble  upon,  that  have  been  erected  by  public  subscription  to' 
the  memory  of  octogenarians,  nonagenarians,  and  centenarians.  Nor 
is  the  government  backward  in  encouraging  this,  but  the  reverse. 
Hence  may  often  be  seen  very  aged  men  and  women  in  the  streets, 
arrayed  in  yellow,  that  is,  imperial,  robes,  the  gift  of  the  emperor,  in 
mark  of  honor,  and  out  of  respect  to  their  gray  hairs.  The  reader 
will  remember  that  an  honorary  degree  is  given  to  competitors  who 
have  reached  an  advanced  age,  a  kind  of  prize  for  long  life. 

On  one  occasion,  the  emperor  called  together  about  four  thousand 
old  men  at  his  palace,  entertained  them  with  a  banquet,  at  which  they 
were  served  by  his  own  children  and  grandchildren,  presented  each 
of  them  with  money  and  a  yellow  robe,  and  conferred  upon  the  oldest 
of  the  assembly,  a  man  aged  one  hundred  and  eleven  years,  the  rank 
and  dress  of  a  mandarin,  to  reward  him  for  being  so  old. 

In  every  town   or  village,  the  oldest  persons  are  treated  with  the 


WONDERS    OF    CHINA.  211 

greatest  consideration,  not  on  account  of  their  rank  or  wealth,  but  of 
their  age.  Every  one  gives  way  to  them,  they  have  the  best  places  in 
the  theatres,  are  brought  forward  at  every  public  spectacle,  and  are 
indulged  in  every  possible  way.  Such  has  been  the  custom  from  time 
immemorial  in  this  great  nation,  which  was  civilized  when  the  inhabi- 
tants of  England  were  naked  savages.  The  oldest  civilized  nation  in 
the  world,  the>-  have  honored  their  fathers  and  their  mothers,  and  their 
days  have  been  long  in  the  land. 

Parents  are  very  particular  as  to  their  choice  of  a  schoolmaster,  who 
must  be  considered  good,  as  well  as  able  to  teach;  and  to  qualify  him- 
self the  master  must,  of  course,  know  the  doctrines  of  the  ancient 
sages.  After  all  has  been  settled  for  a  boy  to  go  to  school,  the  parents 
always  invite  the  schoolmaster  to  a  dinner,  given  expressly  for  him. 
Then  a  fortune-teller  is  asked  to  decide  upon  a  "  lucky"  day  for  the 
boy  to  make  his  first  appearance  at  school,  when  he  takes  the  tutor  a 
present.  No  boy  ever  goes  to  school  first  on  the  anniversary  of  the 
da}'  on  which  Confucius  died  or  was  buried.  On  entering  school,  he 
turns  to  the  shrine  of  Confucius — an  altar  erected  to  his  honor  in  every 
school — and  worships  him,  after  which  he  salutes  his  teacher  very 
respectfully,  hears  what  he  has  to  do,  and  goes  to  his  desk. 

At  the  new  year  and  in  the  autumn  there  are  always  holidays,  but 
children  also  go  home  to  keep  all  religious  festivals,  to  celebrate  the 
birthdays  of  parents  and  grandparents,  to  worship  their  tablets,  and  at 
the  tombs  of  ancestors.  Children  are  very  much  punished  in  China 
when  they  break  school-rules.  Perhaps  the  punishment  they  fear  most 
is  to  be  beaten  with  a  broom,  because  they  think  this  may  make  them 
unlucky  for  the  rest  of  their  lives. 

ELEGANT    ARCHITECTURE. 

The  architecture  of  China,  as  would  naturally  be  supposed,  is  of  a 
light  order,  and  suited  to  a  warm  climate.  Many  buildings  are  highly 
ornamented,  and  abound  with  elegant  carvings.  Great  care  and  pains 
are  bestowed  on  some  of  the  temples,  which  are  considered  very  beau- 
tiful and  imposing. 

Some  houses  are  very  large,  in  order  to  accommodate  several 
brahches  of  the  same  family,  who  often  live  together  in  different  parts 
of  them.  There  are  generally  three  doors  of  entrance  to  a  house,  of 
which  the  principal,  in  the  centre,  leads  to  the  reception  hall,  into 
which  visitors  are  shown.  The  walls  of  rooms  are  sometimes  hung 
with  white  silk  or  satin,  on  which  sentences  of  good  advice  are  written. 
All  sorts  of  beautiful  lanterns  hang  from  the  sitting-room  ceilings, 
sometimes  by  silk  cords.  The  furniture  consists  principally  of  chairs, 
tables,  pretty  screens  and  cabinets,  with  many  porcelain  ornaments. 


WONDERS    OF    CHINA.  213 

and  fans  are  very  numerous  in  a  Chinese  household.  Most  houses  have 
very  beautiful  gardens  ;  even  the  poor  try  to  have  their  houses  sur- 
rounded by  as  much  ground  as  possible.  Many  houses  also  have  ve- 
randas, where  the  Chinaman  likes  to  smoke  his  evening  pipe.  The 
custom-house  at  Shanghai  is  a  very  strange  and  beautiful  building, 
unlike  anything  to  be  seen  elsewhere,  and  the  town  is  adorned  with 
many  fine  residences.  At  some  cities  and  towns,  on  the  banks  of  rivers, 
floating  hotels  are  to  be  seen  ;  and  as  people  generally  have  to  travel 
by  water,  and  the  Chinese  are  not  allowed  to  keep  open  their  city-gates 
after  nine  o'clock  at  night,  these  hotels  prove  very  useful  to  those  arriv- 
ing too  late  to  enter  the  city.  Lighted  with  lanterns,  they  look  very 
pretty  floating  on  the  water,  and  are  generally  airy  and  cool. 

A    FAR    FAMED   TOWER. 

The  city  of  Nankin,  once  the  capital  of  China,  has  for  centuries  been 
famous  to  the  "  barbarians  "  of  the  outer  world  for  its  Porcelain  Tower 
— a  relic  of  the  splendor  of  its  ancient  days,  before  Pekin  usurped  its 
dignity  as  the  seat  of  empire.  The  place  is  now  to  a  great  extent  a 
city  of  ruins ;  its  palaces,  tombs  and  monuments  were  long  since  given 
over  to  decay,  and  the  wars  of  recent  years  have  greatly  increased  the 
general  dilapidation.  The  city  proper  has  shrunk  to  one-fourth  of  its 
former  dimensions,  the  present  population  inhabiting  its  inner  portion, 
while  the  memorials  of  past  magnificence  are  distributed  around  them. 
The  Porcelain  Tower  was  built  early  in  the  fifteenth  century  by  the  order 
of  the  P^mperor  Yung-loh,  and  as  a  work  of  filial  piety.  It  was  a 
monument  to  the  memory  of  his  mother;  and  he  determined  that  its 
beauty  should  as  far  outshine  that  of  any  similar  memorial,  as  the  tran- 
scendent virtues  of  the  parent,  in  her  son's  eyes,  surpassed  those  of  the 
rest  of  her  sex.  No  expense  was  spared  in  its  erection.  The  work 
was  commenced  at  noon  on  a  certain  day  in  141 3,  and  occupied  nearly 
twenty  years  in  its  completion.  An  idea  of  the  appearance  of  the 
Porcelain  Tower  is  given  by  our  description,  but  this  is  peculiarly  one 
of  the  instances  in  which  the  actual  sight  is  required  to  convey  an 
adequate  notion  of  the  magnificence  and  beauty  of  an  object.  The  total 
height  of  the  tower  was  more  than  two  hundred  feet,  and  it  was  faced 
from  top  to  bottom  with  the  finest  porcelain,  glazed  and  colored.  It 
consisted  of  nine  stories,  surmounted  by  a  spire,  on  the  summit  of  which 
was  a  ball  of  brass,  richly  gilt.  From  this  ball,  eight  iron  chains  ex- 
tended to  as  many  projecting  points  of  the  roof^  and  from  each  chain 
was  suspended  a  bell,  which  hung  over  the  face  of  the  tower.  The  same 
arrangement  was  carried  out  in  every  story.  These  bells  added  much 
to  the  graceful  appearance  of  the  tower,  breaking  its  otherwise  formal 
and  monotonous  outline.      Round  the  outer  face  of  each  story  were 


THE    WONDERFUL   PORCELAIN    TOWER. 


214 


WONDERS    OF    CHINA. 


215 


several  apertures  for  lanterns,  and  when  these  were  all  illuminated,  we 
are  told,  in  the  magniloquent  language  of  the  Chinese  historian,  that 
'•  their  light  illuminated  the  entire  heavens,  shining  into  the  hearts  of 
men,  and  eternally  removing  human  misery."  It  is  not  difficult  to 
imagine,  however,  that  the  appearance  of  the  tower  on  such  an  occasion 


EMBROIDERED    CHINESE   SCREEN. 

must  have  been  beautiful  in  the  extreme.  On  the  top  of  the  tower  were 
placed  two  large  brazen  vessels  and  a  bowl,  which  together  contained 
various  costly  articles,  in  the  nature  of  an  offering,  and  a  charm  to  avert 
evil  influences.  Among  these  were  several  pearls  of  various  colors, 
each  supposed  to  possess  miraculous  properties,  together  with  other 
precious  stones,  and  a  quantity  of  gold  and  silver.     In  this  collection, 


216  WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 

designed  to  represent  the  best  treasures  of  the  state,  were  also  placed 
a  box  of  tea,  some  pieces  of  silk,  and  copies  of  some  ancient  Chinese 
writings.  The  Chinese  historian  to  whom  we  have  alluded,  announced 
to  the  world,  in  the  simplicity  of  his  heart,  that  this  splendid  monument 
of  filial  gratitude  would  continue  to  endure  and  teach  its  lesson  for 
hundreds  of  generations.  But  alas !  for  human  foresight,  and  the 
stability  of  all  things  on  earth.  In  the  month  of  March,  1853,  the 
Taeping  rebels  took  Nankin,  and  sacked  the  place.  For  a  long  time 
they  appear  to  have  kept  their  destroying  hands  off  the  Porcelain  Tower; 
but  at  last — probably  to  wreak  full  vengeance  on  the  Imperialists — they 
demolished  it.  This  occurred  in  1856.  Since  that  time.  Nankin  has 
been  taken  and  retaken,  both  by  Imperialists  and  rebels,  but  the  city 
is  no  longer  adorned  with  that  famous  structure  which  was  truly  one  of 
the  wonders  of  the  world. 

FINE    FANCY    WORK. 

In  all  works  of  art  the  Chinese  excel,  having  a  style  peculiar  to 
themselves.  Their  porcelain,  or  "  China  ware,"  is  famed  throughout 
the  world,  and  no  better  material  of  this  description  was  ever  manufac- 
tured. The  Chinese  tea  sets  and  vases  are  transported  in  large 
quantities  and  find  a  ready  market  among  other  nations.  Great  skill  in 
embroidery  is  also  displayed,  the  coloring  and  design  being  especially 
admired.  All  kinds  of  figures,  particularly  those  of  birds,  are  used  in 
fancy  work,  and  also  in  the  manufacture  of  porcelain.  Chinese  screens 
may  be  seen,  with  costly  material  of  groundwork,  and  having  rich  de- 
signs representing  the  peacock,  the  bird  of  Paradise,  domestic  fowls, 
and  other  members  of  the  feathered  tribes.  These  are  not  found  alone 
in  the  houses  of  the  better  class ;  but,  as  the  Chinese  are  very  expert 
with  the  needle,  some  very  fine  specimens  of  embroidery  may  be  seen 
in  the  cottages  of  the  poorer  people,  who  seem  to  take  great  delight  in 
this  kind  of  decoration.  Rich  colors  are  blended  with  beauty  of 
design,  the  general  effect  is  studied,  and  thus  exquisite  pictures  are 
produced,  the  product  of  the  needle  and  the  brush. 

Raising  tea  has  long  been  one  of  the  principal  industries  of  China. 
The  tea-plant  yields  a  crop  after  it  has  been  planted  three  years,  and 
there  are  three  gatherings  during  the  year  :  one  in  the  middle  of  April, 
the  second  at  Midsummer,  and  the  third  in  September.  The  plant 
requires  very  careful  plucking,  only  one  leaf  being  allowed  to  be 
gathered  at  a  time  ;  and  then  a  tree  must  never  be  plucked  too  bare. 
Women  and  children,  who  are  generally,  though  not  always,  the  tea 
gatherers,  are  obliged  to  wash  their  hands  before  they  begin  their  work, 
and  have  to  understand  that  it  is  the  medium-sized  leaves  which  they 
are  to   pick,  leaving  the  larger  ones  to  gather  the  dew.     When    the 


WONDERS    OF    CHINA. 


217 


baskets  arc  full,  into 
which     the    leaves 
have  been  dropped, 
they     are      carried 
away    hanging     to 
a   bamboo    slung 
across    the   should- 
ers, which  is  a  very 
usual  way  of  carry- 
ing things  in  China. 
The  tea-plant  is  the 
most     important 
vegetable     produc- 
tion of  the  "  Flowery 
Land."     There   are 
several  kinds  of  tea, 
that  called  Congou 
being    prepared    as 
follows  :  The  leaves 
are  first  spread  out 
in    the  air    to    dry, 
after  which  they  are 
trodden  by  laborers, 
so    that    any  mois- 
ture    remaining    in 
them,     after     they 
have  been  exposed 
to  the   air    or    sun, 
may  be  pressed  out ; 
after  this    they  are 
again    heaped     to- 
gether, and  covered 
for    the  night   with 
cloths.      In     this 
state    they    remain 
all    night,    when    a 
strange  thing  hap- 
pens to  them,  spon- 
taneous    heating 
changing  the  green 
leaves   to  black  or 
brown. 


CHINESE    VASES. 

They  are  now  much  more  fragrant  and  the  taste  has  changed. 


218 


WONDERS    OF    EXPLORATION    AND    ADVENTURE. 


As  the  tea  must  now  be  carefully  made  ready  for  the  market, 
the  next  process  is  to  twist  and  crumple  the  leaves,  by  rubbing 
them  between  the  palms  of  the  hands.  In  this  crumpled  state  they  are 
again  put  in  the  sun,  or  if  the  day  be  wet,  or  the  sky  threatening,  they 
are  baked  over  a  charcoal  fire.  Leaves,  arranged  in  a  sieve,  are  placed 
in  the  middle  of  a  basket-frame,  over  a  grate  in  which  are  hot  embers 
of  charcoal.     After  some  one  has  so  stirred  the  leaves  that  they  have 


MEW    OF    TIEN-TSIN,    ONE    OF    THE    TEA    MARKETS. 

all  become  heated  alike,  they  are  ready  to  be  sold  to  proprietors  of 
tea-hongs  in  the  towns,  when  the  proprietor  has  the  leaves  again  put 
over  the  fire  and  sifted.  After  this,  women  and  girls  separate  all  the 
bad  leaves  and  stems  from  the  good  ones  ;  sitting,  in  order  to  do  so, 
with  baskets  of  leaves  before  them,  and  very  carefully  picking  out  with 
both  their  hands  all  the  bad  leaves  and  stems  that  the  sieve  has  not  got 
rid  of  The  light  and  useless  leaves  are  then  tlivided  from  those  that 
are  heavy  and  good,  when  the  good  are  put  into  boxes  lined  with  paper. 


WONDERS    OF    CHINA.  219 

Those  leaves  which  are  prepared  at  Canton  are  black  or  brown,  with 
a  slight  tinge  of  yellow  or  green.  The  tea-leaves  growing  on  an 
extensive  range  of  hills  in  the  district  of  Hokshan  are  often  forwarded 
to  Canton,  whence  they  are  exported.  This,  with  the  trade  from  other 
markets,  forms  an  important  part  of  the  commerce  of  the  world. 

Chinese  women  have  always  been  celebrated  for  their  diminutive  feet. 
This  was  long  regarded  as  a  national  peculiarity,  asserted  to  be  of  nat- 
ural growth,  and  has  thus  been  a  wonder  in  the  books  of  travelers  ;  but 
by  our  less  restricted  intercourse  with  China  the  secret  has  been  let  out. 
There  were  certain  small-footed  ladies  at  Hong-Kong  who  gained  a  very 
fair  livelihood  by  exhibiting  their  feet  to  sea-captains,  and  other  curious 
Europeans,  at  a  dollar  a  head,  and  the  evidence  satisfied  a  superficial 
examination  and  belief.  But  it  appears  that  in  the  missionary  schools 
may  be  seen  numbers  of  little  girls  whose  feet  are  in  the  various  stages 
of  torture,  as  narrated  by  a  visitor  who  had  the  opportunity  of  witness- 


DEFORMED    FEET    OF    CHINESE    LADIES. 

ing  what  he  has  well  described.  On  an  appointed  day  the  children 
were  all  seated  in  a  row,  and  their  feet,  which  had  undergone  a  prepar- 
atory washing,  were  unbound  by  their  mothers.  The  first  was  a  child 
two  years  old.  Her  penance  had  but  just  commenced.  When  the 
bandage  of  blue  cotton  was  taken  off  it  was  seen  that  the  great  toe  had 
been  left  untouched,  but  the  other  four  had  been  forced  down  under  the 
ball  of  the  foot,  and  closely  bound  in  that  position.  The  child,  there- 
fore, walked  upon  the  knuckle-joints  of  her  four  toes.  The  toes  were 
red  and  inflamed,  and  the  ligature  caused  evident  pain.  In  the  next 
three  children,  of  ages  advancing  at  small  intervals,  the  preparation  was 
only  to  the  same  extent ;  it  was  confined  to  the  four  toes.  Gradually, 
however,  these  four  toes,  according  to  the  continual  pressure,  lost  their 
articulation  and  identity  as  limbs,  and  became  amalgamated  with  the 
sole  of  the  foot.     In  the  eldest  of  the  four  the  redness  and  inflammation 


220  WONDERS    OF    EXPLORATION    AND   ADVENTURE. 

had  entirely  disappeared ;  the  foot  was  cool  and  painless,  and  appeared 
as  though  the  four  toes  had  been  cut  off  by  a  knife.  The  foot  was 
somewhat  of  the  shape  of  a  trowel. 

In  the  fifth  girl  was  seen  the  commencement  of  the  second  operation 
— a  torture  under  which  sickly  children  frequently  die.  The  sole  of 
the  foot  was  now  curved  into  the  shape  of  a  bow  :  the  great  toe  and  the 
heel  being  brought  together  as  near  as  possible.  This  is  done  very 
gradually.  The  bandage  is  never  slackened  ;  month  by  month  it  is 
drawn  tighter.  The  foot  inflames  and  swells,  but  the  mother  perseveres. 
As  the  bones  and  tendons  accommodate  themselves  to  the  position  con- 
strained by  the  bandage,  so  it  is  drawn  tighter.  At  last  the  ball  of  the 
natural  foot  fits  into  the  hollow  of  the  sole,  and  the  root  of  the  great 
toe  is  brought  into  contact  with  the  heel.  The  foot  is  a  shapeless  lump. 
The  instep  is  where  the  ankle  was,  and  all  that  is  left  to  go  into  the 
slipper  and  to  tread  the  ground  is  the  ball  of  the  great  toe  and  the  heel. 
This  is  the  small  foot  of  the  Chinese  woman  ;  a  bit  of  toe  and  a  bit  of 
heel,  with  a  mark  like  a  cicatrice  left  after  a  huge  cut,  running  up  be- 
tween them.  Two  of  the  girls  seen  by  the  narrator  were  yet  suffering 
great  pain,  and  their  feet  were  hot  and  inflamed,  but  in  the  eldest  the 
operation  was  complete.  She  had  attained  to  the  position  of  a  small- 
footed  woman,  and  her  feet  were  quite  cool,  had  no  corns,  and  were  not 
tender  to  the  touch.  One  of  the  mothers  solved  the  mystery.  Some- 
times, it  seems,  when  a  woman  is  expected  to  have  to  do  hard  work, 
her  toe  and  heel  are  not  drawn  together  so  as  to  produce  the  true 
"small  foot."  To  disguise  this  imperfection  upon  her  marriage  day  she 
has  recourse  to  art.  A  piece  of  cork,  shaped  like  an  inverted  sugarloaf, 
is  strapped  on  to  her  foot,  and  the  small  part  goes  into  her  slipper,  and 
passes  for  her  foot. 

HONORS  PAID  TO  GENERAL  GRANT. 

Some  of  the  social  customs  of  the  Chinese  may  be  learned  from  a 
description  of  a  grand  dinner  given  in  honor  of  General  Grant  during 
his  tour  round  the  world.  The  narrator  says  :  I  tried  to  pay  my  hosts 
the  compliment  of  using  the  chop-sticks.  They  are  about  the  size  of 
large  knitting  needles,  and,  in  the  hands  of  a  Chinaman,  useful  instru- 
ments. The  servants  twirled  them  all  over  the  table,  and  picked  up 
every  variety  of  food  with  sure  dexterity.  I  could  do  nothing  with 
them.  I  never  thought  I  had  so  large  fingers  as  when  I  tried  to  carry 
a  sweetmeat  from  one  dish  to  another  with  chopsticks.  The  food  was 
all  sweetmeats,  candied  fruit,  walnuts,  almonds,  ginger,  cocoanuts,  with 
cups  of  tea  and  wine.  The  Viceroy,  with  his  chopsticks,  helped  the 
General.  This  is  true  Chinese  courtesy  for  the  host  to  make  himself 
the  servant  of  his  riuest.     Then  came  a  service  of  wine — sweet   cham- 


WONDERS    OF   CHINA.  221 

pagne  and  sauterne — in  which  the  Viceroy  pledged  us  all,  bowing  to 
each  guest  as  he  drank.  Then,  again,  came  tea,  which,  in  China,  is  the 
signal  for  departure,  an  intimation  that  your  visit  is  over.  The  Viceroy 
and  party  arose  and  led  us  to  our  chairs.  Each  one  of  us  was  severally 
and  especially  saluted  as  we  entered  our  chairs,  and,  as  we  filed  off 
under  the  trees,  our  coolies  dangling  us  on  their  shoulders,  we  left  the 
Viceroy  and  his  whole  court,  with  rows  of  mandarins  and  far-extending 
lines  of  soldiers  in  an  attitude  of  devotion,  hands  held  together  toward 
the  forehead  and  heads  bent,  the  soldiers  with  arms  presented.  •  The 
music,  real,  banging,  gong-thumping,  Chinese  music,  broke  out,  twenty- 
one  guns  were  fired,  so  close  to  us  that  the  smoke  obscured  the  view, 
and  we  plunged  into  the  sea  of  life  through  which  we  had  floated,  and 
back  again,  through  one  of  the  most  wonderful  sights  I  have  ever 
seen — back  to  our  shady  home  in  the  American  Consulate. 

The  call  of  the  Chinese  officials  the  next  day  was  a  solemn  ceremony. 
Tlie  Viceroy  sent  word  that  he  would  come  at  ten.  Punctuality,  how- 
ever, is  not  an  Oriental  virtue,  and  ten  o'clock  had  passed  and  we  were 
sitting  on  the  piazza  looking  out  on  the  shipping  in  the  river,  when  the 
beating  of  gongs  gave  the  signal  of  the  coming  in  state. 

VISIT    FROM    A    POMPOUS    OFFICIAL. 

I  went  out  under  the  trees  to  see  the  procession,  at  the  risk  of  exciting 
remark  as  to  my  curiosity  from  the  crowd  of  Chinamen,  chair-bearers, 
attendants  and  others  who  were  standing  around  waiting  for  the  show. 
The  visitor  proved  to  be  the  Tartar  General,  and  he  came  in  the  most 
solemn  state.  First  came  the  gong-beaters,  who  beat  a  certain  number 
of  strokes  in  a  rapid  measure.  By  the  number  you  know  the  rank  of 
the  great  man.  Then  came  soldiers  carrying  banners  on  which  were 
inscribed  the  names  and  titles  of  the  commander.  There  was  a  marshal 
on  a  pony  who  seemed  to  command  the  escort.  There  were  soldiers 
carrying  spikes  and  spears  and  banners.  The  profusion  of  banners,  or 
more  properly  small  silk  pennants,  gave  the  procession  a  picturesque 
aspect,  and  the  waving,  straggling  line,  as  it  came  shambling  along 
under  the  trees,  was  quaint.  There  were  attendants  carrying  the  pipes 
and  teapots  of  the  great  man.  Four  coolies  carried  a  load  under  which 
they  staggered,  and  this,  I  was  told,  was  food.  It  is  the  custom  when 
a  great  man  goes  forth  to  carry  food  and  refreshment  for  himself  and 
party  and  to  give  as  largess  to  friends  on  the  way,  and  although  this 
General  was  only  making  a  morning  call,  he  showed  honor  to  our  party 
by  coming  in  as  much  .state  as  though  he  were  journeying  through  the 
country.  There  were  aids  in  chairs,  but  the  General  rode  in  a  green 
.state  chair,  the  blinds  closely  drawn.  I  noticed  that  there  was  no  drill 
or   discipline    in    the   procession — no    keeping  step.     It    shuffled  and 


222  WONDERS    OF    EXPLORATION    AND    ADVENTURE. 

Straggled  along,  the  gongs  beating  and  the  attendants  shouting  in 
chorus  to  clear  the  way  and  do  honor  to  the  great  man  they  were 
escorting  until  the  Consulate  was  reached.  Then  the  soldiers  and 
burden-bearers  crowded  under  the  trees  and  the  Tartar  General's  chair 
was  borne  to  the  piazza,  and  he  at  once  alighted. 

THE  CONVERSATION  AND  REFRESHMENTS. 

The  Tartar  General,  Chang  Tsein,  was  met  at  the  door  by  the  Consul 
and  escorted  into  the  parlor,  where  General  Grant  shook  hands  and 
gave  him  a  seat.  The  attendants  swarmed  around  the  doors  and  the 
windows.  I  rather  pitied  the  Tartar  General,  who  looked  tired  and 
nervous,  when  I  was  told  that  his  hour  for  rising  was  three  o'clock  in 
the  afternoon  ;  that  he  was  not  in  the  best  of  health,  and  that  nothing 
but  his  desire  to  be  civil  to  General  Grant  induced  him  to  break  through 
his  habits.  But  His  Excellency  was  chatty  and  ran  into  a  long  con- 
versation, mainly  about  the  age  of  General  Grant  and  his  own,  the  long 
distance  between  America  and  China,  the  extraordinary  fact  that  the 
world  was  round,  which  no  Chinaman  really  believes,  and  the  singular 
circumstance  that  while  we  were  sitting  there  looking  at  the  trees  and 
the  shining  sun,  people  at  home  were  either  in  bed  or  thinking  of 
going  to  bed.  One  of  the  party,  for  the  purpose,  I  presume,  of  sustaining 
the  conversation,  said  that  in  going  around  the  world  we  lost  a  day — 
that  it  was  364  days  in  the  year  going  one  way,  and  366  going 
another ;  to  all  of  which  the  Tartar  General  listened  with  a  polite  but 
doubting  interest.  General  Grant  ventured  upon  some  questions  as  to 
the  resources  of  the  country,  and  learned  that  Pekin  was  much  colder 
than  Canton,  that  the  Tartar  General's  home  was  in  Pekin,  that  he  had 
been  so  long  in  Canton,  that  his  health  was  affected  and  he  wanted  to 
be  recalled.  This  talk  ran  on  for  fifteen  minutes  and  tea  was  passed 
around  in  Chinese  fashion,  and  the  Consul  led  the  way  to  another  room. 
Here  were  refreshments,  mainly  sweetmeats  and  wine.  Ten  minutes 
more  were  spent  over  the  candies  and  cakes,  and  the  Tartar  General, 
filling  his  glass  with  champagne,  drank  our  health.  Then  tea  was 
served  again  and  the  Tartar  General  arose,  took  his  leave,  and  went  off 
amid  the  beating  of  gongs,  the  \\'aving  of  banners  and  the  cries  of  his 
retinue.  In  this,  as  in  other  grand  ceremonies  and  customs  of  the 
Chinese,  noise  was  an  essential  feature. 

The  sounds  of  the  gongs  had  scarcely  died  away  when  the  sounds 
of  other  gongs  announced  the  coming  of  the  Vicero)-,  Lin  Kwan  Yu. 
He  came  in  a  little  more  state  than  the  Tartar  General,  but  the  cere- 
monies of  the  reception  were  about  the  same.  Then  came  other 
officials,  all  of  whom  had  to  be  i-eceivcd,  and  given  tea  and  sweatmeats 
"and  wine,  so  that  the  morning  had  gone  before  the  last  visit. 


223 


224  WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 

From  the  narrative  of  a  traveler  who  closely  observed  the  social 
customs  of  the  Chinese,  it  appears  that  a  wedding  is  attended  with 
some  very  curious  ceremonies,  as  will  be  seen  from  the  description. 
The  bridegroom  sent  very  early  in  the  morning  for  his  bride.  The 
bridal-chair  was  painted  red.  Before  the  bride  took  her  seat  in  the 
sedan,  which  was  brought  into  the  reception-room  of  her  home  for  her, 
she  having  eaten  nothing  that  morning,  and  having  "kowtowed"  very 
often  to  her  parents,  they  covered  her  head  and  face  with  a  thick  veil, 
so  that  she  could  not  be  seen.  The  floor,  from  her  room  to  the  sedan, 
was  covered  with  red  carpet.  When  in  the  sedan,  four  bread-cakes 
were  tossed  into  the  air  by  one  of  the  bridesmaids  as  an  omen  of  good 
fortune.  In  front  of  the  procession  two  men  carried  large  lighted  lan- 
terns, having  the  family  name  of  the  bridegroom,  cut  in  red  paper,  and 
pasted  on  them.  Then  came  two  men  bearing  the  family  name  of  the 
bride,  who  were,  however,  only  to  go  part  of  the  way.  Other  men  fol- 
lowed, some  carrying  a  large  red  umbrella,  others  torches,  and  again 
some  playing  a  band  of  music.  Near  the  bridal  chair  brothers  or 
friends  of  the  bride  walked.  Half-way  between  the  two  houses  the 
friends  of  the  bridegroom  met  the  bride,  and  as  they  approached  the 
procession  stopped. 

A    BRIDAL    PARTY    WITH    LIVELY    MUSIC. 

The  bride's  friends  brought  out  a  large  red  card,  on  which  was  writ- 
ten the  bride's  family  name,  and  the  other  party  produced  a  similar  one, 
bearing  that  of  the  bridegroom.  These  were  exchanged  with  bows. 
The  two  men  at  the  head  of  the  procession  then  walked,  with  their  lan- 
terns, between  the  sedan-chair  and  the  lantern-bearers,  who  carried  the 
bride's  familyname.and  returned  to  their  places  in  front,  when  the  bride's 
party  turned  round  and  went  back  to  her  father's  house,  canying  home 
her  family  name,  she  being  supposed  to  have  now  taken  that  of  her  hus- 
band. Even  her  brothers  went  back  also,  and  then  the  band  played  a 
very  lively  air  whilst  the  rest  of  the  procession  took  her  on.  Fire- 
works were  let  off  along  the  road,  and  a  great  many  outside  the  bride- 
groom's door  when  the  bride  arrived.  Her  bridesmaids,  who  have  to 
keep  with  her  throughout  the  day,  accompanied  the  procession.  As 
the  sedan-chair  was  taken  into  the  reception-room  the  torch-bearers 
and  musicians  stayed  near  the  door,  and  where  it  was  put  down  the 
floor  was  again  covered  with  red  carpet.  The  bridegroom  then  came 
and  knocked  at  the  bridal  door,  but  a  married  woman  and  a  little  boy, 
holding  a  mirror,  asked  the  bride  to  get  out.  Her  bridesmaids  helped 
her  to  alight.     The  mirror  was  supposed  to  ward  off  evil  influences. 

Sometimes,  much  for  the  same  purpose,  a  bride  is  carried  over  a 
charcoal  fire  on  a  servant's  back,  but  this  was  not  done  on  this  occasion. 


WONDERS    OF   CHINA.  225 

All  this  time  the  bride's  face  was  hidden  by  her  veil.  She  was  then 
taken  into  a  room,  where  the  bridegroom  was  waiting  for  her,  and  here 
they  sat  down  together  for  a  few  minutes,  without  speaking  a  word. 
Sometimes  the  bridegroom  sits  on  a  high  stool,  while  the  bride  throws 
herself  down  before  him,  to  show  that  she  considers  man  superior  to 
woman.  He  then  went  into  the  reception-room,  where  he  waited  for 
his  bride  to  come  to  worship  his  ancestral  tablets  with  him.  A  table 
was  put  in  front  of  the  room,  on  v.'hich  were  two  lighted  candles  and 
lighted  incense.  Two  goblets,  chop-sticks,  and  other  things  were  on 
the  table,  when  the  bride  and  bridegroom  both  knelt  four  times,  bow- 
ing their  heads  towards  the  earth.  This  was  called  "worshiping 
heaven  and  earth."  The  ancestral  tablets  were  on  the  tables  at  the 
back,  on  which  were  also  lighted  candles  and  incense.  Turning  round 
towards  the  tablets,  they  worshiped  them  eight  times,  and  then  facing 
one  another,  they  knelt  four  times. 

THE    bridegroom's    FIRST    SIGHT    OF    HIS    BRIDE's    FACE. 

Wedding  wine  was  now  drunk,  and  the  bride  and  bridegroom  ate  a 
small  piece  from  the  same  sugar-cock,  which  was  to  make  them  agree. 
The  thick  veil  was  now  taken  off  the  bride,  but  her  face  was  still  partly 
hidden  by  strings  of  pearl  hanging  from  a  bridal  coronet.  It  often 
happens  that  the  bridegroom  now  sees  his  bride  for  the  first  time,  the 
two  fathers  having  perhaps  planned  the  marriage,  asked  a  fortune-tel- 
ler's advice,  sent  go-betweens  to  make  ail  the  necessary  arrangements, 
chosen  a  lucky  day,  without  the  bride  or  bridegroom  having  a  voice  in 
the  matter,  and  conducted  all  the  negotiations. 

Many  other  ceremonies  had  to  take  place,  such  as  kneeling  very 
often  before  the  bridegroom's  parents,  when  at  last  it  was  time  for  the 
bride's  heavy  outer  garments  to  be  taken  off,  together  with  her  head- 
dress, so  that  her  hair  could  be  well  arranged ;  but  she  was  not  allowed 
to  eat  anything  at  all  at  the  wedding  dinner.  Indeed,  on  her  wedding- 
day,  she  is  hardly  expected  to  touch  food  at  all. 

Many  people  came  in  to  see  her,  and  on  this  day  she  must  be  quite 
natural,  and  wear  no  rouge  at  all.  She  has  to  stand  up  quietly  to  be 
looked  at,  blessed,  and  have  remarks  made  upon  her  appearance. 
Presents  are  sent  to  the  bridegroom's  family.  For  three  days  the  bride's 
parents  send  her  food,  as  she  may  not,  during  that  time,  eat  what  her 
husband  provides.  In  some  districts  of  the  province  of  Canton  the 
bride  leaves  her  husband,  and  goes  home  again  for  a  time  after  she  is 
married,  but  after  marriage  she  is  generally  considered  to  belong  almost 
entirely  to  her  husband's  family,  in  a  wing  of  whose  house  she  lives 
with  him,  and  to  whose  parents  she  is  supposed  to  help  him  to  be  filial. 
On  many  other  days  the  ancestral  tablets  have  to  be  worshiped  by  the 
15 


226 


WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 


bride  and  bridegroom,  and  amongst  other  gods  and  goddesses,  those- 
of  the  kitchen  have  adoration  paid  to  them  with  becoming  gravity. 
Both  boys  and  girls  in  China  sometimes  marry  when  they  are  only 
sixteen  years  of  age,  thus  making  an  early  start  in  life. 

It  is  customary  for  terrible  tortures  to  be  inflicted  upon  criminals. 


f. 


The  most  common  punishment  of  criminals  in  China  is  that  of  the 
cangue,  a  sort  of  moveable  pillory.  A  piece  of  wood,  some  four  feet 
square  and  nearly  four  inches  in  thickness,  has  a  hole  in  the  middle, 
through  which  the  culprit's  head  is  passed.  The  machine  opens  with 
a  hinge,  and  when  closed  is  locked,  and  a  placard  designating  the 
offense  is  pasted  on  it.     As  long  as  the  cangue  is  worn,  the  unhappy 


WONDERS    OF   CHINA.  227 

delinquent  cannot  feed  himself,  so  that  he  would  be  starved  to  death 
were  he  not  fed  by  casual  contributions.  Fortunately,  it  is  considered 
a  meritorious  action  to  feed  a  prisoner  in  the  cangue,  so  that  little  risk 
of  actual  starvation  is  run,  and  the  principal  terror  of  the  cangue  lies 
in  the  pain  caused  by  carrying  such  a  weight  upon  the  neck  and 
shoulders.  This  instrument  is  often  worn  for  weeks  and  sometimes 
for  three  months,  which  is  the  extent  of  its  legal  use. 

Finger  squeezing  is  another  torture  which  is  frequently  used.  Four 
pieces  of  bamboo  are  tied  loosely  together  at  the  end,  and  a  string 
passes  through  the  other  ends,  so  arranged  that  by  drawing  it  they 
can  be  pulled  closely  together.  The  fingers  are  introduced  between 
the  bamboos,  and  by  pulling  at  the  string  they  can  be  crushed  almost 
to  pieces.  This  torture  is  often  employed  by  the  mandarins,  when 
endeavoring  to  extort  money  from  persons  whom  they  suspect  of  con- 
cealing their  wealth.  The  ankles  are  squeezed  after  a  similar  fashion, 
only  in  this  case  the  bamboos  are  much  larger. 

Most  of  the  so-called  minor  tortures,  that  is,  those  which  are  not 
directly  aimed  at  life,  are  employed  for  the  purpose  of  extorting 
money,  which  seems  to  be  a  customary  procedure  among  landlords. 
Beating  with  the  bamboo  is  another  common  punishment.  There 
are  two  kinds  of  bamboo  for  this  purpose,  the  small  and  the  large;  the 
latter  being  capable  of  producing  death  if  used  with  severity.  This 
punishment  is  employed  for  men  and  women  alike ;  the  only  differ- 
ence being  that  the  man  is  thrown  prostrate  on  the  ground,  while  the 
woman  suffers  in  a  kneeling  posture. 

HIRING    A    SUBSTITUTE    TO    TAKE   THE    WHIPPING. 

A  man  of  forethought,  however,  never  suffers  much  from  the  bam- 
boo, and,  if  possible,  nothing  at  all.  In  the  former  case,  he  bribes  the 
executioner,  who  strikes  so  as  to  produce  a  very  effective  sounding 
blow,  but  in  reality  inflicts  very  little  injury.  In  the  latter  case,  he 
bribes  a  man  to  act  as  a  substitute,  and,  just  as  the  first  blow  is  about 
to  be  struck,  some  of  the  officers,  who  are  also  bribed,  get  between  the 
judge  and  the  culprit,  while  the  latter  rolls  out  of  the  way,  and  the 
substitute  takes  his  place.  A  similar  ruse  is  enacted  at  the  completion 
of  the  punishment.  It  may  seem  strange  that  any  one  should  act  as  a 
substitute  in  such  a  business  ;  but  in  China  men  care  little  for  their 
skins,  or  even  for  their  lives,  and  it  is  possible  to  purchase  a  substitute 
even  for  capital  punishment,  the  chief  difficulty  being  not  to  bribe  the 
substitute,  but  to  find  enough  money  to  bribe  all  the  officials,  who 
must  act  in  concert,  and  each  receive  his  handsome  fee. 

Powerful  as  they  may  be,  the  mandarins  have  not  all  the  power  of 
life  and  death,  though  they  can   inflict  punishments  which  practically 


228  WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 

lead  to  the  same  result.  A  case  of  this  kind  is  narrated.  Two  men 
had  been  arrested  in  the  act  of  robbing  a  house  during  a  fire.  This 
is  rightly  held  to  be  the  most  heinous  kind  of  theft,  and  is  generally 
punished  with  decapitation.  The  mandarin  of  the  district  had  not  the 
power  to  inflict  death,  but  contrived  to  manage  that  the  men  should 
die.  Accordingly,  he  had  two  tall  bamboo  cages  made,  placed  a  man 
inside  each,  and  tied  him  by  his  hair  to  the  top  bars  of  the  cage.  The 
cages  were  placed  in  the  open  air,  in  charge  of  officers,  who  would  not 
allow  any  communication  with  the  offenders.  The  natural  consequence 
was,  that  privation  of  food,  drink,  sleep,  and  rest  of  any  kind,  together 
with  exposure  to  the  elements,  killed  the  men  as  effectually  as  the 
sword  of  the  executioner.  A  modification  of  this  mode  of  punishment 
is  by  covering  the  top  of  the  cage  with  a  board  through  a  hole  in 
which  the  head  of  the  sufferer  passes.  The  top  of  the  cage  is  adjusted 
so  that  the  man  is  forced  to  stand  on  tiptoe  as  he  is  suspended  by  the 
neck.  His  hands  being  bound  behind  him,  relief  is,  of  course,  impossible. 
Snake  tubes  made  of  soft  metal  are  sometimes  coiled  round  the 
body,  and  boiling  water  is  then  poured  into  them,  producing  the  most 
horrible  torture,  and  sometimes  a  slow,  lingering  death. 

SINGULAR    MODES    OF    CAPITAL    PUNISHMENT. 

As  to  capital  punishments,  they  are  inilicted  in  various  ways.  The 
mode  that  is  thought  to  be  the  least  terrible  is  the  command  to  com- 
mit suicide,  because  in  that  case  they  can  avoid  the  mangling  of  the 
body,  and  so  make  their  appearance  in  the  spirit  world  whole  and  en- 
tire. This  is  a  privilege  only  accorded  to  officers  of  very  high  rank, 
and  is  conferred  upon  them  by  sending  the  "silken  cord."  No  cord 
is  really  sent,  but  the  mandate  implies  the  instrument  of  death.  When 
it  is  received,  the  doomed  man  takes  some  of  his  nearest  relatives  and 
most  valued  friends  to  his  house,  fastens  the  silken  cord  to  a  beam, 
places  himself  on  a  stool,  passes  the  noose  round  his  neck,  and  then 
leaps  off  the  stool,  and  so  dies.  Officers  of  lower  rank,  when  they  see 
that  they  will  probably  be  condemned  to  death,  generally  anticipate 
their  sentence  by  hanging  themselves  on  their  own  responsibility.  For 
criminals  of  no  status,  strangulation  is  the  mode  of  death  most  pre- 
ferred. It  is  accomplished  in  a  manner  exactly  resembling  the  Span- 
ish garrote.  The  criminal  stands  with  his  back  to  a  post,  through 
which  a  hole  is  bored  at  the  level  of  his  neck.  The  two  ends  of  a  cord 
are  passed  through  the  hole,  the  loop  embracing  the  man's  neck.  The 
ends  are  then  twisted  round  a  stick,  and,  by  a  few  rapid  turns  of  the 
stick,  the  man  is  killed. 

Decapitation  is  always  conducted  with  much  judicial  solemnity,  and, 
as  a  rule,  is  restricted  to  certain  seasons  of  the  year,  when  large  batches 


WONDERS    OF    CHINA. 


229 


of  criminals  are  executed.  There  are,  however,  occasional  exceptions 
to  the  rule.  The  instrument  employed  is  a  sword  made  expressly  for 
the  purpose.  It  is  a  two-handed  weapon,  very  heavy,  and  with  a  very 
broad  blade.  The  executioners  pride  themselves  on  their  skill  in  its 
management,  and,  in  order  to  show  their  powers,  will  draw  a  black-ink 
line  round  a  turnip,  and  sever  it  at  a  blow,  the  cut  never  passint^  on 


DECAPITATION    OF    A    CHINESE    CRIMINAL. 

either  side  of  the  line.  Before  a  man  is  admitted  to  be  an  executioner, 
he  is  obliged  to  prove  his  ability  by  this  test,  and  be  able  to  carry  a 
steady  hand  as  he  gives  the  fatal  blow. 

The  criminal  is  carried  to  the  place  of  execution  in  a  bamboo  cage, 
and  by  his  side  is  the  basket  in  which  his  head  will  be  removed.  He 
is  pinioned  in  a  very  effective  manner.  The  middle  of  a  long  and  thin 
rope  is  passed  across  the  back  of  l.is  neck,  and  the  ends  are  crossed  on 
the  chest,  and  brought  under  the  arms.  They  are  then  twisted  round 
the  arms,  the  wrists  tied  together  behind  the  back,  and  the  ends  fastened 
to  the  portion  of  rope  upon  the  neck.     A  slip  of  paper  containing  his 


230  WONDERS    OF    EXPLORATION    AND    ADVENTURE. 

name,  crime,  and  sentence  is  fixed  to  a  reed,  and  stuck  at  the  back  of 
his  head.  On  arriving  at  the  place  of  execution,  the  officials  remove 
the  paper,  and  take  it  to  the  presiding  mandarin,  who  writes  on  it  in 
red  ink  the  warrant  for  execution.  The  paper  is  then  replaced,  a  rope 
loop  is  passed  over  the  head  of  the  culprit,  and  the  end  given  to  an 
assistant,  who  draws  the  head  forward  so  as  to  stretch  the  neck,  while 
a  second  assistant  holds  the  body  from  behind ;  and  in  a  moment  the 
head  is  severed  from  the  body. 

Chinese  people  do  very  singular  things.  Because  they  think  that 
their  birds  sometimes  like  change  of  air,  they  carry  their  cages  out  of 
doors  with  them  for  a  walk.  Dogs  are  sold  in  the  shops,  and  in  one 
district  of  Canton  a  fair  is  held,  where  they  are  regularly  sold  for  food. 
Many  people  like  black  dogs  best.  At  the  beginning  of  summer  nearly 
everybody  eats  dog's  flesh,  when  a  ceremony  takes  place.  If  people 
eat  it,  they  think  it  will  keep  them  from  being  ill.  Yet  the  Cantonese 
think  that  they  displease  the  gods  when  they  eat  dog's  flesh,  and  you 
may  see  it  written  on  Buddhist  temples  that  people  ought  not  to  eat 
"their  faithful  guardians."  The  Cantonese  must  not  go  into  a  temple 
to  worship  till  they  have  been  three  whole  days  without  eating  any 
dog.     Thus  a  little  respect  is  shown  to  the  brute  creation. 

THE    MAN    WHO    MAKES    THE    FASHIONS. 

Chinese  gentlemen  and  ladies  dress  very  much  alike ;  and  people 
cannot  change  their  clothes  as  they  choose,  because  there  is  a  minister 
of  ceremonies,  who  says  of  what  color,  stuff,  and  shape  things  are  to 
be  made,  and  when  winter  and  summer  things  are  to  be  changed. 
Even  a  head-dress  may  not  be  altered  as  people  like,  or  they  might  be 
breaking  a  law.  No  Chinaman  wears  a  beard  till  he  is  forty.  The 
outside  robe  of  a  gentleman  is  so  long  that  it  reaches  to  his  ankles, 
and  it  is  fastened  with  buttons.  The  sleeves  are  first  broad,  and  then 
get  narrower  and  narrower.  A  sash  is  tied  round  his  waist,  and  from 
this  chop-sticks,  a  tobacco-case,  fans,  and  such-like  things  hang.  The 
head-dress  is  a  cap  with  a  peak  at  the  top.  Men  do  not  take  off  their 
hats  to  bow  ;  indeed,  they  would  put  them  on  if  they  were  off  In- 
doors they  wear  silk  slippers,  pointed  and  turned  up  at  the  toes.  Chi- 
nese men  are  admired  when  they  are  stout,  and  women  when  they  are 
thin.  Women  also  have  two  robes,  the  top  one  often  being  made  of 
satin,  and  reaching  from  the  chin  to  the  ground.  Their  sleeves  are  so] 
long  that  they  do  instead  of  gloves.  They  always  wear  trousers,  and] 
often  carry  a  pipe,  as  women  smoke  a  great  deal  in  China.  Old  ladies! 
wear  very  plain  clothes.  People  wear  shoes  of  silk,  or  cotton,  with 
thick  felt  soles.  The  women  spend  hours  having  their  hair  done  into 
all  sorts   of  shapes,  such  as  baskets,  bird-cages,  or  anything  they  can 


WONDERS    OF    CHINA.  231 

manufacture.  Then  besides  ornaments  in  their  hair,  they  wear  ear- 
rings and  bangles.  Even  boat-women  wear  these  ;  and  the  ladies  al- 
-Tiost  always  paint  their  faces,  to  do  which  they  have  a  kind  of  enamel. 
Chinese  ladies  have  little  useful  occupation,  and  spend  a  great  part  of 
their  time,  when  they  are  not  doing  embroidery,  in  gambling  and 
adorning  themselves. 

The  peasants  wear  a  coarse  linen  shirt,  covered  by  a  cotton  tunic, 
with  thin  trousers  fastened  to  the  ankles.  In  wet  and  cold  weather 
they  make  a  useful  covering  of  net-work,  into  which  are  plaited  rushes, 
or  coarse  dry  grass,  and  they  put  on  very  large  hats,  made  in  the  same 
way.  The  Chinese  are  not  at  all  lazy  people.  After  their  shutters  are 
closed,  and  all  looks  dark  from  the  outside,  they  are  often  at  work,  and 
they  get  up  early  too.  Coolies  wear  their  hair  twisted  around  their 
heads.  They  do  all  the  heavy  work,  and  are  porters,  common  house 
laborers,  and  sedan-chair  bearers. 

You  may  see  men  carrying  baskets,  in  which  they  are  collecting 
every  bit  of  paper  they  can  find  about  the  streets,  which  has  been 
written  upon.  The  Chinese  have  such  respect  for  every  little  piece  of 
paper,  on  which  have  been  any  Chinese  characters,  that  they  will  not 
allow  any  parcels  even  to  be  wrapped  up  in  them.  When  all  these 
scraps  have  been  collected,  they  are  burnt  in  a  lurnace,  and  the  ashes 
are  put  into  baskets,  carried  in  procession,  and  emptied  into  a  stream. 
Slips  of  paper  are  pasted  on  walls,  telling  people  to  reverence  lettered 
paper.  Chinese  characters  are  called  "  eyes  of  the  sage  ;  "  and  some 
people  think  that  if  they  are  irreverent  to  the  paper,  they  are  so  to  the 
sages  who  invented  them,  and  they  will  perhaps,  for  a  punishment,  be 
born  blind  in  the  next  world.  Men  become  famous  in  China  when 
they  write  very  beautifully.  They  write  with  a  brush  and  India  ink. 
There  are  three  styles  of  writing  Chinese  characters,  and  the  literature 
of  China  is  the  first  in  Asia.  A  Chinaman  writes  from  right  to  left, 
and  all  the  writing  consists  of  signs  or  characters.  One  word  will 
signify  a  number  of  things,  and  you  know  which  word  they  mean  by  the 
sound  of  the  voice  and  the  stress  on  the  word. 

When  a  person  dies  gongs  are  beaten,  and  when  the  body  is  placed 
in  its  coffin,  every  corner  of  the  room  is  beaten  with  a  hammer,  to 
frighten  away  bad  spirits.  A  crown  is  also  put  on  any  person  of  rank. 
Widows  and  children,  to  show  their  grief,  sit  on  the  floor  instead  of  on 
-chairs  for  seven  days,  and  sleep  on  mats  near  to  the  husband  and 
father's  coffin.  On  the  seventh  day  letters  are  written  to  friends, 
informing  them  of  the  death,  when  they  send  presents  of  money  to 
iielp  to  defray  the  funeral  expenses. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


WONDERS  OF  JAPAN. 

Personal  Appearance  of  the  Japanese — Fruits  and  Food — Theatrical  Plays  and  Jugglery — 
Shops  and  Markets — Fortune  Telling — Art — Social  Customs— Dinner  to  General  Grant 
— Musicians — Royal    Reception    and    Court    Manners — Potteries — 
Modes  of  Traveling — Forms  of  Religion — Shintoism  and  Buddhism. 

HE  Japanese  are  a  people  quite  separate  from  the 
Chinese,  although  in  certain  general  features  there  is, 
between  the  two  nations,  a  resemblance,  easily  traced. 
The  complexion  of  the  inhabitants  of  Japan  varies 
from  copper  color  to  the  olive-brown  of  Italians  and 
Spaniards,  but  is  far  from  being  the  same  as  the  yellow 
of  the  Chinese.  The  Japanese  have  thick  black  hair 
and  beards — at  least  would  have  if  they  would  let  them 
grow.  Some  do  let  the  hair  grow  in  an  unparted 
mass,  but  most  shave  and  arrange  it  carefully,  according  to  custom. 

The  reason  for  shaving  the  hair  from  the  temples  and  the  front  of  the 
head,  and  gathering  all  the  rest  into  a  top-knot,  is  because,  in  the  feudal 
times,  it  became  a  custom  for  warriors  to  do  this,  that  they  might  keep 
the  hair  out  of  their  eyes  when  fighting.  Gradually  the  custom  spread 
to  all  classes.  But  in  more  ancient  times  still,  the  warriors  were  long- 
haired, bearded  and  moustached,  and  wore  a  kind  of  armor.  The  com- 
plexions of  children  are  often  brilliant  and  rosy,  like  those  that  accom- 
pany dark  hair  and  eyes  among  ourselves  ;  while  those  of  ladies  of  the 
upper-classes,  who  go  out  but  seldom  and  guard  carefully  against  sun 
and  wind,  are  very  fine,  white,  and  delicate,  but  almost  colorless.  The 
people  generally  have  expressive  and  animated  faces,  the  children  are 
pretty  and  engaging,  and  every  one  confesses  that  Japanese  girls  are 
very  charming  in  their  way. 

Two  kind  of  faces  are  to  be  seen  very  unlike,  although,  no  doubt,  a 
-Stranger  would  at  once  recognize  either  as  Japanese.  The  one  is  seen 
chiefly  among  the  wealthy  and  noble  classes,  especially  the  female  part 
of  them  ;  the  other  is  the  commoner  type  all  over  Japan,  although  it  is 
not  unfrequently  found  among  nobles. 

The  high  class  type  of  face  is  long  and  oval,  with  a  high  and  narrow 
forehead,  straight  or  aquiline  nose,  slanting,  deep-set,  almond-shaped 
eyes,  small  thin-lipped  mouth,  and  pointed  chin  ;  this  type  of  face  is 
(232) 


WONDERS    OF   JAPAN.  233- 

called  "nut-cracker"  by  the  irreverent.  The  half-shaved  crowns  of 
the  men  give  an  appearance  of  undue  length  and  oddity  to  their  coun- 
tenances, from  which  the  women's  frizzed-out  rolls  of  abundant  lustrous 
black  hair  saves  them.  Women  of  this  type  are  really  beautiful,  and 
they  are,  besides,  so  graceful  in  their  carriage  and  manners,  and  so  win- 
ning, and  yet  dignified,  that  even  strangers  are  charmed  with  them. 
The  voices  of  all  classes  are  soft,  and  the  manners  of  all  are  courteous, 
and  of  the  higher  class  very  elaborate  and  stately. 

It  is  supposed  that  the  poor  food  and  laborious  life  of  the  mass  of  the 
people  has  something  to  do  with  their  flatter  and  coarser  features  and 
sallower  complexions.  They  are  not  unhealthy,  but  they  have  little  to 
make  them  strong  and  hearty. 

There  are  about  ninety  different  kinds  of  fish — thirteen  or  fourteen 
of  them  shell-fish — to  choose  from  ;  fourteen  kinds  of  beans,  which 
more  nearly  supply  the  place  of  meat  than  anything  else  ;  many  vege- 
tables, potatoes,  spinach,  egg-plant,  yams,  leeks,  and  others,  sea-weed 
made  into  jelly,  and  many  roots  whose  names  you  never  heard  of.  In 
some  parts  of  the  country  grapes,  bananas,  orange-trees,  and  sugar-cane 
grow.  A  loaf  of  bread  would  nev^er  cheer  your  eyes.  Sweetmeats,  and 
sponge-cake,  and  oranges,  those  who  are  not  too  poor  can  have  in  abun- 
dance. They  have  the  persimmon,  a  golden  fruit  much  larger  than  an 
apple,  and  more  delicious  than  any  when  fresh,  and  when  dried  by  hang- 
ing from  the  kitchen  roof  tasting  something  like  a  fig ;  but  game,  fowls, 
or  ducks,  hardly  ever.  Cattle  and  sheep  now  are  used  both  for  milk 
and  food. 

Fish  is  fish,  even  if  it  be  only  a  piece  of  whalesteak,  which  sometimes 
comes  to  the  table  after  a  whale  has  been  unfortunate  enough  to  visit  the 
north-eastern  shores.  Sometimes  stews  are  made  of  quail,  woodcock, 
and  pheasant  by  the  wives  of  the  tired  sportsmen  who  have  snared 
them ;  and  in  the  mountains,  where  monkeys  are  plentiful,  they  are 
trapped  and  killed  and  roasted,  and  are  considered  a  great  delicacy ;  so, 
by-the-bye,  are  sea-slugs,  and  many  other  things  you  would  shudder  at, 
even  to  a  kind  of  whitish  clay  which  the  poor  Ainos  make,  with  boiled 
lily-bulbs,  into  soup. 

The  Japanese  do  not  take  such  pains  to  have  their  food  hot  as  we  do. 
Even  in  the  depth  of  winter,  you  will  see  a  porter  taking  for  his  break- 
fast a  mass  of  cold  rice,  just  warmed  by  pouring  tea  over  it.  They  use 
chop-sticks  and  spoons,  for  the  most  part,  af  meals.  The  daughter  of 
the  house,  or  the  maid,  generally  dispenses  the  food,  ladling  out  the  rice 
from  a  bucket  into  little  bowls,  pouring  out  the  tea,  and  waiting  upon  all. 

Theatres  are  so  important  a  part  of  Japanese  life  that  a  description 
of  them  must  be  given.     The  best  and  most  serious  people  do  not  care.- 


WONDERS    OF   JAPAN.  235 

to  attend  the  theatres,  nor  is  it  the  custom  for  persons  of  high  rank  to 
do  so.  They  attend  or  join  in  the  private  performances  given  within 
the  palace.  Women  under  forty  are  forbidden  by  law  to  visit  the  pub- 
lic theatres — but  many  among  the  poorer  classes,  however,  disobey  the 
law  and  attend,  with  their  husbands  and  families,  an  amusement  which 
has  a  peculiar  charm  for  the  Japanese.  Sometimes  juggling  and  acro- 
batic performances  are  given,  sometimes  plays  on  legends  of  heroic  or 
feudal  times  or  on  real  events.  These  are  very  interesting  as  giving  a 
faithful  representation  of  the  good  old  times,  with  all  their  dignity  and 
splendor  of  ceremonial  and  dress,  and  as  reminders  of  the  patriotism 
and  great-heartedness  of  ancestors.  The  scenery  and  dresses  for  these 
are  most  elaborate  and  even  magnificent ;  the  latter  are  often  almost 
priceless,  being  heir-looms  handed  down  from  one  generation  of  actors 
to  another.  The  actors  were  once  a  despised  class,  and  reckoned  among 
the  eta  or  outcasts.  They  learned  the  art  from  their  fathers,  and  passed 
■on  its  traditions  to  their  sons,  thus  making  the  profession  hereditary. 

SINGULAR   JAPANESE   AMUSEMENTS. 

Then,  again,  masques  and  pageants  are  given — such  as  scenes  from 
the  old  court  life,  or  celebrations  of  the  changing  seasons.  These  are 
beautiful  and  instructive,  but  the  tragedies  and  ordinary  plays  are  neither. 
Women  were  not  allowed  to  act  in  public  except  in  one  or  two  compa- 
nies, composed  of  women  only.  Men  act  the  women's  parts  cleverly 
enough,  but  their  imitation  of  women's  voices  sounds  laughable  to 
strangers,  and  produces  a  ludicrous  effect. 

The  play  begins  about  nine  or  ten  in  the  morning,  and  lasts  all  day ; 
sometimes  two  or  three  days !     Generally  it  leaves  off  at  dark.     When 

a  favorite  play  is  announced,  people  come  early  to  get  good  seats on 

the  floor,  of  course.  Mothers  bring  their  babies,  and  their  husbands 
the  provisions  in  the  dinner-box,  and  they  spend  the  whole  day  at  the 
theatre,  smoking  all  the  time,  chatting  and  eating  when  the  actors  rest. 
Tea-house  servants  bring  in  trays  and  offer  refreshments.  Black-capped 
■boys  (whom  you  are  supposed  not  to  see)  wait  on  the  actors'  movements, 
slipping  behind  them  and  taking  away  the  stage  furnishings  that  are 
•done  with,  or  placing  supports,  unobserved,  for  aweary  actor,  so  that  he 
may  keep  his  position  the  due  length  of  time. 

If  the  performance  goes  on  after  dark,  candles  are  lit  in  front  of  the 
stage,  and,  in  addition,  attendants  hold  wands  with  candles  at  the  end 
of  them,  so  that  the  light  falls  on  the  actors'  faces.  Next  day,  if  the 
play  is  unfinished,  the  crowds  come  again  and  listen  unweariedly,  and 
often  breathless  and  silent  with  excitement,  to  the  long  drawn  out  ago- 
nies, raptures,  and  suspenses  of  a  Japanese  play. 

The  masked  dances  and  pageants  are  especially  delightful,  coming 


236 


WONDERS    OF   JAPAN.  237 

down,  as  they  do,  from  very  ancient  times,  when  they  were  associated 
with  rehgious  meanings,  and  were  intended  to  teach  moral  lessons. 

Women,  besides  keeping  house,  work  in  the  fields  as  hard  as  the  men, 
and  there  is  scarcely  anything  that  they  can  do,  from  leading  pack-horses 
to  swimming  and  diving  for  shell-fish  among  the  rocks,  that  they  are 
not  employed  in.  They  spin  and  weave,  after  they  have  combed  out 
the  fluffy  heaps  of  cotton  ;  they  take. their  part  in  picking,  drying,  and 
sorting  the  tea-crop  ;  they  act  as  barbers  and  hairdressers  to  their  own 
sex,  building  up  erections  of  false  and  real  hair,  with  ribbons  and  pins, 
which  last  a  week  untouched,  and  because  Japanese  custom  requires  the 
eyebrows  to  be  plucked  out  after  marriage,  and  any  stray  hair  on  the 
neck  and  temples  to  be  extracted. 

They  work  at  the  mechanical  part  of  various  arts,  such  as  fan-making, 
lacquer-box  making,  the  polishing  of  mirrors,  and  so  on  ;  but  they  have 
not  been  allowed  to  compete  with  men  in  the  more  skilled  labors.  The 
fans  are  not  painted,  but  put  together  by  them,  and  even  a  painter  of 
mere  signs  would  disdain  to  teach  his  art  to  a  woman.  On  the  other 
hand,  in  music  they  may  take  an  equal  share ;  in  fact,  it  is  really  more 
practiced  by  women  than  men.  They  are  more  commonly  to  be  seen 
than  men  in  the  shops  of  some  of  the  large  cities,  such  as  Yedo,  with 
the  ready-reckoner  for  ever  between  their  fingers,  managing  and  serv- 
ing. Wherever  there  is  a  "  local  manufacture,"  the  women  take  part  in 
it.  The  peasants'  wives  go  to  market  to  sell  and  buy,  and  if  they  have 
any  distance  to  go,  instead  of  jolting  along  in  a  cart,  they  hang  their 
wares  in  baskets  to  the  horses'  sides,  or  pile  them  under  the  high 
saddle,  which  they  then  mount  like  men,  having  never  heard  of  side- 
saddles. That  is  what  the  poor  people  do.  •'  Ladies  "  take  a  noriman 
or  a  kango  in  such  cases,  and  if  they  are  very  great  ladies  indeed,  their 
norimon  is  borne  by  four  men,  but  otherwise  by  two. 

HUMAN    BEASTS    OF    BURDEN. 

Everywhere  men — and  women  too,  when  the  men  are  otherwise  em- 
ployed— are  used  as  beasts  of  burden  in  a  way  that  strikes  foreigners 
painfully  at  first.  You  wall  see  men  on  the  coldest  days  in  winter, 
scarcely  clothed  at  all,  flying  along  with  the  post-bag,  or  with  a  live  fish, 
wrapped  in  straw,  sflung  across  their  shoulders,  which  they  are  bound 
to  deliver  in  an  hour  to  some  epicure  who  likes  his  fish  fresh  from  the 
sea.  Then  there  are  the  jinnikishas,  in  which  men  act  as  horses,  going 
at  six  miles  an  hour,  and  who  suffer  much  from  complaints  of  the  heart 
in  consequence,  and  are  liable  to  sudden  and  early  deaths.  Then,  where 
other  people  would  perhaps  use  a  ferry-boat,  many  a  poor  man  is  glad 
to  get  his  living  by  carrying  people  and  packages  across  the  river. 
Here,  again,  you  can  see  the  difference  between  the  well-to-do  lady,  who 


238  WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 

sits  at  ease  on  a  kind  of  tray  with  poles,  carried  by  four  men,  and 
the  poor  woman,  who  trusts  to  one  man's  shoulders  for  her  safety. 

One  of  the  flourishing  professions  of  women  is  fortune-telling.  The 
divining-woman  is  consulted  by  all  classes.  She  professes  to  be  a 
medium,  and  says  that  the  spirits  she  is  in  communication  with  speak 
through  her  voice  when  suitably  summoned.  Every  one  wears 
charms  and  amulets.  When  the  small-pox  rages,  anxious  parents 
write  outside  their  houses  that  their  children  are  away  from  home,  and 
fancy  that  the  spirit  which  brings  the  disease  will  be  cheated  by  seeing 
the  inscription  ! 

They  carry  tiny  figures  of  their  favorite  god  or  goddess  in  little 
embroidered  scarlet  bags,  made  on  purpose,  within  the  sleeves  or 
girdles,  and  think  that  to  let  one  drop  by  accident  is  a  certain  sign  of 
speedy  death.     But  the  number  of  omens  they  believe  in  is  endless. 

THE   STRANGE   BELIEF    IN   WIZZARDS. 

Thus  they  are  only  too  ready  to  take  a  professed  "  medium  "  at  her 
word,  and  call  her  in  to  know  if  a  sick  person  will  recover,  if  a  traveler 
will  return  safely,  if  they  will  be  happily  married,  if  their  enterprises 
will  turn  out  prosperously — anything  and  everything.  The  same 
superstition  leads  some  of  them  to  try  to  please  the  gods,  or  rather  to 
escape  their  displeasure,  by  retiring  from  the  world  and  living  a  life  of 
inactive  contemplation.  This  is  dying  out,  as  the  power  of  Buddhism 
dies  away.  Shintoism  has  never  had  life  enough  in  it  to  inspire  such 
sacrifices,  but  sometimes,  here  and  there,  you  may  find  a  true  ascetic 
— a  hermit — perched,  like  the  baby  of  the  nursery  rhyme,  in  the  tree- 
top,  living  by  the  charity  and  reverence  of  passers-by,  who  hoist  his 
food  to  the  holy  man,  and  thankfully  receive  his  blessings  in  return,  as 
heavenly  payment  for  an  earthly  gift. 

One  reason  for  the  excellence  of  Japanese  art  is,  that  the  artists, 
instead  of  copying  from  each  other,  invariably  go  to  nature  for  their 
models.  They  have  teachers  just  as  we  do,  but  the  great  object  of 
these  professors  is  to  teach  their  pupils  how  to  produce  the  greatest 
effect  with  the  fewest  lines.  Book  after  book  may  be  seen  entirely 
filled  with  studies  for  the  guidance  of  the  young  artists,  in  which  the 
master  has  depicted  various  scenes  with  as  (ew  lines  as  possible.  One 
of  these  books  is  entirely  filled  with  studies  of  falling  rain,  and,  monot- 
onous as  the  subject  may  seem,  no  two  drawings  are  in  the  least  alike, 
and  a  separate  and  forcible  character  is  given  to  each  sketch.  Another 
book  has  nothing  but  outlines  of  landscape  scenery,  while  some  are 
entirely  filled  with  grass-blades,  some  bending  in  the  wind,  others 
beaten  down  by  rain,  and  others  flourishing  boldly  upright.  The 
bamboo  is  another  favorite  subject;  and  so  highly  do  the  Japanese 


239 


'240  WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 

prize  the  skill  displayed  by  a  master,  that  they  will  often  purchase  at 
a  high  price  a  piece  of  paper  with  nothing  on  it  but  a  few  strokes  of  the 
brush,  the  harmony  of  the  composition  and  the  balance  of  the  different 
lines  of  beauty  being  thoroughly  appreciated  by  an  artistic  eye. 

Studying  as  the  Japanese  do  in  the  school  of  nature,  they  are 
marvelously  apt  at  expressing  attitude,  whether  of  man,  beast,  or  bird. 
They  never  have  any  difficulty  in  disposing  of  the  arms  of  their 
figures,  and,  no  matter  what  may  be  the  action,  there  is  always  an  ease 
about  it  which  betrays  the  artist's  hand  even  in  the  rudest  figures. 
Among  living  objects  the  crane  appears  to  be  the  special  favorite  of 
the  Japanese,  its  popularity  being  shared,  though  not  equaled,  by  the 
stork  and  the  heron. 

These  birds  are  protected  both  by  law  and  popular  opinion,  and  in 
consequence  are  so  tame  that  the  native  artists  have  abundant  oppor- 
tunities of  studying  their  attitudes,  which  they  do  with  a  patient  love 
for  the  subject  that  is  almost  beyond  praise.  No  figure  is  so  frequently 
introduced  in  Japanese  art  as  the  crane,  and  so  thoroughly  is  the  bird 
understood,  that  it  is  scarcely  possible  to  find  in  all  the  figures  of 
cranes,  whether  cast  in  bronze,  drawn  on  paper,  or  embossed  and 
painted  on  articles  of  furniture,  two  specimens  in  which  the  attitude  is 
exactly  the  same.  With  us,  even  the  professional  animal  painters  are 
apt  to  take  a  sketch  or  two,  and  copy  them  over  and  over  again,  often 
repeating  errors  as  well  as  excellencies,  while  the  Japanese  artist  has 
too  genuine  a  love  for  his  subject  to  descend  to  any  such  course.  Day 
by  day  he  studies  his  living  models,  fills  his  book  with  sketches  taken 
rapidly,  but  truly,  and  so  has  always  at  hand  a  supply  of  genuine  and 
original  attitudes. 

The  porcelain  of  the  Japanese  is  singularly  beautiful,  and  sometimes 
is  adorned  with  ornaments  -which  may  be  reckoned  under  the  head 
of  "  conceits."  For  instance,  a  cup  will  be  adorned  with  a  representa- 
tion of  pleasure  boats  on  the  river.  With  a  needle  the  tiny  windows  of 
the  boats  can  be  raised,  when  a  party  of  ladies  and  gentlemen  drinking 
tea  are  discovered  inside  the  boat.  Sometimes  a  little  tortoise  may 
be  seen  reposing  quietly  at  the  bottom  of  the  cup,  until  the  hot  tea  is 
poured  into  it,  when  the  creature  rises  to  the  surface,  shaking  its  head 
and  kicking  with  its  legs  as  if  in  pain  from  the  hot  liquid. 

In  Japanese  pictures  certain  curious  figures  may  be  seen,  looking 
as  if  human  beings  had  been  wrapped  in  a  bundle  of  rushes,  This 
strange  costume  is  the  snow-cloak  of  the  ordinary  Japanese.  For 
mere  rain  the  Japanese  generally  wear  a  sort  of  overcoat  made  of 
•oiled  paper,  very  thin,  nearly  transparent,  and  very  efficient,  though  it 
is  easily  torn.     But  when  a  snow-storm  comes  on,  the  Japanese  puts 


WONDERS    OF   JAPAN. 


241 


on  another  garment,  which  is    made    in    a  way  equally  simple   and 
effective,  and  affords  him  protection  from  the  inclement  weather. 

A  sort  of  skeleton  is  made  of  network,  the  meshes  being  about  two 
inches  in  diameter.  Upon  each  point  of  the  mesh  is  tied  a  bunch  of 
vegetable  fibre,  like  very  fine  grass,  the  bundles  being  about  as  thick  as 
an  ordinary  pencil  where  they  arc  tied,  and  spreading  toward  the  ends. 
The  garment  thus  made  is  exceedingly  light,  and  answers  its  purpose 
in  the  most  admirable  manner.  The  bunches  of  fibres  overlapping 
each  other  like  the  tiles  of  a  house, 
keep  the  snow  far  from  the  body, 
while  any  snow  that  may  melt 
simply  runs  along  the  fibres  and 
drops  to  the  ground.  To  wet  this 
snow  cloak  through  is  almost  im- 
possible, even  the  jet  of  a  garden 
engine  having  little  effect  upon  it 
except  when  quite  close,  while  no 
amount  of  snow  would  be  able  to 
force  a  drop  of  water  through  the 
loose  texture  of  the  material. 

The  Japanese  silks  have  long 
been  celebrated,  but  there  is  one 
kind  of  which  scarcely  •  anything 
is  known  among  us.  A  number 
of  rolls  of  silk  were  once  presented 
to  the  members  of  a  foreign  em- 
bassy. They  were  all  in  strips 
about  three  yards  long  and  one 
wide,  so  that  they  seemed  to  be 
useless.  They  happened,  however, 
to  be  exceedingly  valuable  ;  in  fact, 
absolutely  priceless,  as  no  money 
could  buy  them.  They  were  made  highly  figured  Japanese  v.\se. 
by  exiled  nobles,  who  were  punished  by  being  sent  to  the  island  of 
Fatsizio,  where  they  spend  their  time  in  making  these  peculiar  silks. 
No  one  below  a  certain  rank  is  allowed  to  wear  the  silk  which  has  been 
woven  by  noble  fingers,  or  even  to  have  the  fabric  in  the  house,  and 
in  consequence  not  a  piece  ever  even  found  its  way  to  the  shops. 

From  an  interesting  account   of   a  dinner  given  to  General  Grant 
when  he  visited  Japan,  we  may  get  a  good  idea  of  some  of  the  Japanese 
customs.     The  narrative,  after  describing  the  beauty  of  the  grounds  sur- 
rounding the  temple  where  the  festivities  took  place,  proceeds  as  follows: 
16 


242 


WONDF.RS    OF    EXPLORATION    AND    ADVENTURE. 


The  servants  have  brought  in  the  candles.  Before  each  table  is  a 
pedestal  on  which  a  candle  burns,  and  the  old  temple  lights  up  with  a 
new  splendor.     To  add  to  this  splendor  the  wall  has  been  draped  with 


A    REMARKABLE   JAPANESE    BRONZE   VASE. 

heavy  silks,  embroidered  with  gold  and  silver,  with  quaint  and  curious 
legends  of  the  history  of  Japan.  These  draperies  lend  a  new  richness 
to  the  room,  and  you  admire  the  artistic  taste  which  suggested  them. 
The  merchants  enter  bearing  meats.     Advancing  to  the  centre  of  the 


WONDERS    OF   JAPAN.  243 

room,  and  to  the  General,  they  kneel  and  press  their  foreheads  to  the 
floor.  With  this  demure  courtesy  the  course  begins.  Other  attendants 
enter,  and  place  on  each  table  the  lacquer  bowls  and  dishes.  Instead 
of  covering  the  tables  with  a  variety  of  food  and  tempting  you  with 
auxiliary  dishes  of  watermelon  seeds  and  almond  kernels,  as  in  China, 
the  Japanese  give  you  a  small  variety  at  a  time.  I  am  afraid,  however, 
we  have  spoiled  our  dinner.  Our  amiable  friend,  the  Japanese  Minister, 
warned  us  in  the  beginning  not  to  be  in  a  hurry,  to  restrain  our  curiosity, 
not  to  hurry  our  investigations  into  the  science  of  a  Japanese  table,  but 
to  pick  and  nibble  and  wait — that  there  were  good  things  coming, 
which  we  should  not  be  beyond  the  condition  of  enjoying.  There  is 
no  bread  and  no  wine,  and  our  only  drink  is  the  hot  preparation  from 
rice  with  its  sherry  flavor,  which  is  poured  out  of  a  teapot  into  shallow 
lacquer  saucers,  and  which  you  sip,  not  without  relish,  although  it  has 
no  place  in  any  beverage  known  to  your  experience.  We  are  dining, 
however,  in  strict  Japanese  fashion,  just  as  the  old  daimios  did,  and  our 
hosts  are  too  good  artiste  to  spoil  a  feast  with  champagne.  Then  it  has 
been  going  on  for  hours,  and  when  you  have  reached  the  fourth  hour 
of  a  dinner,  even  a  temperance  dinner,  with  nothing  more  serious  than 
a  hot  insipid  sherry-like  rice  drink,  you  have  passed  beyond  the  critical 
and  curious  into  the  resigned  condition.  If  we  had  only  been  governed 
by  the  Minister  we  might  have  enjoyed  this  soup,  which  comes  first  in 
the  course,  and  as  you  lift  the  lacquered  top  you  know  to  be  hot  and 
fragrant.  It  is  a  soup  composed  of  carp  and  mushroom  and  aromatic 
shrub.  Another  dish  is  a  prepared  fish  that  looks  like  a  confection  of 
cocoanut,  but  which  you  see  to  be  fish  as  you  prod  it  with  your  chop- 
sticks. This  is  composed  of  the  red  snapper  fish,  and  is  served  in  red 
and  white  alternate  squares.  It  looks  well,  but  you  pass  it  by  as  well 
as  another  dish  that  is  more  poetic  at  least,  for  it  is  a  preparation  of 
the  skylark,  wheat  flour  cake  and  gourd.  We  are  not  offended  by  the 
next  soup,  which  comes  hot  and  smoking,  a  soup  of  buckwheat  and  egg- 
plant. You  push  your  soup  to  the  end  of  the  table  and  nip  off  the 
end  of  a  fresh  cigar,  and  look  out  upon  the  town  over  which  the  domi- 
nant universe  has  thrown  the  star-sprinkled  mantle  of  night,  and  follow 
the  lines  of  light  that  mark  the  welcome  we  are  enjoying,  and  trace  the 
ascending  rockets  as  they  shoot  up  from  the  hillside  to  break  into 
masses  of  dazzling  fire  and  illuminate  the  heavens  for  a  moment  in  a 
rhapsody  of  blue  and  scarlet  and  green  and  silver  and  gold. 

If  you  have  faith  you  will  enter  bravely  into  the  dish  that  your  silk- 
draped  attendant  now  places  before  you,  and  as  he  does,  bows  to  the 
level  of  the  table  and  slides  away.  This  is  called  oh-hira,  and  was 
composed,   I    am    sure,    by    some    ambitious    daimio,  who    had  given 


244  WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 

thought  to  the  science  of  the  table  and  possessed  an  original  genius. 
The  base  of  this  dish  is  panyu.  Panyu  is  a  sea  fish.  The  panyu  in 
itself  would  be  a  dish,  but  in  addition  we  have  a  fungus,  the  roots  of 
the  lily  and  the  stems  of  the  pumpkin.  The  fungus  is  delicate,  and 
reminds  you  of  mushroom,  but  the  pumpkin,  after  you  had  fished  it  out 
and  saw  that  it  was  a  pumpkin  seemed  forlorn  and  uncomfortable,  con- 
scious no  doubt  of  a  better  destiny  in  its  New  England  home  than 
flavoring  a  mess  of  pottage.  What  one  objects  to  in  these  dishes  is 
the  objection  you  have  to  frogs  and  snails.  They  lack  dignity.  And 
when  we  come  to  real  American  food,  like  the  pumpkin  and  buckwheat, 
we  expect  to  see  it  specially  honored,  and  not  thrown  into  a  pot  boiled 
in  mixed  company.  The  lily  roots  seemed  out  of  place.  I  could  find 
no  taste  in  them,  and  would  have  been  content  to  have  known  them  as 
turnips.  But  your  romantic  notions  about  the  lily — the  lines  you  have 
written  in  albums,  the  poetry  and  water  colors — are  dispelled  by  its 
actual  presence  in  a  boiled  state,  with  arrowroot  and  horse-radish. 

GROUPS    OF   MAIDENS    MAKING.  MUSIC. 

While  our  hosts  are  passing  around  the  .strange  dishes  a  signal  is 
made  and  the  musicians  enter.  They  are  maidens  with  fair,  pale  faces, 
and  small,  dark,  serious  eyes.  You  are  pleased  to  see  that  their  teeth 
have  not  been  blackened,  as  was  the  custom  in  past  days,  and  is  even 
now  almost  a  prevalent  custom  among  the  lower  classes.  We  are  told 
that  the  maidens  who  have  come  to  grace  our  feast  are  not  of  the  com- 
mon singing  class,  but  the  daughters  of  the  merchants  and  leading  citi- 
zens of  Nagasaki.  The  first  group  is  composed  of  four.  They  enter, 
sit  down  on  the  floor  and  bow  their  heads  in  salutation.  They  wear 
the  costume  of  the  country,  the  costume  that  was  known  before  the  new 
days  came  upon  Japan.  They  have  blue  silk  gowns,  white  collars  and 
heavily  brocaded  pearl-colored  sashes.  After  they  had  played  an  over- 
ture another  group  entered,  fourteen  maidens  similarly  dressed,  each 
carrying  the  small  banjo-like  instrument  and  ranging  themselves  on  a 
bench  against  the  wall,  the  tapestry  and  silks  suspended  over  them. 
Then  the  genius  of  the  artist  was  apparent,  and  the  rich  depending  tap- 
estry, blended  with  the  blue  and  white  and  pearl,  and  animated  with  the 
faces  of  the  maidens,  their  music  and  their  songs,  made  a  picture  of 
Japanese  life  which  an  artist  might  regard  with  envy.  You  see  then 
the  delicate  features  of  Japanese  decoration  which  have  bewitched  our 
artist  friends,  and  which  the  most  adroit  fingers  in  vain  try  to  copy. 
When  the  musicians  enter  the  song  begins.  It  is  an  original  composi- 
tion. The  theme  is  the  glory  of  America  and  honor  to  General  Grant. 
They  sing  of  the  joy  that  his  coming  has  given  to  Japan,  of  the  interest 
and  pride  they  take  in  his  fame ;  of  their  friendship  for  their  friends 


245 


246  WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 

across  the  great  sea.  This  is  all  sung  in  Japanese,  and  we  follow  the 
lines  through  the  mediation  of  a  Japanese  friend  who  learned  his  English 
in  America.  This  anthem  was  chanted  in  a  low,  almost  monotonous  key, 
one  singer  leading  in  a  kind  of  solo  and  the  remainder  coming  in  with  a 
chorus.  The  song  ended,  twelve  dancing  maidens  entered.  They  wore  a 
crimson-like  overgarment  fashioned  like  pantaloons — a  foot  or  so  too 
long— so  that  when  they  walked  it  was  with  a  dainty  pace,  lest  they 
might  trip  and  fall.  The  director  of  this  group  was  constantly  on  his 
hands  and  knees,  creeping  round  among  the  dancers  keeping  their 
drapery  in  order,  not  allowing  it  to  bundle  up  and  vex  the  play.  These 
maidens  carried  bouquets  of  pink  blossoms,  artificially  made,  examples 
of  the  flora  of  Japan.  They  stepped  through  the  dance  at  as  slow  a 
measure  as  in  a  minuet  of  Louis  XIV.  The  movement  of  the  dance 
was  simple,  the  music  a  humming  thrumming,  as  though  the  performers 
were  tuning  their  instruments.  After  passing  through  a  few  measures 
the  dancers  slowly  filed  out  and  were  followed  by  another  group,  who 
came  wearing  masks — the  mask  in  the  form  of  a  large  doll's  face — and 
bearing  children's  rattles  and  fans.  The  peculiarity  of  this  dance  was 
that  time  was  kept  by  the  movement  of  the  fan — a  graceful,  expressive 
movement  which  only  the  Eastern  people  have  learned  to  bestow  on 
the  fan.  With  them  the  fan  becomes  almost  an  organ  of  speech,  and 
the  eye  is  employed  in  its  management  at  the  expense  of  the  admiration 
we  are  apt  at  home  to  bestow  on  other  features  of  the  amusement. 
The  masks  indicated  that  this  was  a  humorous  dance,  and  when  it  was 
over  four  special  performers,  who  had  unusual  skill,  came  in  with  flowers 
and  danced  a  pantomime.  Then  came  four  others,  with  costumes  differ- 
ent— blue  robes,  trimmed  with  gold,  who  carried  long,  thin  wands,  en- 
twined in  gold  and  red,  from  which  dangled  festoons  of  pink  blossoms. 
All  this  time  the  music  hummed  and  thrummed.  To  vary  the  show 
we  had  even  a  more  grotesque  amusement.  First  came  eight  children, 
who  could  scarcely  do  more  than  toddle.  They  were  dressed  in  white, 
embroidered  in  green  and  red,  wearing  purple  caps  formed  like  the 
Phrygian  liberty  cap  and  dangling  on  the  shoulders.  They  came 
into  the  temple  inclosure  and  danced  on  the  graveled  walk,  while  two, 
wearing  an  imitation  of  a  dragon's  skin,  went  through  a  dance  and 
various  contortions,  supposed  to  be  a  dragon  at  play.  This  reminded 
us  of  the  pantomime  elephant,  where  one  performer  plays  the  front  and 
another  the  hind  legs.  In  the  case  of  our  Japanese  dragon  the  legs 
were  obvious,  and  the  performers  seemed  indisposed  even  to  respect  the 
illusion.  It  was  explained  that  it  was  an  ancient  village  dance,  one  of 
the  oldest  in  Japan,  and  that  on  festive  occasions,  when  the  harvests  are 
ripe  or  when  some  legend  or  feat  of  heroism  is  to  be  commemorated^ 


WONDERS    OF   JAPAN.  247 

they  assemble  and  dance  it.  It  was  a  trifling,  innocent  dance,  and  you 
felt  as  you  looked  at  it,  and,  indeed,  at  all  the  features  of  our  most 
unique  entertainment,  that  there  was  a  good  deal  of  nursery  imagination 
in  Japanese  fetes  and  games. 

A  more  striking  feature  was  the  decorations  which  came  with  the 
second  course  of  our  feast.  First  came  servants,  bearing  two  trees,  one 
of  the  pine,  the  other  of  the  plum.  The  plum  tree  was  in  full  blossom. 
One  of  these  was  set  on  a  small  table  in  front  of  Mrs.  Grant,  the  other 
in  front  of  the  General.  Another  decoration  was  a  cherry  tree,  sur- 
mounting a  large  basin,  in  which  were  living  carp  fish.  The  carp  has 
an  important  position  in  the  legends  of  Japan.  It  is  the  emblem  of 
ambition  and  resolution.  This  quality  was  shown  in  another  decora- 
tion, representing  a  waterfall,  with  carp  climbing  against  the  stream. 
You  will  note,  however,  as  our  dinner  goes  on  it  becomes  bizarre  and 
odd,  and  runs  away  with  all  well-ordered  notions  of  what  even  a  daimio's 
dinner  should  be.  The  soups  disappear.  You  see  we  have  only  had 
seven  distinct  soups  served  at  intervals,  and  so  cunningly  prepared  that 
you  are  convinced  that  in  the  ancient  days  of  Japanese  splendor  soup 
had  a  dignity  which  it  has  lost. 

The  music  is  in  full  flow,  and  the  lights  of  the  town  grow  brighter 
with  the  shades  of  darkening  night,  and  some  of  the  company  have 
long  since  taken  refuge  from  the  dinner  in  cigars,  and  over  the  low 
brick  wall  and  in  the  recesses  of  the  temple  grounds  crowds  begin  to 
cluster  and  form,  and  below,  at  the  foot  of  the  steps,  the  crowd  grows 
larger  and  larger,  and  you  hear  the  buzz  of  the  throng  and  the  clinking 
of  the  lanterns  of  the  chair-bearers,  for  the  whole  town  is  in  festive 
mood,  and  high  up  in  our  open  temple  on  our  hillside  we  have  become 
a  show  for  the  town.  Well,  that  is  only  a  small  return  for  the  measure- 
less hospitality  we  have  enjoyed,  and  if  we  can  gratify  an  innocent  curi- 
osity, let  us  think  of  so  much  pleasure  given  incidentally  to  others. 

A  ROYAL  WELCOME  TO  GENERAL  GRANT. 

The  customs  which  prevail  at  the  royal  court  of  Japan  will  be  seen 
from  a  graphic  description  of  the  Emperor's  reception  of  his  distin- 
guished visitor,  furnished  by  one  of  the  party. 

The  Japanese,  with  a  refinement  of  courtesy  quite  French  in  its  way, 
were  solicitous  that  General  Grant  should  not  have  any  special  honors 
in  Japan  until  he  had  seen  the  Emperor.  It  was  felt  that  as  the  General 
was  the  guest  of  the  nation  he  should  be  welcomed  to  the  nation  by  its 
chief  They  were  also  anxious  that  the  reception  should  take  place  on 
the  Fourth  of  July.  Their  imaginations  had  been  impressed  by  the 
poetry  of  the  idea  of  a  reception  to  one  who  had  been  the  head  of 
the  American  nation,  on  the  anniversary  of  American  Independence. 


248  WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 

The  hour  for  our  reception  was  two  in  the  afternoon.  The  day  was 
very  warm,  although  in  our  palace  on  the  sea  we  have  whatever  breeze 
may  be  wandering  over  the  Pacific  Ocean.  General  Grant  invited  some 
of  his  friends  to  accompany  him.  At  half-past  one  Mr.  Bingham,  our 
Minister,  arrived,  and  our  party  immediately  drove  to  the  palace.  The 
home  of  the  Kmperor  is  a  long  distance  from  the  home  of  the  General. 
The  old  palace  was  destroyed  by  fire,  and  Japan  has  had  so  many  things 
to  do  that  she  has  not  built  a  new  one.  The  road  to  the  palace  was 
through  the  section  of  Tokio  where  the  old  daimios  lived  when  they 
ruled  Japan  as  feudal  lords,  and  made  their  occasional  visits  to  the 
capital.  There  seems  to  have  been  a  good  deal  of  Highland  freedom 
in  the  manners  of  the  old  princes.  Their  town  houses  were  really 
fortifications.  A  space  was  inclosed  with  walls,  and  against  these  walls 
chambers  were  built — rude  chambers,  like  winter  quarters  for  an  army. 
In  these  winter  quarters  lived  the  retainers,  the  swordsmen  and  soldiers. 
In  the  centre  of  the  inclosure  was  the  home  of  the  lord  himself,  who 
lived  in  the  midst  of  his  people,  like  a  general  in  camp,  anxious  to  fight 
somebody,  and  disappointed  if  he  returned  to  his  home  without  a  fight. 
A  lord  with  hot-tempered  followers,  who  had  come  from  the  restraints 
and  amenities  of  home  to  have  a  good  time  at  the  capital,  and  give  the 
boys  a  chance  to  distinguish  themselves  and  see  the  world,  would  not 
be  a  welcome  neighbor.  And  as  there  were  a  great  many  such  lords, 
and  each  had  his  arm}'  and  his  town  fortress,  the  daimio  quarter  became 
an  important  part  of  the  capital.  Some  of  the  houses  were  more  im- 
posing than  the  palace — notably  the  house  of  the  Prince  of  Satsuma. 
There  was  an  imposing  gate,  elaborately  buttressed  and  strengthened, 
that  looked  quite  Gothic  in  its  rude  splendor.  These  daimio  houses 
have  been  taken  by  the  government  for  schools,  for  public  offices,  for 
various  useful  purposes.  The  daimios  no  longer  come  with  armies  and 
build  camps  and  terrorize  over  their  neighbors  and  rivals. 

We  drove  through  the  daimios'  quarter  and  through  the  gates  of  the 
city.  The  first  impression  of  Tokio  is  that  it  is  a  city  of  walls  and 
canals.  The  walls  are  crude  and  solid,  protected  by  moats.  In  the 
days  of  pikemen  and  sword-bearers  there  could  not  have  been  a  more 
effective  defence.  Even  now,  it  would  require  an  effort  for  even  a 
German  army  to  enter  through  these  walls.  They  go  back  many  gen- 
erations. I  do  not  know  how  many.  In  these  lands  nothing  is  worth 
recording  that  is  not  a  thousand  )'ears  old,  and  my  impression  is  that 
the  walls  of  Tokio  have  grown  up  with  the  growth  of  the  city,  the 
necessities  of  defence,  and  the  knowledge  of  the  people  in  attack  and 
defence.  We  passed  under  the  walls  of  an  inclosure  which  was  called 
the  castle.     Here  we  are  told  the  luiiperor  will  build  his  new  palace. 


WONDERS    OF   JAPAN.  249 

AVe  crossed  another  I)ridc^e — I  think  there  were  a  dozen  altogether  in 
the  course  of  the  drive — and  came  to  a  modest  arched  gateway,  which 
did  not  look  nearly  as  imposing  as  the  entrance  to  the  palace  formerly 
occupied  b)'  the  great  rrince  Satsuma.  Soldiers  were  drawn  up  and 
the  band  played  "  Hail  Columbia."  Our  carriages  drove  on  past  one  or 
two  modest  buildings,  and  drew  up  in  front  of  another  modest  building, 
on  the  steps  of  which  the  Minister  Iwakura  was  standing.  The  General 
and  party  descended  and  were  cordially  welcomed  and  escorted  up  a 
narrow  stairway  into  an  anteroom.  When  you  have  seen  most  of  the 
available  palaces  in  the  world,  from  the  glorious  home  of  Aurungzebe 
to  the  depressing  mighty  cloister  of  the  Escurial,'  you  are  sure  to  have 
preconceived  notions  of  what  a  palace  should  be,  and  to  expect  some- 
thing unique  and  grand  in  the  home  of  the  long-hidden  and  sacred 
Majesty  of  Japan.  The  home  of  the  Emperor  was  as  simple  as  that  of 
a  country  gentleman.  We  have  many  country  gentlemen  with  felicitous 
investments  m  petroleum  and  silver  who  would  disdain  the  home  of  a 
prince  who  claims  direct  descent  from  heaven,  and  whose  line  extends 
far  beyond  the  Christian  era.  What  marked  the  house  was  its  simplic- 
ity and  taste;  qualities  for  which  my  palace  education  had  not  pre- 
pared me.  You  look  for  splendor,  for  the  grand — at  least  the  grandiose 
- — for  some  ro)'al  \\  him,  like  the  holy  palace  near  the  Escurial,  which 
cost  millions,  or  like  Versailles,  whose  cost  is  among  the  eternal  mys- 
teries. Here  we  are  in  a  suite  of  plain  rooms,  the  ceilings  of  wood,  the 
walls  decorated  with  natural  scenery — the  furniture  sufficient  but  not 
crowded — and  exquisite  in  style  and  finish.  There  is  no  pretence  of 
architectural  emotion.  The  rooms  are  large,  airy,  with  a  sense  of  summer 
about  them  which  grows  stronger  as  you  look  out  of  the  window  and 
down  the  avenues  of  trees.  We  are  told  that  the  grounds  are  spacious 
and  fine,  even  for  Japan,  and  that  His  Majesty,  who  rarely  goes  out- 
side of  his  palace  grounds,  takes  his  recreation  within  the  walls. 

STRIKING    APPEARANCE    OF    THE    EMPEROR    AND    EMPRESS. 

The  palace  is  a  low  building,  one  or  at  most  two  stories  in  height. 
They  do  not  build  high  walls  in  Japan,  and  especially  in  Tokio,  where 
earthquakes  are  ordinary  incidents,  and  the  first  question  to  consider  in 
building  up  is  how  far  you  can  fall.  We  enter  a  room  where  all  the 
Ministers  are  assembled.  The  Japanese  Cabinet  is  a  famous  body,  and 
tested  by  laws  of  physiognom\-  would  compare  with  that  of  any  Cabinet 
I  have  seen. 

A  lord  in  waiting,  heavily  braided,  with  a  uniform  that  Louis  XIV. 
would  not  have  disliked  in  Versailles,  comes  softly  in  and  makes  a  signal, 
leading  the  way.  The  General,  and  Mrs.  Grant,  escorted  by  Mr. 
Bingham,  and   our  retinue  followed.     The   General  and  the  Minister 


250 


WONDERS    OF    EXPLCJRATION    AND    ADVENTLRI 


were  in  evening  dress.  The  naval  officers  were  in  full  uniibrm,  Colonel 
Grant  wearing  the  uniform  of  lieutenant-colonel.  We  walked  along  a 
short  passage  and  entered  another  room,  at  the  further  end  of  which 
were  standing  the  Emperor  and  Empress.     Two  ladies  in  waiting  were 


GENERAL    GRANT    MEETING    THE    EMPEROR    OF   JAPAN. 


near  them,  in  a  sitting,  what  appeared  to  be  a  crouching  attitude.  Two 
other  princes  were  standing.  These  were  the  only  occupants  of  the 
room.  Our  party  slowly  advanced,  the  Japanese  making  a  profound 
obei.sance,  bending  the  head  almost  to  a  right   angle  with  the  body. 


WONDERS    OF   JAPAN.  251 

The  royal  princes  formed  in  line  near  the  Emperor,  along  with  the 
princesses.  The  emperor  stood  quite  motionless,  iipparently  unobser- 
vant or  unconscious  of  the  homage  that  was  paid  him.  He  is  a  young 
man  with  a  slender  figure,  taller  than  the  average  Japanese  and  of 
about  the  middle  height,  according  to  our  ideas.  He  has  a  striking 
face,  with  a  mouth  and  lips  that  remind  you  something  of  the  traditional 
mouths  of  the  Hapsburg  family.  The  forehead  is  full  and  narrow,  the  hair 
and  the  light  moustache  and  beard  intensely  black.  The  color  of  the  hair 
darkens  what  otherwise  might  pass  for  a  swarthy  countenance  at  home. 
The  face  expressed  no  feeling  whatever,  and  but  for  the  dark,  glowing 
eye,  which  was  bent  full  upon  the  General,  you  might  have  taken  the 
imperial  group  for  statues.  The  empress  wore  the  Japanese  costume, 
rich  and  plain.  Her  face  w^as  very  white,  and  her  form  slender  and 
almost  childlike.  Her  hair  was  combed  plainly  and  braided  with  a  gold 
arrow.  The  solemn  etiquette  that  pervaded  the  audience-chamber  was 
peculiar,  and  might  appear  strange  to  those  familiar  with  the  stately  but 
cordial  manners  of  a  European  Court.  But  one  must  remember  that 
the  Emperor  holds  so  high  and  so  sacred  a  place  in  the  traditions,  the 
religion  and  the  political  system  of  Japan  that  even  the  ceremony  of 
to-day  is  so  far  in  advance  of  anything  of  the  kind  ever  known  in 
Japan  that  it  might  be  called  a  revolution.  The  Emperor,  for  instance, 
as  our  group  was  formed,  advailted  and  shook  hands  with  the  General. 

THE   emperor's    EXTRAORDINARY    CONDESCENSION. 

That  seems  a  trivial  thing  to  write  about,  but  such  an  incident  was 
never  known  in  the  history  of  Japanese  majesty.  Many  of  these 
details  may  appear  small,  but  we  are  in  the  presence  of  an  old  and 
romantic  civilization,  slowly  giving  way  to  the  fierce,  feverish  pressure 
of  European  ideas,  and  you  can  only  note  the  change  in  those  incidents 
which  would  be  unnoticed  in  other  lands.  The  incident  of  the 
Emperor  of  Japan  advancing  toward  General  Grant  and  shaking  hands 
becomes  a  historic  event  of  consequence,  and  as  such  I  note  it.  The 
manner  of  the  Emperor  was  constrained,  almost  awkward,  the  manner 
of  a  man  doing  a  thing  for  the  first  time,  and  trying  to  do  it  as  well  as 
possible.  After  he  had  shaken  hands  with  the  General,  he  returned  to 
his  place,  and  stood  with  his  hand  resting  on  his  sword,  looking  on  at 
the  brilliant,  embroidered,  gilded  company  as  though  unconscious  of 
their  presence.  Mr.  Bingham  advanced  and  bowed,  and  received  just 
the  faintish  nod  in  recognition.  The  other  members  of  the  party  were 
each  presented  by  the  Minister,  and  each  one  standing  about  a  dozen 
feet  from  the  Emperor  stood  and  bowed.  Then  the  General  and  Mrs. 
Grant  were  presented  to  the  princesses,  each  party  bowing  to  the  other 
in  silence.     This  ro>'al  reception  past,  there  were  various  sights  which 


252 


WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 


claimed  the  attention  of  the  visitors.  The  narrative  continues  :  A  few 
mornings  before  we  left  Euriokwan  there  was  another  experience.  Our 
hosts  had  sent  us  some  workers  in  pottery  to  show  us  the  skill  of  the 
Japanese  in  a  department  of  art  in  which  they  have  no  superiors.  One 
of  the  famous  potters  had  expressed  a  desire  to  show  the  General  his 
work.  After  breakfast  we  found  the  artisans  arranged  in  the  large 
drawing-room.  There  was  the  chief  worker,  a  solemn,  middle-aged 
person,  who  wore  spectacles.     He  was  dressed  in  his  gala  apparel,  and 


AM1:RICANS    visiting    a    JA1'\M..--1      l'OIiiK\ 

when  we  came  into  the  room  went  down  on  his  face  in  Japanese  style. 
There  were  three  assistants.  One  worked  the  wheel.  Another  baked 
the  clay.  A  third  made  himself  generally  useful.  The  chief  of  the 
party  was  a  painter.  We  saw  all  the  processes  of  the  manufacture,  the 
inert  lump  of  clay  going  around  and  around,  and  shaping  itself  under 
the  true,  nimble  fingers  of  the  workmen  into  cups  and  vases  and  bowls. 
There  is  something  fascinating  in  the  labors  of  the  wheel,  the  work  is 
50  thoroughly  the  artisan's  own,  for  when  he  begins  he  has  only  a  lump 


WONDERS    OF    JAPAN.  253^ 

of  mud  and  when  he  ends  his  creation  may  be  the  envy  of  a  throne 
room.  It  seems  ahiiost  Hke  a  Providence,  this  taking  the  dust  of  the 
valley  and  creating  it,  for  the  work  is  creation,  and  we  are  reminded 
of  Providence  in  remembering  that  when  the  Creator  of  all  fashioned 
His  supreme  work  it  was  made  of  clay.  The  decoration  of  the  clay 
was  interesting,  requiring  a  quick,  firm  stroke.  We  were  requested  to 
write  something  on  the  clay  before  it  went  into  the  furnace.  General 
Grant  gave  his  •  autograph  and  the  rest  of  us  inscriptions  written,  as 
well  as  we  could  write,  with  a  soft,  yielding  brush.  After  the  inscrip- 
tions had  been  written  the  cups  were  washed  in  a  white  substance  and 
hurried  into  the  furnace.  When  they  came  out  the  fire  had  evaporated 
the  coating  and  turned  into  a  gloss  the  tints  of  our  writing  and  the 
painters' colors  had  changed,  and  our  inscriptions  were  permanent. 

A   JAPANESE    LADY    ON    HORSEBACK. 

A  common  mode  of  traveling  in  Japan,  especially  among  the  wealthier 
classes,  is  by  the  palanquin,  or  chair  carried  by  men.  Horseback  riding  is 
another  mode,  employed  by  the  wealthier  class,  and  is  worth  describing. 

The  attitude  and  general  appearance  of  a  female  equestrian  in  Japan 
differ  considerably  from  those  of  our  own  country.  Side-saddles  are 
unknown,  the  fair  rider  perching  herself  upon  a  saddle  which  lifts  her 
high  above  the  back  of  the  animal,  concealing  her  body  downward, 
holding  on  tightly  by  the  front  part  of  the  saddle,  and,  in  fact^  giving 
herself  a  look  very  much  resembling  that  of  a  gayly  attired  monkey  on 
horseback.  This  mode  of  riding  is  even  followed  by  the  opposite 
sex,  the  retainers  of  the  high  nobles  sitting  in  their  lofty  saddles  in  very 
much  the  same  attitude  as  that  employed  by  the  women,  and  being  in 
consequence  absolutely  useless,  except  in  looks,  as  cavalry. 

Yet,  when  they  choose,  the  Japanese  can  ride  tolerably,  as  is  shown 
by  the  fact  of  a  game  which  is  played  among  them,  in  which  the  com- 
petitors are  all  mounted.  In  this  game  the  players  have  to  contend 
against  very  great  disadvantages.  In  the  first  place,  the  horses  which 
they  bestride  are  wretched  animals,  mere  rough  ponies,  and  the  accou- 
trements are  so  clumsy,  that  it  is  a  wonder  how  the  horse  can  be  guided 
at  all.  According  to  our  ideas,  a  horse  is  guided  by  the  pressure  of  the 
leg  and  the  touch  of  the  rein,  but  the  Japanese  saddles  render  such 
guidance  impossible. 

The  former  mode  is  prevented  by  the  shape  of  the  saddle,  which  has 
large  flaps  of  stiff  leather  hanging  so  low  that  the  heel  or  knee  of  the 
rider  has  no  effect  upon  the  animal ;  and  the  latter  mode  is  nearly  as 
impossible  as  the  former,  by  reason  of  the  bit  and  the  fashion  of  riding. 
The  bit  is  a  mere  light  snaffl2  placed  loosely  in  the  mouth,  and  the 
reins  are  used,  not  so  much  for  the  purpose  of  guiding  the  horse,  as  of 


254  WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 

keeping  the  rider  in  his  seat.  The  horsemen  grasp  a  rein  tightly  in 
each  hand,  and  so  hang  to  the  bit.  The  natural  consequence  is,  that 
the  mouths  of  the  horses  are  nearly  as  tough  as  the  leather  saddle-flaps, 
and  the  animals  always  go  with  their  noses  in  the  air,  so  as  to  counter- 
act the  perpetual  haul  on  the  bridle. 

The  strangest  part  of  horse  equipment  in  Japan  is,  however,  the  shoe. 
Our  idea  of  a  horseshoe  is  a  metallic  plate  to  protect  the  horse  against 
hard  ground.  The  Japanese  shoe  is  made  of  plaited  straw,  and  is,  in 
fact,  nothing  more  than  a  straw  sandal  tied  to  the  foot,  giving  it  a  very 
clumsy  appearance.  As  may  be  imagined,  their  shoes  never  last  very 
long,  and  on  a  stony  road  are  soon  cut  to  pieces.  The  rider,  therefore, 
takes  a  supply  of  shoes  with  him,  and  renews  them  as  fast  as  they  are 
worn  out.  Indeed,  a  journey  is  often  roughly  calculated  as  a  distance 
of  so  many  shoes. 

Under  such  circumstances,  it  is  not  surprising  that  the  horse  is  seldom 
used  in  traveling.  None  but  a  poor  noble  will  condescend  to  ride  from 
one  place  to  another,  as  it  might  be  supposed  that  he  could  not  afford 
the  retinue  which  is  required  to  carry  him.  Sometimes  a  nobleman 
will  condescend  to  ride  in  public,  but  then  his  horse  must  be  held  by 
two  grooms,  who  tug  continually  at  the  poor  animal's  mouth,  and  shout 
continually,  "  Chai !  Chai !"  meaning  gently,  for  haste  is  always  thought 
undignified  by  the  Japanese,  and  a  person  of  consideration  would  suffer 
a  o-reat  infraction  of  dignity  if  he  allowed  himself  to  hurry  on  the  road. 

RELIGIOUS    BELIEFS    AND    PRACTICES    IN    JAPAN. 

One  of  the  world's  remarkable  facts  is  that  no  nation  can  be  found 
without  a  religion  of  some  kind.  No  people  have  yet  been  discovered 
without  customs  and  practices  which  can  be  accounted  for  only  from 
the  religious  instinct  and  sentiment. 

There  are  two  religions  in  Japan,  very  different  in  their  original 
meaning  and  in  their  ceremonies,  yet  not  so  unlike  in  results  as  would 
be  supposed  by  a  stranger.  The  older  and  native  religion  is  called 
Kami-worship,  or  Shinto  ;  the  other  is  Buddhism.  Shinto  is  a  kind  of 
worship  of  ancestors,  or  of  warriors,  or  public  benefactors,  who  lived 
long  ago.     Their  memorable  deeds  are  to  be  had  in  remembrance. 

The  Shinto  sacred  book,  "The  Book  of  Ancient  Traditions,"  only 
contains  stories  of  gods  and  heroes.  The  Shinto  commandments,  which 
the  adherents  of  this  faith  must  observe,  are  these : — 

1.  Thou  shalt  honor  the  gods,  and  love  thy  country. 

2.  Thou  shalt  clearly  understand  the  principles  of  heaven  (relig- 

ion), and  the  duty  of  man. 

3.  Thou  shalt  revere  the  Mikado  as  thy  sovereign,  and  obey  the 

will  of  his  court. 


255 


256 


WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 


Shintoism  was  the  religion  of  the  Japanese  as  far  back  as  we  have 
records,  and  reverence  for  the  Mikado  or  Emperor  is  a  part  of  it.  The 
Shinto  Bible,  written  about  the  year  712  of  our  era,  professes  to  give 
the  date  of  the  first  Mikado,  and  of  all  his  successors  up  to  that  period;; 
and  although  it  is  not  certain  that  he  ever  really  existed,  the  years  are 
dated  from  his  supposed  reign.  He  is  represented  as  having  been  a 
divine  being,  descended  from  the  "Sun-Goddess,"  while  it  is  said  that 


SINGULAR    CEREMONIES    OF   BUDDHIST    PRIESTS. 

Japan  was  created  before  any  other  country,  and  so  it  is  called  "The 
Land  of  the  Gods,"  a  name  popular  among  the  people. 

It  is  supposed  by  those  who  study  history  most,  that  the  Demi-gods, 
Mikados  and  heroes  of  early  traditions  may  have  been  real  people, 
who  came  later  from  Asia,  and  were  cleverer  and  wiser  than  those  they 
reigned  over,  so  that  the  ignorant  and  simple  natives,  overawed  and 
dazzled,  ascribed  to  them  many  absurd  things  that  they  could  not  do. 


WONDERS    OF   JAPAN,  257 

A  few  years  ago,  when  an  American  steamer  was  seen  in  a  Japanese 
harbor,  the  people  would  pray  that  the  foreign  sorcerers,  who  had 
power  over  a  volcano  to  tame  and  use  it  for  their  purposes,  might  be 
sent  away  from  their  shores. 

It  was  thought  by  many  Japanese  that  Europeans  and  Americans 
were  not  even  men,  but  some  kind  of  dragon-sorcerers,  and  that  the 
chimney  of  the  steamer  was  puffing  out  the  breath  of  the  great  Fire- 
spirit.     Hence  they  regarded  it  with  a  singular  awe. 

As  a  rule,  Shintoism  has  been  the  religion  favored  by  the  Mikado's 
Government,  as  a  means  of  promoting  loyalty  and  patriotism.  The 
Shinto  temples  and  the  Mikado's  palace  are  built  alike,  and  called  by 
the  same  word  to  express  their  sacredness.  There  are  no  idols  in  the 
temples.  A  mirror  of  polished  metal  is  placed  on  a  stand  in  the  inner- 
most court,  and  is  supposed  to  be  a  symbol  of  the  presence  of  the  gods. 
It  is  believed,  too,  that  a  guilty  man's  face  is  reflected  back  to  him  dis- 
torted, if  he  dare  to  gaze  on  it.  Besides  the  mirror,  there  is  a  w'ooden 
wand  called  the  gohei,  with  slips  of  white  paper  tied  to  it  and  hanging 
down,  which  has  some  similar  meaning,  but  no  one  knows  clearly  what. 
A  gohei  is  often  put  up  in  "  groves  and  high  places,"  and  prayers  are 
said  before  it. 

The  Mikado's  palace  and  the  Shinto  temples  are  built  of  fine-grained 
wood,  with  steep,  thatched  roofs  ;  and  no  paint,  gilding,  or  ornament  is 
allowed  to  defile  them.  No  sacrifices  are  made,  but  offerings  are  daily 
laid  before  the  altars.  Pigeons  are  considered  sacred,  and  kept  in  flocks 
in  the  Temple  gardens  ;  they  perch  on  a  cross-bar  joining  two  upright 
beams,  which  is  called  a  Tori,  and  is  in  front  of  every  Shinto  temple, 
and  some  Buddhist  temples  also.  The  Shinto  priests  marry ;  they  do 
not  shave  their  heads,  nor  do  they  dress  differently  from  other  people, 
except  when  officiating  ;  then  they  dress  in  pure  white  robes  and  high 
lacquer  caps.  Their  office  goes  from  father  to  son.  The  chief  priests 
are  of  royal  descent,  and  all  are  government  servants.  Sometimes 
virgin  priestesses  officiate. 

The  Buddhist  religion  was  about  a  thousand  years  old  when  it  was 
brought  to  Japan  near  a.d.  6oo.  Like  Shintoism,  it  does  not  profess  to 
be  idolatrous,  but,  like  that,  it  has  become  so  in  practice. 

It  is  the  popular  religion.  At  first  the  people  did  not  care  for  it,  but 
in  the  ninth  century  it  occurred  to  a  priest  that  the  gods  and  heroes 
whom  the  natives  worshiped  must  certainly  be  "  incarnations  of 
Buddha,"  and  if  so,  that  their  images  ought  to  be  set  up  in  the  Budd- 
hist temples,  and  his  belief  spread  and  was  acted  on.  Then  the  people 
turned  to  the  Buddhist  religion,  and  ever  since  Buddhism  and  Shintoism 
have  had  some  gods  and  some  ceremonies  in  common. 
17 


CHAPTER  IX. 
WONDERS  OF  THE  PACIFIC  ISLE3. 

New  Zealand — Rare  Products — Tattooing — Strange  Customs  -  Recepi ion  of  a  Kir.g — 
Voicanoes  and  Boiling  Springs — The  Bread  Tree — New  Caledoni.i — Superstitions  — 
Dances— Coral  Islands — New  Guinea — Description  of  the  Natives — Savage  Fijiaiis 
Island  of  Tahiti  —Excitement  over  a  Horse — San<lwich  Islands — Valcanic  Erup- 
tion—Captain Cook  and  His  Death— Surf  Swimming — Pitcairn's  Is. and— Singular 
Monuments — Handsome  Marquesians — Island  of  Java — Marvelous 
Natural  Beauty^Volcano — Animal  Life — A  (Jem  Set  in  the  Sea. 

EW  ZEALAND  properly  consists  of  three  islands. 
The  two  larger,  called  North  and  South,  are  about  as 
big  as  Pennsylvania.  The  little  one,  south  of  all,  is  too 
small  to  be  of  any  importance.  The  fruits  and  flowers 
of  New  Zealand  are  endless  in  variety  and  beauty. 
Besides  many  beautiful  trees  and  plants  natural  to  the 
country,  every  sort  of  root  and  seed  introduced  by 
Europeans  has  grown  and  flourished,  either  in  the  North 
or  South,  in  a  wonderful  way.  In  the  North  island,  the 
myrtle  and  scarlet  geranium  bloom  unsheltered  all  the  year  round ; 
and  grapes,  figs,  and  melons  ripen  perfectly  in  the  open  air,  and  in  the 
most  northern  parts,  oranges,  bananas,  and  pine-apples  ;  but  as  tropical 
fruits  of  every  description  are  to  be  obtained  so  easily  from  the  neigh- 
boring South  Sea  Islands,  it  is  not  worth  while  spending  the  time  in 
cultivating  them. 

In  the  fruit  markets  side  by  side  with  the  products  of  the  hottest 
climates,  are  gooseberries,  currants,  cherries  and  strawberries,  which  grow 
in  the  South  Island  in  the  utmost  profusion  and  perfection.  All  vege- 
tables thrive,  as  well  as  the  kumera,  or  sweet  potato,  grown  by  the 
Maories,  or  natives,  and  so  do  our  favorite  American  flowers — rose, 
honeysuckle,  lavender,  mignonette,  even  snowdrops,  crocuses  and  daffo- 
dils. Our  oak  and  elm  and  other  trees  grow  well  also  ;  but  for  trees  and 
flowers  New  Zealand  was  well  off  before  the  Europeans  planted  any  there. 
A  New  Zealand  forest  in  its  native  wildness  is  a  most  beautiful  sight, 
with  its  infinite  variety  of  pine-trees,  evergreens,  creepers,  and  shrubs. 
Many  of  the  large  trees  bear  lovely  flowers,  and  the  ground  is  carpeted 
with  them.  Among  the  most  beautiful  plants  are  the  tree-fern  and  the 
cabbage  palm  ;  the  most  common  is  the  manuka  scrub,  which  grows  all 
over  the  island.  It  is  something  like  a  myrtle,  and  has  white,  anr' 
(•258) 


WONDERS    OF    THE    PACIFIC    ISLES.  259 

sometimes  pink,  blossoms.     All  the   native  trees,  with    one    or    two 
exceptions,  are  cv^ergrccn. 

A  rare  kind  of  fla.x  grows  all  over  the  island.  The  natives  have 
always  used  it  for  all  sorts  of  purposes,  and  it  has  a  value  in  all 
countries  on  account  of  its  quality.  It  has  a  very  handsome  large  red 
flower,  and  has  great  sword-shaped  leaves.  It  sometimes  grows  as  high 
as  seven  feet,  and  in  a  heavy  shower  of  rain  a  flax-bush  makes  a  capital 
shelter.  The  Maories  are  very  fond  of  sucking  the  honey  which  the 
flowers  produce.  Before  the  Europeans  came,  nearly  all  their  clothing 
was  made  from  this  wonderful  flax,  not  woven,  but  knotted  together 
in  a  peculiar  manner.  The  ordinary  native  dress  is  a  garment  of  this 
material,  nearly  square,  about  five  feet  in  length  and  four  in  breadth. 
It  is  fastened  round  the  shoulders  by  two  corners,  and  round  the  waist 
with  a  girdle.  Over  this  they  sometimes  wear  a  large  mantle  covered 
with  dog-skin.  The  dress  of  both  women  and  men  is  the  same.  Their 
ornaments  are  feathers  upon  the  head,  and  combs  and  pearl-shells.  In 
their  ears  they  wear  pieces  of  jasper  or  green  jade  and  sharks'  teeth. 
The  women  adorn  their  necks  with  strings  of  sharks'  teeth  and  a 
particular  kind  of  berry.  The  feathers  worn  by  the  chiefs  are  con- 
sidered of  great  importance,  and  in  some  way  distinguish  the  different 
tribes  to  which  they  belong,  being  both  useful  and  ornamental. 

THE    PRACTICE    OF   TATTOOING. 

The  process  of  tattooing,  as  practiced  by  the  natives,  is  most  painful 
and  tedious.  A  preparation  of  charcoal  is  made  and  placed  on  a  block 
of  wood.  Then  incisions  are  made  in  the  skin  with  a  bone  instrument 
dipped  in  the  charcoal.  The  finer  part  of  the  work  is  finished  up  with 
a  bone  needle,  more  after  the  fashion  in  which  sailors  tattoo  their  arms 
with  gunpowder.  It  used  to  be  the  universal  custom  to  begin  tattooing 
a  wretched  Maori  boy  at  the  age  of  ten,  and  continue  the  process  at 
intervals  till  he  was  twenty.  Many  years  ago  a  party  of  Englishmen 
were  seized  and  tattooed  by  the  Maories.  One  of  them  gives  a  terrible 
account  of  the  suffering  entailed  by  it.  He  was  held  down  by  six 
natives,  and  the  operation  lasted  for  four  hours.  The  Maories  them- 
selves, however,  do  not  seem  to  mind  the  pain  of  it,  and  tattoo  their 
own  persons,  as  well  as  those  of  their  friends,  with  the  greatest  satis- 
faction. The  tattooing  of  the  face  of  a  New  Zealander  marks  the  clan 
or  tribe  to  which  he  belongs,  like  the  stripes  and  color  of  a  Highlander's 
plaid.  Besides  these  distinguishing  lines  and  curves,  the  intricacies  and 
varieties  of  the  pattern  are  like  a  crest  or  coat-of-arms,  and  mark  the 
Maori  chiefs  from  the  common  people,  and  also  enable  them  to  distin- 
guish their  enemies  in  battle.  Besides  the  tattooing,  they  smear  their 
faces  with  oil  and  red  ochre,  which  is  considered  highly  ornamental. 


260  WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 

The  Maories  have  many  superstitions,  some  of  which  are  most 
curious  and  others  very  silly  and  childish.  One  of  the  strangest  is  the 
"  tapu,"  which  means  that  a  thing  is  sacred^ — not  to  be  touched.  Tiie 
first  missionaries  often  got  into  trouble  by  transgressing  these  laws  unin- 
tentionally, and  sometimes  the  Maories  would  lay  traps  for  them,  as  it 
were,  putting  the  sacred  object  in  their  way  so  as  to  give  them  an 
excuse  for  killing  or  injuring  them.  The  chiefs  are  always  tapu, 
especially  their  heads.  Many  places  are  tapu  ;  birds  and  animals  are 
sometimes  tapu.  In  these  days,  however,  the  tapu  is  not  nearly  as 
strict  as  it  used  to  be  ;  the  Maories  will  often  take  it  off  for  money. 
When  the  Duke  of  Edinburgh  reached  the  hot  lakes  in  the  North 
Island,  the  tapu  was  taken  off  the  very  sacred  ducks  which  abound 
there,  for  his  benefit ;  so  that  in  such  a  case  as  this  it  really  only 
amounts  to  a  useful  preservation  of  game. 

A  stranger  custom  than  the  tapu  is  what  is  called  "  muru."  If  any 
one  has  an  accident  or  affliction,  it  is  thought  a  compliment  and  a  token 
of  sympathy  to  visit  him,  eat  up  all  his  provisions,  and  sometimes  rob 
him  of  everything  he  possesses.  There  is  a  very  amusing  old  book 
called  the  •'  Pakeha  Maori "  (Pakeha  means  a  stranger),  which 
describes  this  custom  of  "  muru  "  fully.  A  man's  child  fell  into  the 
fire  and  was  nearly  burned  to  death.  The  father  was  immediately 
plundered  to  an  extent  that  almost  left  him  without  the  means  of  sub- 
sistence— fishing  nets,  canoes,  pigs,  provisions,  all  went.  His  canoe 
upset,  and  he  and  all  his  family  narrowly  escaped  drowning  ;  some  were 
perhaps  drowned.  He  was  immediately  robbed,  and  well  pommeled 
with  a  club  into  the  bargain.  He  might  be  clearing  some  land  for 
potatoes,  burning  off  the  fern,  and  the  fire  spreads  further  than  he 
intended,  and  gets  into  the  burial-ground.  No  matter  whether  anyone 
has  been  buried  in  it  for  the  last  hundred  years,  lie  is  mercilessly 
robbed.  For  ten  thousand  different  causes  a  man  might  be  thus  mal- 
treated. Indeed,  in  many  cases  it  would  have  been  felt  as  a  slight  and 
an  insult  not  to  be  robbed — the  sacking  of  a  man's  establishment  being 
often  taken  as  a  high  compliment — and  to  resist  the  execution  would 
not  only  have  been  looked  upon  as  mean  jind  disgraceful  in  the  highest 
'  degree,  but  would  have  debarred  the  contemptible  individual  from  the 
privilege  of  robbing  his  neighbor. 

There  were  many  worse  superstitions  and  customs  than  these,  how- 
ever, against  which  the  missionaries  had  to  contend  when  they  first 
took  up  their  abode  among  the  Maories.  When  a  chief  died,  it  was 
considered  right  and  proper  to  kill  a  slave  immediately,  in  order  that 
the  great  man  might  have  a  spirit  to  attend  him  into  another  world. 
On  one  occasion,  a  young  New  Zcalander  died,  the  nephew  of  a  chief, 


WONDERS    OF    THE    PACIFIC    ISLES.  261 

who  was  staying  at  Sidney.  The  uncle  chief  immediately  prepared  to 
sacrifice  a  slave,  to  accompany  the  spirit  of  his  nephew,  and  the  mis- 
sionary's family  was  only  able  to  save  the  life  of  the  poor  fellow  by 
hiding  him.  They  persuaded  the  chieftain,  with  great  difficulty,  to  give 
up  the  idea ;  but  he  was  never  thoroughly  satisfied  about  it.  He 
frequently  lamented  that  his  nephew  had  no  attendant  to  the  next 
world,  and  seemed  quite  afraid  to  return  to  New  Zealand  lest  the  father 
of  the  young  man  should  reproach  him  with  his  neglect.  When  a 
chieftain  died,  one  or  more  of  his  wives  would  always  make  an  end  to 
herself,  in  order  that  she  might  accompany  her  husband.  In  these  days 
the  wives  content  themselves  with  covering  their  heads,  and  howling 
and  lamenting  for  days  together.  These  lamentations  and  certain  cere- 
monies and  a  great  deal  of  feasting  always  accompany  the  death  of  a 
chief,  and  constitute  what  they  call  a  "  tangi  " — a  very  curious  custom. 

A    FRIGHTFUL    WELCOME    TO    STRANGERS. 

The  first  missionaries  who  visited  New  Zealand  met  with  an  enthusi- 
astic reception,  and  the  account  pictures  some  of  the  interesting  customs 
which  p/evail.  As  they  landed,  suddenly  a  woman  came  running  to- 
wards them,  waving  a  red  mat  over  her  head,  and  calling  out  "  Haromai. 
haromai!"  "Come  hither,  come  hither!"  This,  they  were  assured, 
was  a  friendly  invitation.  So  they  went  forward,  and  soon  found  them- 
selves in  the  midst  of  warriors  and  spears.  Suddenly  the  warriors  seized 
their  spears,  brandished  them  in  the  air,  uttered  the  most  frightful 
shrieks  and  yells,  and  flung  their  limbs  and  bodies  about  in  the  most 
horrible  manner.  This  was,  however,  really  only  a  compliment  to  the 
visitors,  and  was,  in  fact,  a  war  dance  of  welcome.  This  method  of 
showing  pleasure  at  the  presence  of  guests  seems  very  strange,  but 
other  customs  of  the  Maories  are  not  less  so.  As  it  was  a  time  of  great 
rejoicing  the  Maories  erected  a  huge  platform  eighty  or  ninety  feet 
high,  in  the  shape  of  a  pyramid.  The  whole  of  the  structure  was  cov- 
ered with  people,  who  literally  swarmed  upon  it,  and  assisted  in  deco- 
rating it  with  colored  cloths  and  streamers,  and  such  ornaments  as  they 
could  afford,  giving  it  a  very  attractive  appearance. 

As  evening  drew  on,  all  the  party  returned  to  the  ship  except  t\\  o 
who  determined  to  remain.  They  had  supper  of  fish  and  potatoes  in 
one  camp,  and  then  walked  to  another  camp,  about  a  mile  off,  where 
they  were  received  quite  as  kindly,  and  were  soon  surrounded  by  chiefs. 
The  first  night  passed  among  the  natives  was  a  strange  one.  The  nar- 
rator describes  it  in  this  way:  As  the  evening  advanced,  the  people 
began  to  retire  to  rest  in  different  groups.  About  eleven  o'clock  we 
wrapped  ourselves  in  our  great  coats,  and  prepared  for  rest.  The  night 
was  clear,  the  stars  shone  bright,  and  the  sea  in  our  front  was  smooth  ; 


262 


WONDERS    OF    EXPLORATION    AND    ADVEN'iUKE. 


around  us  were  innumerable  spears,  stuck  upright  in  the  ground,  and 
groups  of  natives  lying  in  all  directions,  like  a  flock  of  sheep,  upon  the 
grass,  as  there  were  neither  tents  nor  huts  to  cover  them.     I  viewed 


A    MAORI    FESTIVAL WELCOMING    VISITORS. 

our  present  situation  with  sensations  that  I  cannot  express,  surrounded 
by  cannibals  who  had  massacred  and  devoured  our  countrymen.  I 
wondered  much  at  the  mysteries  of  Providence,  and  how  these  things 


WONDERS    OF    THE    PACIFIC    ISLES.  263 

could  be.  Never  did  I  behold  the  blessed  advantage  of  civilization  in 
a  more  grateful  light  than  now.  I  did  not  sleep  much  during  the  night. 
My  mind  was  too  seriously  occupied  by  the  present  scene,  and  the  new 
and  strange  ideas  it  naturally  excited.  About  thiee  in  the  morning  I 
rose  and  walked  about  the  camp,  surveying  the  different  groups  of 
natives.  When  the  morning  light  returned,  we  beheld  men,  women, 
and  children  asleep  in  all  directions,  like  the  beasts  of  the  field. 

INAUGURATING    A    KING. 

The  account  of  the  electing  of  this  first  king  is  very  curious.  In 
Ju  le,  1858,  he  was  formally  accepted  at  a  place  called  Rangiawhia. 
He  ent-fred  it  preceded  by  his  flag,  bearing  the  device  of  a  cross  and 
three  stars,  with  the  name  of  the  country  in  the  centre.  After  him 
came  the  chiefs  and  numbers  of  well-dressed  natives.  He  was  received 
by  a  procession  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  place,  one  of  the  chiefs  reading 
an  address  of  welcome.  A  volley  of  musketry  was  fired  by  an  army  of 
young  men,  who  then  marched  backwards  and  fell  into  lines,  so  as  to 
form  an  avenue  for  the  king  to  pass  along,  saluting  him  with  another 
volley.  The  procession  then  advanced  into  a  square  formed  by  huts 
and  tents,  when  at  a  given  signal  a  profound  obeisance  was  simultane- 
ously made  by  all  the  assembly  of  the  different  tribes  to  the  king.  One 
of  the  native  teachers  then  stood  up  and  read  a  part  of  a  chapter  in  the 
Bible,  and  gave  out  the  verses  of  a  hymn,  which  were  sung.  He  then 
offered  up  a  prayer.  After  a  few  minutes'  silence  a  song  of  welcome 
was  chanted  by  one  of  the  chiefs,  another  volley  fired,  another  obeisance 
made,  and  King  Potatau  was  installed  as  the  first  king  of  the  Maori 
race.     He  did  not  live  long,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  son. 

SPLENDID    FORESTS    AND    VOLCANIC    MOUNTAINS. 

The  forests  of  New  Zealand  are  chiefly  on  the  mountain  ranges.  The 
plains  are  covered  with  grass  and  fern.  There  is  a  grand  range  of  vol- 
canic mountains,  which  runs  the  entire  length  of  the  middle  island, 
crosses  the  straits  between  the  two  islands  far  down  under  the  sea,  re- 
appearing midway  at  the  island  of  Shapiti.  Many  of  the  New  Zealand 
mountains  are  of  volcanic- origin,  but  at  present  there  are  only  two  active 
ones — Tonganio,  in  the  centre  of  the  north  island,  and  White  Island, 
where  the  grand  precipitous  rock  called  the  Sentinel  Rock  is  dedicated 
to  the  memory  of  Captain  Cook.  The  highest  mountain  in  the  northern 
island  is  a  little  more  than  ten  thousand  feet,  but  in  the  middle  island 
tliere  are  higher  mountains  still. 

Next  to  the  mountains  in  size  and  beauty  are  the  lakes.  The  largest 
of  all  is  Lake  Taupo,  in  the  centre  of  the  volcanic  region  in  the  north 
island.  It  is  twenty-five  miles  long  and  twenty  wide,  and  enormously 
deep — so  deep  that  its  depth  has  never  yet  been  ascertained.     This  fine 


264 


WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 


lake  has  evidently  been  caused  by  the  subsiding  of  the  ground,  as  it 
contains  great  numbers  of  trees  still  standing  up  in  its  waters.  In  its 
centre  rises  a  small  and  very  beautiful  island.  Its  water  is  as  deep  a 
blue  as  the  ocean,  and  the  native  name  for  it,  "Te  Moana,"  means  "The 


Sea."  The  Maorics  believe  that  in  the  middle  of  Take  Taupo  there  is 
a  whirlpool,  inhabited  by  a  "taniwha" — a  gigantic  kind  of  lizard,  which 
seizes  their  canoes,  whirls  them  round  and  rountl,  and  then  devours  them 
and  their  contents.  There  are  quantities  of  small  fish  in  the  lake,  which 
the  natives  catch,  and  cook  in  the  convenient  natural  saucepans  formed 


WONDERS    OF    THE    PACIFIC    ISLES.  265 

by  the  hot  springs  near.  They  also  use  the  steam  and  mud  springs  for 
stewing  food.  Visitors  to  this  region  ahvays  amuse  themselves  by  cook- 
ing bacon,  potatoes,  and  other  vegetables,  in  these  charming  kitchens. 
On  the  south  of  Lake  Taupo  is  the  pretty  village  of  Takanu,  with  a 
splendid  waterfall  near — three  cascades,  which  come  tumbling  down 
rocks  covered  with  woods  and  ferns.  Some  thirty  or  forty  years  ago, 
in  this  region,  a  whole  village  was  buried  ;  the  hot  springs  had  loosened 
the  hill-side,  then  came  heavy  rains,  and  an  avalanche  of  mud  swept 
down  over  the  village,  and  buried  it. 

THE    MARVELOUS    HOT    SPRINGS. 

The  most  wonderful  part  of  the  lake  region  is  round  the  great  hot 
Lake  Ratomahana,  which  you  recognize  at  once  by  the  clouds  of  white 
steam  rising  from  it.  Everywhere  round  the  lake  there  is  a  seething, 
hissing,  and  boiling  sound  from  the  numerous  escapes  of  steam,  boiling 
water,  or  hot  mud.  Eighty  feet  above,  on  the  fern-clad  slope  of  a  hill, 
there  lies  an  immense  boiling  cauldron  in  a  deep  hollow  with  steep  sides, 
full  to  the  brim  of  perfectly  transparent  water,  looking  bright  turquoise- 
blue  in  its  white  basin.  The  surplus  water  flowing  down  the  hill-side 
has  formed  a  pure  white  deposit  in  a  series  of  stages,  each  terrace  hung 
with  stalactites,  and  inclosing  basins  of  every  size  and  depth,  the  upper 
warmer,  and  the  lower  cooler — exquisite  and  most  picturesqe  baths,  the 
intense  red  of  the  bare  earth  walls  contrasting  with  the  blue  of  the 
water,  the  dazzling  white  of  the  basins,  and  the  bright  green  vegetation 
round.  The  stone  flooring  docs  not  cut  the  bather's  feet  in  the  least ; 
it  is  quite  soft  to  the  touch,  and  smooth,  so  that  you  can  recline  in  your 
bath  in  the  greatest  comfort. 

BREAD    THAT    GROWS    ON    TREES. 

New  Caledonia  is  no  less  than  two  hundred  and  forty  miles  long;  it  is 
ver\-  mountainous,  and  has  rather  a  bleak,  barren  appearance.  The  red 
clay  soil  is  less  fertile  than  that  of  most  of  the  South  Sea  Islands, 
which  is,  perhaps,  the  reason  that  the  inhabitants  are  more  industrious 
than  most  of  their  neighbors,  and  have  cultivated  the  ground  more. 

The  bread-fruit,  which  is  the  staff  of  life  to  the  natives  of  these  islands, 
is  indigenous  in  New  Caledonia,  but  does  not  grow  in  the  same  profu- 
sion as  in  most  of  them.  The  South  Sea  Islanders  have  a  curious 
legend  with  reference  to  the  origin  of  the  bread-fruit.  They  say,  tha'  I 
in  the  reign  of  a  certain  king,  when  the  people  ate  red  earth,  a  husband 
and  wife  had  an  only  son  of  whom  they  were  exceedingly  fond.  The 
boy  was  weak  and  delicate  ;  and  one  day  the  husband  said  to  the  wife: 
"  I  compassionate  our  son  ;  he  is  unable  to  eat  the  red  earth  I  will  die, 
and  become  food  for  our  son."  The  wife  naturally  asked  how  he  would 
become  food  ;  and  he  explained  that  he  had  prayed  to  his  god  to  help 


266  WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 

him,  and  had  received  a  favorable  answer.  "  When  I  am  dead,"  he  said, 
"  take  my  body,  separate  it,  and  plant  my  head  in  one  place,  my  heart 
in  another,  and  so  on.  Then  come  into  the  house  and  wait.  When 
you  shall  hear  at  first  a  sound  like  that  of  a  leaf,  then  of  a  flower,  after- 
wards of  an  unripe  fruit,  and  at  last  of  a  ripe,  round  fruit  falling  on  t(j 
the  ground,  know  that  it  is  I  who  am  become  food  for  our  son."  He 
died  soon  after,  and  his  wife  obeyed  his  directions.  After  a  while  she 
heard  a  leaf  fall,  then  the  large  scales  of  the  flower,  then  a  small,  unripe 
fruit,  afterwards  one  full-grown  and  ripe.  This  was  in  the  night.  When 
daylight  came,  she  woke  her  son  and  took  him  out,  and  they  beheld  a 
large  and  handsome  tree  covered  with  broad,  shining  leaves,  and  loaded 
with  bread-fruit. 

PREPARING    THE   FRUIT    FOR    THE    TABLE. 

The  bread-fruit  tree  is  certainly  a  most  beautiful  and  wonderful  one. 
The  trunk,  which  is  covered  with  a  light-colored,  rough  bark,  sometimes 
measures  two  or  three  feet  round,  and  rises  from  twelve  to  twenty  feet 
before  the  branches  shoot  out.  Their  form  is  very  graceful,  and  the 
leaves  are  large,  broad,  and  thick,  of  a  dark-green  color,  with  a  surface 
as  glossy  as  the  most  shiny  evergreen.  The  fruit  is  sometimes  round 
and  sometimes  oval ;  about  six  inches  in  diameter,  and  covered  with 
rough  rind,  marked  into  lozenge-shaped  divisions,  rising  in  the  middle. 
It  is  at  first  a  light  pea-green  color,  then  it  changes  to  brown,  and  when 
fully  ripe  becomes  a  rich  yellow.  The  fruit  hangs  to  the  small  branches 
of  the  trees  by  a  short,  thick  stalk,  either  singly  or  in  clusters.  The 
flower  is  nothing  particular.  The  fruit  is  never  eaten  raw,  except  by  the 
pigs ;  and  the  natives  have  several  ways  of  dressing  it.  When  travel- 
ing, they  often  simply  roast  it  in  the  flame  or  ashes  of  a  wood  fire,  then 
they  peel  off  the  rind  and  eat  the  pulp.  Sometimes  they  plunge  it, 
when  cooked  in  this  way,  into  the  water,  and  when  soaked  it  becomes 
a  sweet,  spongy  paste,  of  which  the  natives  are  very  fond.  The  usual 
way  of  cooking  it,  however,  and  the  best,  is  by  baking  it  in  an  oven  ol 
heated  stones.  The  rind  is  taken  off  and  the  fruit  cut  in  slices,  a  layer 
of  leaves  is  placed  over  the  hot  stones,  and  the  fruit  laid  on  it.  another 
layer  of  leaves  over  the  fruit,  and  hot  stones  on  the  top  of  them.  The 
whole  is  then  covered  with  earth  and  leaves,  several  inches  in  depth. 
In  about  half  an  hour  the  fruit  is  taken  out  nicely  browned  on  the  out- 
side, the  inside  looking  rather  like  the  crumb  of  a  white  loaf  Plantains, 
sugar-canes,  and  cocoa-nuts  also  grow  in  New  Caledonia,  but  in  no  great 
abundance.  The  natives  cultivate  them,  as  well  as  yams,  with  skill  and 
care.  There  are  plenty  of  fish  on  the  coast,  plenty  of  turtles,  and  ?. 
great  variety  of  birds,  some  peculiar  to  the  island  ;  but  quadruped.; 
seem  almost  unknown.     There  arc  no  names  for  dogs,  cats,  or  goats. 


WONDERS    OF    THE    PACIFIC    ISLES.  267 

The  natives  arc  a  tall,  well-proportioned  race  of  men.  They  have 
very  frizzly  hair,  which  is  sometimes  tied  in  a  bunch  on  the  top  of  the 
head,  sometimes  in  two  bunches,  one  on  each  side  of  the  head,  and  very 
often  cut  short  all  round  like  a  frizzly  mop.  The  chiefs  wear  a  sort  of 
turban-like  cap.  The  men  wear  scarcely  any  clothing,  the  women  have 
a  kind  of  petticoat. 

Captain  Cook,  who  was  one  of  their  earliest  visitors,  if  not  quite  the 
first,  gave  them  an  excellent  character.  He  described  them  as  being 
most  courteous  and  friendly,  and  not  at  all  addicted  to  pilfering.  He 
and  his  party  were  guided  and  accompanied  in  their  excursions  by 
natives  who  showed  not  the  least  fear  of  the  white  men,  and  never  the 
slightest  sign  of  hostility.  Subsequent  visitors  to  the  island  were  not 
nearly  so  fortunate  in  their  reception,  but  perhaps  they  did  not  under- 
stand so  well  how  to  manage  the  natives.  Captain  Cook  had  so  much 
experience  in  making  acquaintance  with  savages,  and  such  a  warm  heart 
and  genuine  feeling  of  interest  in  them  and  honest  wish  for  their  welfare, 
that  he  generally  succeeded  in  inspiring  them  with  confidence  and  gain- 
ing their  good-will.  His  death  at  last,  at  the  hands  of  the  Sandwich 
Islanders,  was,  as  it  were,  from  an  accident ;  though  a  most  sad  one. 
Unprincipled  traders,  too,  constantly  removed  the  friendly  feeling 
Captain  Cook  had  established,  and  then,  though  they  might  them- 
selves escape,  woe  to  the  next  party  who  might  visit  the  spot ! 

CHIEFS    WHO    CAN    PUT    THEIR    SUBJECTS    TO    DEATH. 

The  New  Caledonians  are  great  fishermen,  for,  owing  to  the  unpro- 
ductiveness of  their  land,  they  have  to  depend  on  what  they  can  catch 
as  their  principal  means  of  subsistence.  There  is  a  kind  of  small  fish 
something  like  a  sardine,  which  comes  in  large  shoals,  on  which  the 
natives  live  a  great  deal.  In  the  small  rivers  they  catch  eels  and  cray- 
fish. Mullet  are  abundant,  and  on  the  beach  plenty  of  shell-fish  and 
molluscs  of  various  kinds  are  to  be  found.  The  chiefs  of  New  Cale- 
donia are  very  great  people :  the  natives  approach  them  in  a  crouching 
position,  and  they  have  the  power  of  life  and  death  absolutely  in  their 
hands.  They  are  very  superior  to  the  common  people.  Their  gods 
are  their  ancestors,  whose  relics  they  preserve  very  carefully,  and  they 
pray  to  these  gods  before  doing  anything  of  importance — fighting,  fish- 
ing, planting,  or  even  feasting. 

The  spirits  of  those  who  die  are  supposed  to  go  into  the  bush,  and  at 
certain  periods  of  the  year  they  have  feasts  in  which  they  prepare  heaps 
of  food  for  them.  They  used  to  think  the  white  men  were  the  spirits 
of  the  dead,  and  brought  sickness,  and  gave  this  as  a  reason  for  killing 
them.  They  have  quite  given  up  this  idea  now,  but  it  is  too  true  that 
the  Europeans  brought  them  many  diseases  of  which  they  had  never 


268  WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 

heard  before.  On  the  death  of  a  chief  there  are  grand  ceremonies  of 
feasting  and  lamenting,  and  elaborate  tombs  are  erected  for  them  which 
are  always  kept  sacred,  and  regarded  with  great  veneration. 

A    PECULIAR    KIND    OF    DANCE. 

The  principal  amusement  here,  as  in  most  of  the  Pacific  Islands,  is 
dancing.  There  is  one  very  peculiar  performance  called  the  "  pilou 
pilou."  A  party  of  travelers  had  paid  a  visit  to  the  island,  and  were 
about  to  leave  it,  when  they  were  dreadfully  alarmed  by  seeing  a  long 
file  of  natives  approaching,  armed,  tattooed  and  blackened,  and  brand- 
ishing their  hatchets,  their  clubs,  and  their  redoubtable  lances  ;  they 
came  nearer  and  nearer,  and  at  last  placed  themselves  before  the  French- 
men. At  the  same  time  two  men  seated  themselves  on  the  turf  opposite 
the  troops  of  warriors,  one  holding  a  flute  and  the  other  a  hollow  bam- 
boo, upon  which  they  began  to  play.  The  travelers  at  once  recognized 
the  festival  sound,  and  their  fears  disappeared.  It  was  a  "pilou  pilou," 
which  the  chief  of  the  district  was  offering  in  their  honor  on  the  occa- 
sion of  their  departure.  The  principal  attraction  of  the  performance 
was  a-  native  ornamented  with  the  New  Caledonia  mask.  This  is  a 
frightful  gigantic  head  of  wood,  at  the  mouth  of  which  the  man  who 
wears  it  looks  out.  Human  hair  makes  a  great  wig  for  it,  and  its  lower 
part  is  surrounded  by  a  net  covered  with  birds'  feathers.  The  native 
honored  with  the  wearing  of  this  advanced  towards  the  spectators  from 
the  sea-shore  by  way  of  allusion  to  their  arrival  in  the  island.  He 
danced  a  long  time  before  his  comrades,  who  accompanied  him,  bran- 
dishing their  spears  above  his  head,  agitating  their  arms  in  time,  and 
making  a  sort  of  panting  whistle.  After  this  exhibition  the  chief  placed 
himself  in  front  of  the  line,  and  made  a  sort  of  address  to  the  departing 
guests,  with  long  pauses  now  and  then,  during  which  the  natives  joined 
in  an  ear-piercing  howl.  The  address  was  chiefly  a  series  of  good 
wishes  and  kind  expressions  to  the  Frenchmen,  such  as — "  Our  friends 
are  going  to  leave  us;  they  are  going  to  set  out  to-morrow  on  the  great 
sea.  May  the  winds  be  favorable  to  them.  May  they  find  the  sea  calm 
and  gentle,  and  arrive  safe  in  port,  after  a  pleasant  voyage." 

ISLANDS    MADE    OF    CORAL. 

About  seventy  miles  from  New  Caledonia  is  a  group  of  islands  called 
the  Loyalty  Islands.  They  arc  formed  of  nothing  but  coral  in  an  early 
stage  of  development,  bare  and  broken  ridges  upheaved  from  the  sea. 
Between  them  are  pits  filled  with  sufficient  soil  to  cultivate  cocoa-nut 
trees  and  yams,  but  the  islands  produce  but  a  scanty  sustenance  for  the 
inhabitants.  Their  chief-product  is  sandal-wood,  which  grows  in 
abundance,  and  which  brings  the  islands  many  visitors  who  trade  with 
China  in  this  article.     Walking  about  the  coral  islands  is  dreadful  work 


WONDERS    OF   THE    PACIFIC    ISLES.  269 

for  visitors  :  their  shoes  get  cut  to  pieces  and  their  feet  exceedingly  sore. 
A  traveler  who  paid  several  visits  to  these  islands  describes  one  terrible 
walk  of  twenty  miles  ;  he  says  that  nothing  but  broken  bottles  equals 
jagged  coral.  The  paths  are  such  that  you  never  take  three  steps  in 
the  same  direction,  and  every  minute  trip  against  blocks  of  coral  hidden 
by  long  leaves  and  weeds  trailing  over  the  path.  Often  for  half  a  mile 
you  have  to  jump  from  one  bit  of  coral  to  another. 

From  the  observations  of  various  travelers,  it  is  evident  that  the 
coast-scenery  of  New  Guinea  on  the  south  and  east  everywhere  pre- 
sents the  same  general  characteristics — immense  breadths  of  low, 
swampy  land,  densely  planted  with  mangroves  ;  which,  as  the  ground 
rises,  gives  way  to  thick  and  lofty  forests,  inhabited  by  lories,  cockatoos, 
and  pigeons.  Here  and  there  sandy  flats,  uncovered  at  low  water,  are 
utilized  by  the  natives,  and  weirs  for  catching  fish  are  constructed  upon 
them.  These  are  walls  of  loose  stones,  about  three  feet  high,  formed 
in  curv^es  and  semicircles,  each  with  a  radius  of  one  or  two  hundred 
yards.  At  liigh  water  they  are  completely  covered  ;  but  when  the  tide 
falls  numbers  of  fish  are  left  within  these  inclosed  spaces,  or,  together 
with  crabs  and  other  creatures  of  the  sea,  caught  in  the  interstices  of 
the  stones.  At  varying  distances  from  the  shore  stretches  the  great 
sunken  barrier-reef  of  coral,  which  possesses  so  marked  a  resemblance 
to  the  Barrier  Reef  of  Australia.  The  water  upon  the  reef  is  gener- 
ally very  shallow  ;  but  at  certain  points  deep  gaps  or  channels  occur, 
which  ships  of  heavy  burden  may  navigate  with  safety. 

FONDNESS    FOR    THE    TOBACCO    PIPE. 

Along  the  low  littoral  belt  clearings  have  been  made  by  the  natives, 
to  obtain  sites  for  their  little  settlements.  For  this  purpose  a  slight 
knoll  or  rising  ground  is  selected.  The  timber-trees  are  then  felled, 
the  old  stumps  and  branches  of  the  trees  being  sometimes  left  for  the 
"  ketai  "  or  yam  plants  to  be  trained  upon.  In  the  rear  a  grove  of 
cocoa-nuts  frequently  affords  shelter  and  precious  food.  The  gardens 
are  planted  with  planfains,  and  fenced  in  with  the  bamboos;  beyond 
which  spreads  the  tropical  forest,  matted  by  innumerable  creepers  and 
impervious  with  dense  undergrowth.  The  construction  of  the  huts  is 
always  on  the  same  system  :  a  flooring  raised  upon  posts,  a  gabled  roof, 
and  walls  and  partitions  of  split  bamboo.  The  great  amusement  of 
the  inhabitants  of  these  huts — apparently  their  only  luxury — is 
tobacco-smoking,  in  which  they  indulge  after  a  fashion  of  their  own. 
They  break  off  a  piece  from  the  roll  or  plait  into  which  the  leaves  are 
twisted,  and  wrap  it  in  a  green  leaf,  to  prevent  it  from  igniting  the  bowl 
of  their  wooden  pipe.  A  woman  is  deputed  to  fill  the  bamboo  tube 
with  smoke ;  after  which  it  is  passed  round,  and  each   person  in  turn 


270  W0NDEK3  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 

inhales  a  long  whiff,  which  he  swallows,  apparently  with  consider- 
able effort — stands  motionless  a  few  seconds,  as  if  paralyzed,  with  the 
tears  in  his  eyes — then  he  respires  deeply,  and  seems  to  recover.  This 
practice  the  natives  call  "  fire-drinking  ;  "  and  objectionable  as  it  seems 
to  us,  protest  that  it  comforts  and  benefits  them. 

Their  principal  occupations  are  hunting,  fishing,  and  manufacturing 
images,  tortoise-shell  masks,  drums,  and  bows  and  arrows.  The  bows 
are  made  of  the  upper  part  of  a  stout  bamboo,  partly  split  in  half, 
flattencfl,  and  bent  by  the  application  of  heat.  The  string  is  a  broad 
strip  of  the  tough  outer  rind  of  a  bamboo ;  and  the  fastenings  are 
ingeniously  and  powerfully  wrought.  The  bows  are  large,  and  of 
great  strength  ;  some  are  more  than  seven  feet  long,  and  in  the  centre 
more  than  three  inches  wide,  and  an  inch  thick.  The  natives  discharge 
their  arrows  to  very  considerable  distances,  but  not  with  any  great 
accuracy  of  aim.  The  arrows  vary  from  three  to  five  feet  in  length, 
the  common  sorts  being  pointed  only  with  hard  wood,  variously  jagged 
and  barbed.  The  war  arrows,  however,  are  much  larger  and  heavier ; 
the  hard-wood  part  being  very  thick  and  square,  and  elaborately 
carved,  with  a  sharp  bone  point  and  barb  made  and  fitted  like  the 
Australian  spears.  The  shaft  is  always  a  light  cane  or  reed,  without 
feathers.  In  using  the  bow,  the  men  wear  on  the  left  arm  a  stout  arm- 
let or  gauntlet,  which  reaches  from  the  hand  to  the  elbow,  is  made  of 
woven  grass,  and  serves  to  defend  the  arm  from  the  rebound  of  the 
string,  thus  preventing  the  injury  that  otherwise  would  result. 

PHYSICAL    CHARACTERISTICS    OP'    THE    NATIVES. 

A  few  words  may  be  added  in  referenc2  to  the  physical  character  of 
the  natives,  which  will  apply  to  all  the  Papuans,  whether  inhabitants 
of  New  Guinea  or  of  the  islands  that  fringe  its  shores.  The  men, 
generally  speaking,  arc  fine,  active,  well-made  fellows — such  is  the 
description  of  a  modern  voyager — rather  above  the  middle  height,  and 
of  a  dark  brown  or  chocolate  color.  Sometimes  their  faces  may  be 
designated  handsome ;  they  have  aquiline  nos^s,  rather  broad  about 
the  nostrils  ;  well-shaped  heads,  and,  in  not  a  few  cases,  a  curiously 
Hebrew  cast  of  features.  The  frizzled  hair  is  worn  in  long  pipe-like 
ringlets,  smeared  sometimes  with  red  ochre,  sometimes  left  in  i'.s 
natural  black  color ;  the  use  of  wigs  is  not  infrequent.  The  cartilage 
ot  the  nose  is  bored,  and  occasionally  something  is  worn  in  it.  Their 
ears  are  generally  pierced  all  round  with  small  holes,  in  which  pieces 
of  grass  are  stuck  ;  and  in  many  the  lobe  is  torn,  and  hangs  down  to 
the  shoulder.  On  the  body  and  limbs  the  hair  grows  in  small  tufts, 
so  that  the  skin  has  a  slightly  woolly  appearance.  They  go  entirely 
naked,  except  so  far  as  some  slight  covering  is  afforded  by  the  orna- 


WONDERS    OF    THE    PACIFIC    ISLES. 


271 


ments  they  wear;  these  are  made  of  mother-of-pearl  shells,  either 
circular  or  crescent-shaped,  suspended  round  their  necks.  Occasion- 
ally, also,  part  of  a  lart^c  shell  appircntK"  i  lu'lm.  t-shell,  is  cut  into  the 


iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiftiiiuiViii 

shape  of  a  shield,  and  worn  in  tiunt  ot  ihc  groin,  a  \eiy  good  piotec- 
tion,  although  we  would  call  it  a  singular  kind  of  garment. 

The  dress  of  the  women  consists  of  one  or  two  nessoors.  or  petti- 
coats, round  the  waist,  and  reaching  nearly  to  the  knees.     These  are 


272  WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 

composed  of  the  inside  part  of  the  large  leaves  of  a  bulbous-rooted 
plant,  called  "  teggaer,"  of  which  each  strip  measures  an  inch  in 
breadth.  The  nessoor  of  the  young  girls  is  made  of  much  narrower 
strips,  from  the  inside  of  the  leaf  of  the  "  cabbow"  or  plantain.  They 
are  sown  on  to  a  girdle.  The  younger  women  are  often  gracefully 
formed,  with  agreeable  expressions  of  countenance,  though  not  what 
Europeans  would  consider  handsome  features.  They  quickly 
degenerate,  however,  as  is  the  case  with  women  in  all  savage  races  ; 
the  degeneracy  arising  from  insufficient  food,  and  hard  labor.  The 
girls  wear  their  hair. rather  long,  but  the  women  cut  their  tresses  short, 
with  a  bushy  ridge  over  the  top.  Some  of  the  elder  females  shave 
their  heads  quite  smoothly  ;  and  they  never  wear  a  wig,  or  dress  their 
hair  in  long  ringlets,  like  the  men.    This  gives  them  a  bold  appearance. 

HORRIBLE    PRACTICES    AMONG    THE    FIJIANS. 

The  Fijians  are,  or  were  till  very  lately,  a  most  savage  and  degraded 
race.  It  is  only  quite  recently  that  the  practice  of  cannibalism  in  all  its 
most  horrid  forms  has  been  given  up  by  them  ;  indeed,  in  some  of  the 
islands  it  is  still  practiced,  but  the  natives  are  now,  generally  speaking, 
ashamed  of  ever  having  allowed  it.  When,  by  King  Thakombau,  the 
islands  were  taken  under  the  protection  of  Queen  Victoria,  he  sent  her 
as  a  present  a  club  he  valued  greatly,  with  which  he  had  in  former  days 
killed  no  less  than  three  hundred  persons,  whom  he  had  afterwards 
eaten.  This  club,  which  was  made  of  some  very  dark  wood,  he  sent  to 
Sydney  to  be  decorated  before  it  went  to  England.  It  was  beautifully 
ornamented  with  silver  fern-leaves,  and  was  exhibited  in  a  shop  window 
for  some  time  as  a  work  of  art.  Another  dreadful  custom  besides  the 
cannibalism  is  not  yet  entirely  given  up  by  the  Fijians  :  that  of  burying 
each  other  alive,  for  all  sorts  of  trifling  reasons ;  generally  speaking, 
however,  with  the  consent  of  the  party  to  be  buried.  In  one  of  the 
small  islands  an  old  man  insisted  on  being  buried  alive,  because  he  said 
that  one  of  his  sons  had  not  saluted  him  in  the  morning  with  the  usual 
reverence,  which  showed  that  he  was  getting  too  old,  and  losing  respect, 
and  he  would  rather  be  buried  out  of  the  way. 

There  is  a  well-authenticated  account  of  a  young  man  who  chose  to  be 
buried  alive  because  he  was  growing  thin,  and  was  afraid  the  girls  would 
l.\ugh  at  him.  His  father  and  other  members  of  the  family  assisted  in 
the  ceremony  quite  cheerfully.  This  story  is  told  by  a  sailor  of  the 
name  of  John  Jackson,  who  lived  among  the  Fijians  for  two  years,  be- 
ing detained  by  force.  He  learned  their  language,  and  they  were  on 
the  whole  good-natured  to  him,  though  he  often  had  to  escape  from  one 
tribe  to  another  when  he  had  happened  to  offend  those  he  was  among. 
Once  he  very  narrowly  escaped  with  his  life. 


WONDERS    OF    THE    PACIFIC    ISLES.  273 

The  Fijians  have  a  great  variety  of  gods,  most  of  whom  they  seem  to 
consider  vcr}-  hkc  themselves  in  their  tastes  and  habits.  One  is  sup- 
posed to  be  very  fond  of  turtles,  one  of  human  brains.  At  Nateva, 
where  Jackson  lived  for  some  time,  there  was  a  temple  where  the  people 
used  to  lay  various  offerings  for  the  use  of  their  gods,  roast  pigs  and 
muskets  among  them.  On  one  occasion  there  was  a  grand  roasting  of 
and  feasting  on  pigs,  but  Jackson  did  not  consider  that  he  had  had  his 
share.  Being  very  hungry  in  the  night,  he  came  to  the  conclusion  that 
it  was  much  better  that  he  should  have  a  good  supper  than  that  the 
pork  should  be  wasted  on  his  friends'  false  gods,  so  he  stole  into  the 
temple,  where  he  knew  the  pigs  lay,  and  made  a  meal  off  a  portion  of 
a  small  one.  When  he  had  finished,  he  remembered  that  he  had  not 
cut  the  pig  in  the  same  way  as  the  Fijians,  and  that  he  would  be  sure 
to  be  found  out,  so  he  threw  the  remainder  of  the  animal  into  the  bush 
for  the  dogs  to  eat.  The  natives  were  all  extremely  puzzled  when  they 
found  a  whole  pig  had  disappeared,  but  at  length  they  came  to  the 
conclusion  that  one  of  their  favorite  gods  had  swallowed  the  pig  whole. 
An  old  priest  informed  them  that  Kalau  leka  (short  god)  had  conde- 
scended to  appear  to  him  in  the  night  in  a  state  of  high  good-humor, 
and  had  informed  him  of  various  favorable  events,  and  thus  it  was  quite 
evident  that  his  amiability  was  caused  by  his  having  swallowed  the 
whole  pig,  as  when  he  was  hungry  he  was  always  unpleasant.  The 
people  were  all  quite  satisfied  with  this  story,  and  boasted  so  much  of 
the  cleverness  of  their  short  god  in  swallowing  a  pig  whole  that  Jackson 
was  sorely  tempted  to  undeceive  them.  He  refrained,  however,  for 
some  time,  for  fear  of  evil  consequences,  but  at  length,  when  he  had 
become  more  intimate  and  friendly  with  the  people,  he  thought  he 
might  venture  to  tell  them  the  story,  thinking  it  would  shake  their  faith 
in  their  ridiculous  gods.  At  first  they  would  not  believe  him,  but  when 
he  pointed  out  the  spot  where  he  had  thrown  the  pig,  and  its  bones 
were  found  there,  they  were  furious,  and  he  had  to  run  and  swim  for 
his  life,  escaping  as  best  he  could  from  the  offended  savages. 

WEIRD    DANCES    AMONG    THE    FIJIANS. 

After  supper  there  is  always  a  grand  native  dance  to  amuse  the  king, 
in  front  of  the  palace,  an  immense  fire  being  lighted,  so  that  the  per- 
formance may  be  seen  distinctly.  These  native  dances  are  most  strange 
and  wild  affairs.  The  dancers  form  a  circle,  and  utter  a  loud  shout ; 
they  then  begin  to  dance,  quietly  enough  at  first,  but  gradually  quicken 
their  movements,  each  man  trying  to  outdo  his  companions  in  the 
strangeness  and  grotesqueness  of  his  attitudes,  twisting  his  body,  arms, 
and  legs  about  in  apparently  the  wildest  manner,  but  however  excited 
they  become  the  performers  always  act  in  concert,  and  the  dance  is  as 
18 


274  WONDERS    OF    EXPLORATION    AND    ADVENTURE. 

regularly  carried  out  as  a  Highland  reel.  Sometimes  they  career  round 
and  round  the  fire,  crouching  on  the  ground  one  moment,  and  then 
starting  up  brandishing  a  spear  or  club  the  next,  and  shouting  a  sort  of 
wild  song  all  the  time. 

Sometimes  girls  and  women  perform  dances  most  gracefully,  for  they 
have  beautiful  figures,  and  are  wonderfully  light  and  agile  in  their  move- 
ments. They  wear  short  dresses,  made  from  the  bark  of  trees  and  dyed 
all  sorts  of  colors,  and  shell  necklaces,  and  on  their  hair,  which  is  always 
frizzed  out  into  as  big  a  mop  as  possible,  a  wreath  of  flowers.  The 
elaborate  way  in  which  the  Fijians  arrange  their  hair  is  supposed  to 
have  been  the  cause  of  the  strange  sort  of  pillow  in  use  among  them. 
This  is  simply  a  straight  piece  of  wood,  with  two  little  feet  to  raise  it. 
It  is  made  either  of  bamboo  or  hard  wood,  and  is  of  course  miserably 
uncomfortable  to  a  stranger  at  first,  but  some  people  get  accustomed  to 
it,  and  find  it  much  better  than  no  pillow  at  all. 

PRIDE    OF    THE    NATIVES    IN    GIVING    MONEV. 

There  is  a  curious  account  of  a  visit  to  a  village  on  a  grand  Christian 
native  festival-day,  the  occasion  of  the  collection  of  native  contributions 
to  the  Missionary  Society.  The  little  town  was  full  of  visitors,  every 
one  dressed  in  his  best.  The  dancing-green,  in  front  of  the  chief's 
house,  was  cleared,  and  a  white  flag  hoisted  in  the  middle.  About 
eighty  young  men  danced  the  club  dance  and  the  fan  dance.  They 
wore  fringes  hanging  round  their  waists,  generally  a  combination  of  red 
and  yellow  Pandanus  leaf  (a  sort  of  pine)  cut  in  strips,  and  black,  fibrous 
girdles  of  fungus.  All  their  bodies  were  smeared  with  cocoa-nut  oil. 
After  the  first  dance,  a  missionary  arrived  with  three  native  teachers. 
A  table  was  set  out  under  a  tree  opposite  the  chief's  house,  and  they 
stood  behind  it  to  receive  the  money.  Each  man  and  woman  marched 
up  in  turn,  and  threw  their  money  on  it,  with  as  loud  a  rattle  as  possible. 
Only  silv^er  coins  were  brought,  and  the  people  preferred  bringing  two 
sixpences  instead  of  a  shilling,  because  they  would  make  more  jingle. 
They  were  evidently  delighted  and  proud  to  make  their  offerings,  and 
about  five  hundred  dollars  were  collected.  After  the  collection  another 
party  danced ;  this  time  the  men  and  boys  were  painted  in  all  sorts  of 
ways,  with  three  colors,  red,  white  and  blue.  Some  had  one-half  of 
the  face  red,  and  the  other  half  blue  ;  some  had  the  face  red,  and  body 
black.  Some  were  spotted  with  red  and  blue  ;  some  had  black  spectacles 
round  the  eyes,  and  so  on.  They  wore  turbans,  and  plumes  of  red 
feathers  in  their  hair,  which  waved  and  shook  as  they  danced  ;  and 
round  their  necks  pearl  oyster-shells  set  in  whales'  teeth. 

The  natives  of  Tahiti  are  tall  and  well  made ;  the  color  of  their  skin 
is  not  very  dark,  and  their  hair,  though  generally  black,  is  sometimes 


WONDERS    OF    THE    PACIFIC    ISLES. 


275 


red  or  flaxen  :  it  is  always  frizzed.  Thcy-have  large  mouths,  flat  iioscs, 
and  very  white,  even  teeth.  The  women  keep  their  skin  beautifully 
soft  by  constant  use  of  the  cocoa-nut  oil.  They  wear  their  hair  short. 
The  chiefs  are  distinouished,  like  the  Chinese  mandarins,  by  very  long 

nails.     They  are  all  tattooed  like 
the  New  Zealanders ;  indeed,  many 
of  their  customs  are  like  those  of 
the  Maories,  and  their  language  is 
almost  identical.     The  native  dress 
is    formed    of    a    kind    of    cloth, 
resembling  paper,  made  from  the 
bark  of  certain  trees,  particularly 
of  the    paper-mulberry.     As    this 
substance  is  not  well  suited  to  re- 
sist rain,  it  is  thrown  aside  in  wet 
weather,  and  a  sort  of  matting  used 
instead.     The  form  of 
the  dress  is  two  pieces, 
one  wrapped  round  the 
waist;  the  other  with  a 
hole  in  the  middle,  for 
the  head  to  go  through, 
hangs  from  the  shoul- 
ders.     Sometimes    the 
dresses  are  highly  orna- 
mented.   Both  men  and 
women  are  fond  of  wear- 
ing flowers  in  their  hair. 
On  the  occasion   of 
one  of  the  visits  of  an 
English  ship  to  Tahiti, 
the  queen  came  on 
A  TAHiTiAN  CHIEF'S  FINGER-NAILS.  board,    most    elegantly 

attired.  She  wore  a  light,  loose,  flowing  dress  of  white  native  cloth, 
tastefully  fastened  on  the  left  shoulder,  and  reaching  to  the  ankle.  On 
her  head  was  a  pretty  bonnet,  made  of  green  and  yellow  cocoa-nut 
leaves  ;  each  ear  was  pierced  in  several  places,  in  which  fragrant  flowers 
from  the  Cape  Jessamine  were  fastened.  The  old  priest,  who  was  very 
attentive  to  her  wore  a  glazed  hat,  and  a  black  coat,  fringed  round  the 
edges  with  red  feathers,  and  appeared  to  be  proud  of  his  finery. 

The  food  of  the  common  people  is  almost  entirely   vegetable.     It 
consists  of  the  bread-fruit,  bananas,  yams,  apples,  and  a  sort  of  sour 


276  WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 

fruit,  used  to  flavor  the  roasted  bread-fruit.  The  most  general  dish  is 
"  popoi,"  made  of  the  coarse  mountain  plantain,  beaten  up  to  a  paste 
with  cocoa-nut  milk.  No  less  than  thirteen  different  kinds  of  bananas 
grow  in  the  island.  The  only  quadrupeds  (as  in  New  Zealand)  are  dogs, 
pigs  and  rats.  As  the  dogs  are  fed  entirely  on  vegetable  food,  they  are 
said  to  be  very  good  to  eat — something  like  lamb. 

There  are  plenty  of  birds,  wild  ducks,  green  turtle-doves,  large  pigeons, 
small  parrots,  kingfishers,  cuckoos,  and  herons.  In  the  forests  are  many 
kinds  of  sweet-voiced  singing  birds.  There  are  no  snakes,  but  among 
the  fish  with  which  the  sea-coast  abounds,  a  poisonous  kind  of  sea-snake 
is  sometimes  found,  whose  bite  is  said  to  be  mortal.  The  climate  of  the 
island,  which  is  deliciously  warm,  and  at  the  same  time  quite  healthy, 
makes  houses  almost  unnecessary,  and  the  natives  build  little  shelters, 
in  very  light  and  airy  fashion.  They  are  merely  a  sort  of  shed,  like  the 
roof  of  a  barn,  supported  by  three  rows  of  pillars.  The  thatch  is  palm- 
leaves,  and  the  floor  is  strewn  with  hay,  and  covered  with  mats.  Under 
these  the  natives  generally  sleep,  but  they  eat  and  pass  the  day  in  the 
open  air.  They  go  to  bed  about  an  hour  after  dark,  and  use  a  kind  of 
oily  nut,  .stuck  upon  a  piece  of  wood,  for  a  candle.  The  mats  in  their 
houses  are  woven  in  a  wonderfully  clever  and  dexterous  manner,  of 
rushes,  grass  and  the  bark  of  trees.  They  also  make  very  nice  baskets, 
and  ropes,  and  lines,  from  the  bark  of  a  tree,  and  thread  from  the  fibre 
of  the  cocoa-nut.  Fishing-lines  are  made  from  a  kind  of  nettle,  nets 
of  a  coarse  sort  of  grass,  and  hooks  from  mother-of-pearl.  Their  tools 
are  stone  hatchets,  a  chisel,  generally  made  from  the  bone  of  a  man's 
arm,  and  a  rasp  made  of  coral,  or  the  skin  of  a  poisonous  fish,  called  a 
sting-ray.  All  these  articles  of  native  manufacture  are,  however,  be- 
coming rare  in  these  days,  as  they  have  been  entirely  superseded  by 
European  introductions,  for  which  the  Tahitians  show  the  greatest 
eagerness.  Indeed,  it  does  not  appear  that  their  warm  reception  of 
missionaries  arose  from  any  desire  for  religious  instruction.  They  very 
soon  began  to  complain  that  the  missionaries  gave  them  plenty  of  talk 
and  prayer,  but  very  few  knives,  axes,  scissors  or  cloth.  However, 
these  were  soon  after  amply  supplied. 

A  traveler  gives  a  delightful  account  of  his  arrival  in  Tahiti,  and  of 
the  -State  of  things  he  found  there.  He  describes  the  enchanting  beauty 
of  the  island  as  he  entered  the  Matavai  Bay,  with  its  broken,  stupendous 
mountains,  and  rocky  precipices,  clothed  with  every  variety  of  verdure, 
from  the  moss  of  the  jutting  promontories  on  the  shore,  to  the  deep 
and  rich  foliage  of  the  bread-fruit  tree,  the  oriental  luxuriance  of  the 
tropical  pandanus,  or  the  waving  plumes  of  the  lofty  and  graceful  cocoa- 
nut  grove.     The  scene  was  enlivened  by  the  waterfall  on  the  mountain's 


WONDERS    OF    THE    PACIFIC    ISLES.  277 

side,  the  cataract  that  chafed  along  its  rocky  bed  in  the  recesses  of  the 
ravine,  or  the  stream  that  slowly  wound  its  way  through  the  cultivated 
and  fertile  valleys,  fringing  the  banks  with  the  most  delicate  verdure. 

NEARLY    CRAZED    AT    THE   SIGHT    OF    A    HORSE. 

The  natives  soon  came  on  board  to  welcome  him,  including  the 
king,  who  was  delighted  with  some  cattle  which  he  had  brought  from 
Australia,  and  especially  with  a  horse  which  was  given  him,  the  first 
that  had  ever  been  seen  in  Tahiti,  and  whose  appearance  caused  the 
utmost  excitement.  The  poor  animal,  which  had  been  hung  in  slings 
and  unable  to  lie  down  during  the  chief  part  of  the  voyage,  was  hoisted 
out  of  the  hold  to  be  taken  on  shore  in  a  large  pair  of  canoes,  which 
the  king  had  ordered  for  the  purpose.  While  the  horse  was  suspended 
during  the  transition,  some  of  the  bandages  gave  way,  and  he  slipped 
through  the  slings  and  fell  into  the  sea  !  He  instantly  rose  to  the  sur- 
face, and  swam,  snorting,  towards  the  shore.  As  soon  as  the  natives 
saw  this,  they  plunged  into  the  water  and  followed  him  like  a  shoal  of 
porpoises,  seizing  his  mane  and  tail,  and  nearly  drowning  the  poor 
animal  in  spite  of  the  king's  shouts  to  leave  him  alone.  However,  he 
managed  to  gain  the  beach,  and  as  he  rose  out  of  the  water,  the  natives 
on  the  shore  fled  in  the  utmost  fright,  climbing  the  trees,  and  crouching 
behind  the  rocks  and  bushes  for  safety.  The  next  morning,  crowds 
assembled  to  see  the  captain  of  the  ship  mount  the  horse,  with  which 
sight  the  natives  were  delighted.  They  called  the  horse  "a  man-car- 
rying pig,"  unable  to  give  it  any  more  appropriate  name. 

THE    RENOWNED    SANDWICH    ISLANDS. 

The  Sandwich  Islands  are  the  only  important  group  in  the  North 
Pacific  Ocean.  They  are  completely  isolated,  being  two  thousand  three 
hundred  and  fifty  miles  from  San  Francisco,  the  nearest  part  of  the 
American  coast,  and  about  the  same  distance  from  the  coast  of  Japan, 
from  the  Marquesas  and  th--  Samo  Islands  to  the  south,  and  from  the 
Aleutian  Islands  a  little  west  of  north.  They  are  only  connected  with 
the  other  Pacific  islands  by  bare  coral  reefs,  the  nearest  of  which  is 
about  seven  hundred  miles  off  This  very  central  position  in  mid- 
ocean,  where  they  are,  as  it  were,  a  stepping-stone  between  two  worlds, 
gives  the  Sandwich  Islands  much  political  and  commercial  importance, 
and  as  a  place  of  rest  and  refreshment  for  the  large  fleet  of  whalers  in 
the  Northern  Pacific,  they  are  of  great  value.  But  besides  their  advan- 
tages of  situation,  these  Sandwich  Islands  are  in  themselves  most  at- 
tractive. All  travelers  agree  in  their  descriptions  of  their  delights.  All 
the  beauties  and  enjoyments  of  the  summer  island-world  seem  concen- 
trated in  them,  without  its  frequent  drawbacks.  The  group  consists  of 
seven  large  islands,  all  inhabited,  and  four  rocky  islets.     Hawaii,  the 


278  WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 

largest  of  the  group,  is  seventy  miles  across.  Hilo,  the  principal  town 
in  Hawaii,  is  one  of  the  most  delightful  places  in  the  world.  This 
crescent-shaped  bay,  said  to  be  the  most  beautiful  in  the  Pacific,  is 
fringed  with  cocoa-nut  and  palm  trees,  and  the  town  beyond  looks 
from  the  sea  like  one  mass  of  greenery,  for  the  white  houses  are 
half-buried  in  the  rich,  luxuriant  vegetation.  It  is  said  that  if  a  shower 
falls  anywhere  in  the  Pacific  Ocean  it  may  be  traced  to  Hilo  ;  and  these 
continual  rainfalls  keep  the  grass,  and  the  trees,  and  the  creepers  daz- 
zlingly  green,  and  fill  the  streams  which  come  leaping  down  the  rocks 
in  endless  cascades,  while  the  rich  soil,  and  the  heat,  and  the  sunshine 
combine  to  make  the  whole  place  a  garden.  Over  all  tower  the  two 
great  volcanic  mountains,  Mauna  Kea  and  Mauna  Loa,  crowned  with 
almost  perpetual  snow,  which  a  traveler  describes  in  this  way  :  "Mauna 
Kea  from  Hilo  has  a  shapely  aspect,  for  its  top  is  broken  into  peaks, 
said  to  be  the  craters  of  extiiict  volcanoes  ;  but  my  eyes  seek  the  dome- 
like curve  of  Mauna  Loa  with  far  deeper  interest,  for  it  is  as  yet  an  un- 
finished mountain.  It  has  a  huge  crater  on  its  summit  eight  hundred 
feet  in  depth,  and  a  pit  of  unresting  fire  on  its  side  ;  it  throbs,  rumbles, 
and  palpitates ;  it  has  sent  forth  floods  of  fire  over  all  this  part  of 
Hawaii,  and  at  any  moment  it  may  be  crowned  with  a  lovely  light, 
showing  that  its  tremendous  forces  are  again  in  activity." 

In  olden  times  the  Hawaiians  believed  that  in  this  terrible  abode 
dwelt  their  great  goddess  "Pele,"  who  sported  with  her  attendant 
demons  among  the  sulphurous  waves.  There  is  a  curious  deposit 
found  in  the  crevices  of  the  vast  lava-hill  below  the  crater,  which  is  still 
called  "  Pele's  hair."  It  is  of  a  yellowish-brown  color,  like  coarse  spun 
glass.  During  an  eruption,  when  the  fire-fountains  play  to  a  great 
height,  and  the  lava  is  thrown  about  in  all  directions,  the  wind  catches 
it  and  blows  it  out  in  long  thin  threads,  which  stick  to  projecting 
points,  and  thus  this  curious-looking  substance  is  formed. 

AN    ISLAND    THAT    SHAKES. 

There  have  been  many  terrible  earthquakes  in  Hawaii,  some  of 
which  are  remembered  by  the  present  inhabitants.  In  1868  a  series 
of  earthquakes  began  in  the  month  of  March,  becoming  more  frequent 
and  startling  from  day  to  day,  till,  as  one  lady  aptly  expressed  it,  the 
island  quivered  like  the  lid  of  a  boiling  pot  nearly  all  the  time  between 
the  heavier  shocks.  The  trembling  was  like  that  of  a  ship  struck  by 
a  heavy  wave.  This  state  of  things  lasted  for  a  week,  and  then  came 
the  climax  on  a  lovely  April  day.  The  crust  of  the  earth  rose  and 
sank  like  the  sea  in  a  storm  ;  rocks  were  rent,  mountains  fell,  buildings 
and  their  contents  were  shattered,  trees  swayed  like  reeds,  animals  were 
scared,  and  ran  about  demented  ;  men  thought  that  the  Judgment  had 


WONDERS    OF    THE    PACIFIC    ISLES. 


279 


come.  The  earth  opened  in  thousands  of  places,  the  roads  in  Hilo 
cracked  open,  horses  and  their  riders  and  people  afoot  were  thrown 
violently  to  the  ground;  it  seemed  as  if  the   rocky  ribs   of  the  moun- 


tains and  the  granite  walls  and  pillars  of  the  earth  were  breaking  up. 
At  Kilauea  the  shocks  were  as  frequent  as  the  ticking  of  a  watch.  In 
Kau,  south  of  Hilo,  there  were  three  hundred  shocks  in  one  day.  An 
avalanche  of  red  earth  burst   from   the  mountain-side,  throwing  rocks 


280  WONDERS    OF    EXPLORATION    AND   ADVENTURE. 

high  into  the  air,  swallowing  up  houses,  trees,  men  and  animals ;  and 
traveling  three  miles  in  as  many  minutes,  burying  a  hamlet,  with 
thirty-one  inhabitants  and  five  hundred  cattle.  The  people  of  the 
valleys  fled  to  the  mountains,  which  themselves  were  splitting  in  all 
directions  ;  and  collecting  on  an  elevated  spot,  with  the  earth  reeling 
under  them,  they  spent  the  night  in  prayer  and  singing.  Looking 
towards  the  shore,  they  saw  it  sink,  and  at  the  same  moment  a  wave, 
whose  height  was  estimated  at  from  forty  to  sixty  feet,  hurled  itself  upon 
the  coast  and  receded  five  times,  destroying  whole  villages,  and  even 
strong  stone  houses  with  a  touch,  engulfing  forever  forty-six  people  who 
had  lingered  too  near  the  shore.  After  this  awful  day,  the  earthquakes 
still  continued,  and  people  putting  their  ears  to  the  ground  fancied  they 
could  hear  the  imprisoned  lava  sea  rushing  below.  At  length,  after 
traveling  under  ground  for  twenty  miles,  it  burst  forth  with  tremendous 
force  and  fury.  Four  huge  fountains  boiled  up,  throwing  crimson  lava, 
and  rocks  weighing  many  tons,  to  a  height  of  one  thousand  feet. 
A  gentleman,  who  was  near  the  spot  at  the  time,  described  the  scene 
in  these  words  :  "  From  these  great  fountains  to  the  sea  flowed  a  rapid 
stream  of  red  lava,  rolling,  rushing,  and  tumbling,  like  a  swollen  river, 
bearing  along  in  its  current  large  rocks,  that  made  the  lava  foam  as  it 
dashed  down  the  precipice,  and  through  the  valley  into  the  sea,  surging 
and  roaring  throughout  its  length  like  a  cataract,  with  a  j^ower  and 
force  perfectly  indescribable.  It  was  nothing  less  than  a  ri\-cr  of  fire, 
eight  hundred  feet  wide,  and  twenty  deep,  with  a  speed  varying  from 
ten  to  twenty-five  mile  an  hour."  These  descriptions  are  terrible 
enough.  Considering  the  awful  nature  of  the  \'oIcanic  eruptions  and 
earthquakes  in  Hawaii,  however,  the  destruction  of  human  life  does  not 
seem  to  have  been  so  great  as  one  would  have  feared  would  be  the  case. 
There  were  many  marvelous  escapes  from  impending  death. 

DEATH  OF  THE  CELEBRATED  CAPTAIN  COOK. 

It  was  at  Hawaii  that  our  great  navigator.  Captain  Cook,  met  with  his 
death — a  circumstance  as  much  deplored  by  the  Sandwich  Islanders  of 
the  present  day  as  by  his  own  countrymen.  To  Captain  Cook  is 
accorded  the  honor  of  having  discovered  these  islands,  but  there  are 
native  traditions  of  much  earlier  white  visitors,  and  there  is  no  doubt 
that  Spanish  navigators  landed  there  in  the  sixteenth  century.  How- 
ever, our  first  authentic  information  about  them  was  brought  by 
CaptainCook,  who,  with  his  two  ships,  the  "  Resolution"  antl  "  Di.scovery," 
approached  the  two  most  westerly  of  the  islands  in  January,  i/Z^- 
Great  was  the  amazement  of  the  first  natives  w  ho  went  to  examine  the 
ships  at  what  they  saw.  In  those  days  English  seamen  used  to  wear 
cocked  hats  ;  these  the  Sandwich  Islanders  thought  were  a  part  of  their 


WONDERS    OF    THE    PACIFIC    ISLES.  281 

heads,  and  they  described  the  visitors  as  having  heads  "  horned  like  the 
moon."  They  stated,  moreover,  that  they  had  fires  burning  at  their 
mouths — no  doubt  meaning  cigars — and  that  they  took  anything  they 
wanted  out  of  their  bodies  :  such  was  the  idea  conveyed  by  the  civilized 
institution  of  pockets.  All  these  circumstances,  combined  with  the 
strange  language  of  the  new-comers  and  the  firing  of  some  guns,  made 
the  natives  come  to  the  conclusion  that  their  visitors  were  certainly 
gods.  There  was  a  belief  in  the  islands  at  that  time  that  a  certain 
much-honored  god  called  "  Lono  "  had  sailed  away  in  a  fit  of  jealousy 
and  a  triangular  canoe,  having  first  prophesied  that  he  would  return  in 
after  times  on  an  island  bearing  cocoa-nut  trees,  swine  and  dogs. 
Captain  Cook's  ships,  so  much  larger  than  their  own  canoes,  and  with 
tall  masts,  now  appeared  to  the  natives  like  floating  islands  with  trees 
on  them,  and  they  made  sure  that  '*  Lono  "  was  returning  to  his  own 
country.  When  Captain  Cook  landed,  they  came  to  the  conclusion 
that  he  must  be  the  great  god  himself.  They  prostrated  themselves 
before  him,  and  brought  everything  they  could  collect  in  the  way  of 
food  as  offerings.  Captain  Cook  does  not  seem  to  have  discouraged  the 
idea  that  he  was  a  god.  He  felt  that  it  insured  the  safety  of  himself 
and  his  crew,  and  for  a  fortnight  the  ships  remained  at  the  islands,  all 
living  in  clover.     Then  they  sailed  away. 

Early  the  following  year  they  returned,  and  Captain  Cook  landed, 
confident  of  another  welcome,  on  the  western  side  of  Hawaii.  Here, 
his  fame  having  spread  from  island  to  island,  he  was  again  received 
with  divine  honors,  all  the  offerings  the  natives  were  accustomed  to 
make  to  their  gods  being  brought  to  him.  The  king  visited  him,  and 
threw  over  him  his  own  cloak,  and  presented  him  with  pigs  and  fruit, 
concluding  the  interview  by  changing  names  with  him — a  ceremony 
which  was  considered  the  greatest  possible  sign  of  friendship  and  re- 
spect. For  a  time  all  went  well,  as  before,  but  gradually  doubts  of  the 
divine  origin  of  the  visitors  began  to  rise  in  the  native  mind.  One  of 
them  died  and  was  buried :  this  showed  him  to  be  only  mortal,  like 
themselves.  They  began  to  grudge  the  supplies  for  the  ships  which 
they  had  to  produce.  A  quarrel  arose  between  the  natives  and  the 
seamen,  and  some  of  the  latter  were  pelted  with  stones.  Soon  after  this 
the  ships  set  sail ;  they  were  becalmed  within  sight  of  land  for  a  day, 
and  the  king  sent  on  board  a  parting  present  of  pigs  and  vegetables. 
All  might  now  have  been  well,  but  unhappily  the  ships  encountered  a 
heavy  gale,  and  put  back  a  week  later  into  the  Bay  of  Kealakeakua  for 
repairs,  and  this  time  the  welcome  received  by  the  Englishmen  was  not 
nearly  as  warm  as  before.  Soon  some  thefts  were  committed  by  natives 
visiting  the  ships,  who  could  no  longer  resist  stealing  pieces  of  iron,  for 


282  WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 

which  the  Pacific  islanders  in  those  days  craved  far  more  than  for  gold. 
Then  some  shots  were  fired  from  the  "  Discovery  "  at  a  canoe.  This  quar- 
rel was  nominally  made  up,  but  soon  after  one  of  the  "  Discovery's  "  cutters 
moored  to  a  buoy  was  stolen  by  a  chief  Captain  Cook  was  determined 
that  this  boat  should  be  restored,  and,  trusting  to  the  veneration  in 
which  he  was  held,  he  went  on  shore,  with  the  intention  of  bringing 
the  king  back  with  him,  and  keeping  him  as  a  hostage  till  the  stolen 
property,  so  valuable  to  him,  should  be  given  back.  The  king,  it  ap- 
pears, would  have  consented  to  this  plan,  and  walked  to  the  shore  with 
Captain  Cook  ;  but  the  islanders  would  not  submit  to  what  they  con- 
sidered not  only  a  great  indignity  but  a  great  risk.  They  surrounded 
the  king,  and  protested  against  his  going  on  board  the  ships.  His  wife, 
too,  entreated  him  to  stay. 

While  the  king  hesitated,  there  came  a  cry  that  the  foreigners  had 
fired  at  a  canoe  and  killed  a  chief  Then  the  natives  began  to  arm 
themselves  with  clubs,  stones  and  spears.  The  king  sat  down,  and 
Captain  Cook  walked  towards  his  boat.  As  he  walked,  a  native  attacked 
him  with  a  spear,  and  Captain  Cook  turned  and  shot  him  with  his 
double-barreled  gun.  Stones  were  then  thrown,  and  the  sailors  in  the 
boats,  seeing  this,  fired  on  the  people.  Captain  Cook  tried  to  stop  this, 
but  the  noise  was  so  great  that  he  could  not  make  himself  understood  ; 
and  meanvdiile  a  chief  approached  from  behind  and  stabbed  him  in  the 
back.  Captain  Cook  fell  into  the  water,  and  never  spoke  again.  This 
is  the  English  account  of  the  death  of  the  great  navigator,  as  handed 
down  from  Captain  King,  his  companion.  The  native  account  differs 
little  from  it,  except  in  stating  that  the  warrior-chief  who  attacked  Cap- 
tain Cook  had  no  intention  of  killing  him,  still  believing  him  to  be  the 
god  "Lono"  and  immortal,  but  that,  being  struck,  he  gave  a  cry  or 
groan,  which  dispelled  the  belief  in  his  divinity,  and  the  chief  therefore 
killed  him.  The  remains  of  Captain  Cook  were  subsequently  restored 
to  his  friends,  and  he  was  buried  at  sea — with  what  sad  and  awe-stricken 
feelings  one  can  well  imagine — and  the  exploring  ships  sailed  away 
from  the  bay  without  the  guiding  spirit  which  had  brought  them  there. 
The  work  of  the  great  navigator  was  done,  and  he  lay  at  rest  in  the 
bosom  of  the  mighty  ocean  whose  mysteries  he  had  so  long  loved  to 
unravel.     The  fame  of  his  adventures  has  filled  the  world. 

For  nearly  a  hundred  years  after  Captain  Cook's  death  the  spot  where 
he  fell  was  only  marked  by  a  cocoa-nut  stump  set  up  on  a  bed  of 
stones  and  broken  lava,  on  which  different  visitors  fixed  sheets  of  copper 
with  simple  inscriptions  recording  the  event.  Within  the  last  few  years, 
however,  a  more  suitable  monument  has  been  erected  by  some  of  his 
fellow-countrvmen. 


WONDERS    OF    THE    PACIFIC    ISLES.  283 

Chief  among  the  amusements  of  the  islanders  is  the  sport  of  surf- 
swimming.  This  is  practiced  in  several  of  the  islands  of  Polynesia,  but 
in  none  is  it  carried  out  to  such  perfection  as  in  the  Sandwich  group. 
The  following  spirited  account  of  this  sport  is  given  in  Captain  Cook's 
Voyages  : — Swimming  is  not  only  a  necessary  art,  in  which  both  the 
men  and  women  are  more  expert  than  any  people  we  had  hitherto  seen, 
but  a  favorite  diversion  amongst  them.  One  particular  mode  in  which 
they  sometimes  amused  themselves  with  this  exercise  in  Karakakooa 
Bay,  appeared  to  us  most  perilous  and  extraordinary,  and  well  deserving 
a  distinct  relation.  The  surf,  which  breaks  on  the  coast  round  the  bay, 
extends  to  the  distance  of  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  yards  from  the 
shore,  within  which  space  the  surges  of  the  sea,  accumulating  from  the 
shallowness  of  the  water,  are  dashed  against  the  beach  with  prodigious 
violence.  Whenever  from  stormy  weather,  or  any  extraordinary  swell 
at  sea,  the  impetuosity  of  the  surf  is  increased  to  its  utmost  height,  they 
choose  that  time  for  this  most  exhilarating  amusement. 

A    MARVELOUS    MODE    OF   SWIMMING. 

Twenty  or  thirty  of  the  natives,  taking  each  a  long,  narrow  board, 
rounded  at  the  ends,  set  out  together  from  the  shore.  The  first  wave 
they  meet  they  plunge  under,  and  suffering  it  to  roll  over  them,  rise 
again  beyond  it,  and  make  the  best  of  their  way  by  swimming  out  into 
the  sea.  The  second  wave  is  encountered  in  the  same  manner  with  the 
first ;  the  great  difficulty  consisting  in  seizing  the  proper  moment  of 
diving  under  it,  which,  if  missed,  the  person  is  caught  by  the  surf,  and 
driven  back  again  with  great  violence ;  and  all  his  dexterity  is  then 
required  to  prevent  himself  from  being  dashed  against  the  rocks.  As 
soon  as  they  haA^e  gained,  by  these  repeated  efforts,  the  smooth  water 
beyond  the  surf,  they  lay  themselves  at  length  on  their  board,  and  pre- 
pare for  their  return.  As  the  surf  consists  of  a  number  of  waves,  of 
which  e\'ery  third  is  remarked  to  be  always  much  larger  than  the  others, 
and  to  flow  higher  on  the  shore,  the  rest  breaking  in  the  intermediate 
space,  their  first  object  is  to  place  themselves  on  the  summit  of  the 
largest  surge,  by  which  they  are  driven  along  with  amazing  rapidity 
toward  the  shore. 

If  by  mistake  they  should  place  themselves  on  one  of  the  smaller 
waves,  which  breaks  up  before  they  reach  the  land,  or  should  not  be 
able  to  keep  their  plank  in  a  proper  direction  on  the  top  of  the  swell, 
they  are  left  exposed  to  the  fury  of  the  next,  and,  to  avoid  it,  are  obliged 
again  to  dive  and  regain  the  place  from  which  they  set  out.  Those  who 
succeed  in  their  object  of  reaching  the  shore  have  still  the  greatest 
danger  to  encounter.  The  coast  being  guarded  by  a  chain  of  rocks, 
with  here  and  there  a  small  opening  between  them,  they  are  obliged  to 


EXTRAORDINARY    FEATS    OF    SURF    SWIMMING    BY    SANDWICH    ISLANDERS. 

284 


WONDERS    OF    THE    PACIFIC    ISLF„S.  285 

steer  their  board  through  one  of  these,  or,  in  case  of  failure,  to  quit  it 
before  they  reach  the  rocks,  and  plunging  under  the  wave,  make  the 
best  of  their  way  back  again.  This  is  reckoned  very  disgraceful,  and 
is  also  attended  with  the  loss  of  the  board,  which  I  have  often  seen, 
with  great  terror,  dashed  to  pieces  at  the  very  moment  the  islander 
quitted  it.  The  boldness  and  address  with  which  we  saw  them  perform 
these  difficult  and  dangerous  manoeuvres  was  altogether  astonishing,  and 
is  scarcely  to  be  credited. 

These  swimmers  used  often  to  pass  nearly  a  mile  seaward,  in  order  to 
enjoy  the  rapid  motion  of  their  return  as  long  as  possible,  l^oth  sexes 
and  all  ranks  unite  in  it,  and  ex'en  the  very  chiefs  themselves,  who  have 
attained  to  the  corpulency  which  they  so  much  admire,  join  in  the  game 
of  surf-swimming  with  the  meanest  of  their  subject.s.  Some  of  the 
performers  attain  to  a  wonderful  degree  of  skill,  and  not  content  with 
lying  on  the  board,  sit,  kneel,  and  even  stand  on  it  as  they  are  hurled 
shoreward  by  the  giant  waves.  The  boards  are  of  various  sizes,  accord- 
ing to  the  age  and  stature  of  the  owner.  For  adults  they  are  about  six 
feet  in  length.  They  are  slightly  convex  on  both  sides,  and  are  kept 
very  smooth — all  surf-swimmers  cherishing  a  pride  in  the  condition  of 
their  boards,  and  taking  care  to  keep  them  well  polished  and  continually 
rubbed  with  cocoa-nut  oil. 

A    ROCK-BOUND    ISLAND. 

Pitcairn's  Island,  which  is  only  about  six  miles  long  and  three  broad, 
looks  like  a  mere  speck  in  the  vast  Pacific  Ocean.  It  is  completely 
iron-bound  with  rocky  shores,  and  landing  there  in  boats  is  always 
difficult,  though  it  is  safe  to  approach  within  a  short  distance  in  a  ship. 
The  water  is  extraordinarily  deep  close  to  its  very  shores,  and  it  is 
impossible  for  ships  to  anchor  there.  But  within  the  rocky  precipices 
round  the  coast  are  lovely  valleys  with  palm  forests,  and  groves  of 
cocoa-nut  trees,  and  bread-fruit,  and  the  climate  is  delicious  and  the  soil 
rich.     It  is  one  of  the  P^dens  of  the  Pacific  Ocean. 

The  idols  of  these  people  are  very  rough,  clum.sy  things,  and  though 
they  believe  them  to  have  great  power,  they  do  not  always  treat  them 
with  much  respect.  The  Typees,  one  of  the  tribes,  had  a  baby  god,  of 
whom  they  thought  a  great  deal,  called  Moa  Atua  ;  it  looked  like  a  bit 
of  a  broken  war  club  with  a  rough  human  head  carved  at  one  end,  and 
was  swathed  round  in  scarlet  and  white  tapa,  and  carried  in  the  arms 
of  the  chief  priest.  This  is  the  curious  ceremony  they  go  through. 
The'priest  caresses 'and  dandles  Moa  Atua,  and  whispers  in  its  ear; 
when  it  makes  no  answer  he  appears  to  get  provoked,  and  bawls  to  it ; 
no  answer  being  vouchsafed  still,  he  gets  apparently  very  angry  indeed, 
strips  the  baby  god  of  its  finery,  and  buries  it  in  a  hole.     By-and-bye 


286  WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 

he  takes  it  out  again,  whispers  once  more,  and  then  informs  the  by- 
standers of  various  interesting  communications  which  it  has  made  to 
him,  and  which  they  firmly  beheve.  It  is.beheved  that  if  Moa  Atua 
were  so  minded,  he  could  cause  a  cocoa-nut  to  sprout  out  of  his  head, 
and  that  it  would  be  the  easiest  thing  in  the  world  for  him  to  take  the 
whole  island  in  his  mouth,  and  dive  to  the  bottom  of  the  sea  with  it. 

FINE    SPORT    IN    THE    WATER. 

All  the  natives  of  the  Marquesas  Islands  are  splendid  swimmers,  and 
pass  a  great  deal  of  their  time  in  the  water,  splashing  and  diving  about. 
Among  the  Typees  canoes  were  tabooed  to  women,  so  if  they  wanted 
to  get  from  one  place  to  another,  they  were  forced  to  swim.  The 
mothers  put  their  babies  into  the  water  soon  after  they  are  born,  and 
let  go  of  them  fpr  a  minute  or  two  at  a  time,  and  by  being  launched 
in  this  manner,  like  little  ducks,  they  soon  swim  of  their  own  accord. 
Of  course,  the  v/ater  is  very  nice  and  warm  in  this  part  of  the  world, 
so  that  it  is  only  like  being  put  into  a  large  warm  bath,  which  babies 
always  like,  and  not  at  all  the  same  thing  as  being  plunged  into  the  cold 
rough  sea.     They  may  be  said  to  grow  up  in  the  water. 

Easter  Island  is  a  very  remote  and  rather  dreary  little  island,  some 
thirty  or  forty  miles  round.  It  is  so  named,  because  it  lies  eastward  of  all 
the  islands  of  the  South  Pacific  Ocean.  Pitcairnis  its  nearest  neighbor 
of  any  consequence.  It  has  a  stony  and  hilly  surface,  and  an  iron-bound 
shore.  At  the  south  of  the  island  there  is  an  extinct  volcano,  and  the 
hills  seem  to  be  chiefly  formed  of  lava.  There  is  no  safe  anchorage  at 
Easter  Island,  no  wood  for  fuel,  no  fresh  water,  and  no  domestic 
animals,  except  a  few  fowls.  The  inhabitants  live  on  yams,  potatoes, 
and  sugar-cane,  the  soil  being  so  exceedingly  fertile  that  three  days' 
work  is  sufficient  to  provide  sustenance  for  a  native  for  a  whole  year. 
No  wonder  that  the  inhabitants  of  these  regions  are  inclined  to  be  idle, 
and  take  things  as  easily  as  possible. 

The  early  missionaries  and  settlers  tell  us  that  often  when  they  tried 
to  get  the  natives  to  build  more  comfortable  houses  and  adopt  different 
modes  of  civilized  life,  they  would  answer  :  We  should  like  some  of 
these  things  very  well,  but  we  cannot  have  them  without  working ; 
that  we  do  not  like,  and  therefore  would  rather  do  without  them.  The 
bananas  and  the  plantains  ripen  on  the  trees,  and  the  pigs  fatten  on  the 
fruits  that  are  strewed  beneath  them,  even  while  we  sleep  ;  these  are  all 
we  want,  why  therefore  should  we  work  ? 

STRANGE    SIGHTS    ON    EASTER    ISLAND. 

The  natives  of  Easter  Island  are  fair  Polynesians,  resembling  those 
of  Tahiti  and  the  Marquesas,  but  they  are  said  to  be  occasionally 
cannibals.     They   make   long  low   houses,   something   like   a   canoe 


WONDERS    OF   THE    PACIFIC    ISLES. 


28> 


turned  upside  down,  with  a  small  opening  at  the  side  which  serves  for 
door  and  window  ;  but  there  are  much  better  and  more  interesting 
houses  than  these  in  the  island  built  of  stone,  about  which  the  present 
inhabitants  know  nothing.  Easter  Island  is  celebrated  for  the  wonder- 
ful remains  of  some  prehistoric  people,  who  must  have  lived  there  ages 
before  the  race  who  now  inhabit  it,  and  about  whom  the  people  there 
now  cannot  tell  us  anything  at  ill.  The  remains  consist  of  these  stone 
houses,  sculptured  stones,  and  gigantic  stone  images.  The  houses  are 
built  in  regular  lines,  with  doors  facing  the  sea,  the  walls  are  five  feet 
thick  and  nearly  six  feet  high,  they  are  built  of  layers  of  irregularly- 
shaped  flat  stone,  and  lined  inside  with  upright  flat  slabs.  These  are 
painted  with 
figures  of  birds 
and  animals, 
chiefly  fabulous 
creatures  (for 
quadrupeds  are 
little  known  in 
Easter  Island), 
and  geometri- 
c  al  fi  gu  res. 
Quantities  of  a 
particular  kind 
of  shell  were 
found  inside  the 
houses,  and  in 
one  of  them  a 
statue  eight  feet 
high  was  dis- 
covered, which  WONDERFUL  MONUMENTS  ON  EASTER  ISLAND, 
is  now  in  the  British  Museum  ;  it  weighs  four  tons.  Near  these  houses 
the  rocks  on  the  brink  of  the  sea  cliffs  are  carved  into  all  sorts  of 
strange  shapes,  sometimes  like  odd  human  faces,  and  sometimes  like 
turtles.  There  are  hundreds  of  these  carvings,  often  overgrown  with 
bushes  and  grass  of  a  very  course  rank  kind  which  grows  over  the 
island.  But  the  most  extraordinary  of  these  ancient  remains  are  found 
on  nearly  every  headland  round  the  coast,  where  there  is  almost  always 
an  enormous  platform  of  stone,  more  or  less  in  ruins.  Towards 
the  sea  there  are  high  walls  built  of  immense  stones  most  ingeni- 
ously fitting  into  one  another  without  cement,  and  within  stone 
platforms  and  terraces  have  been  leveled  with  large  slabs  which  have 
been  pedestals  for  the  images,  now  thrown  down  in  all  directions  and 


288  WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE, 

more  or  less  broken  to  pieces.  One  of  the  most  perfect  of  these  plat- 
forms had  fifteen  images  on  it.  Most  of  these  statues  were  fifteen  or 
eighteen  feet  high,  and  some  thirty-seven  feet.  The  figures  are  human 
bodies  without  legs,  the  heads  being  flat  to  allow  of  crowns  being  put 
on  :  these  crowns  were  made  of  a  red  material  found  only  at  a  crater 
about  three  miles  from  the  stone  houses.  At  this  place  there  still 
remain  numbers  of  these  crowns,  some  of  them  ten  feet  round,  waiting 
to  be  removed  to  the  heads  for  which  they  were  intended.  How  it  was 
that  they  were  never  placed  on  these  heads,  what  brought  this  strange 
work  suddenly  to  an  end,  or  who  were  the  people  engaged  in  it,  we  do 
not  know,  and  shall  probably  never  find  out.  A  certain  stone  imple- 
ment, a  long  pebble  with  a  chisel  edge,  is  believed  to  have  been  the 
chief  tool  used  in  making  these  wonderful  statues,  but  it  is  almost 
impossible  to  believe  that  with  this  alone  such  gigantic  works  could 
have  been  executed  in  such  numbers  and  in  such  a  small  island,  isolated 
from  the  rest  of  the  world. 

The  difficulty  is  so  great  that  some  writers  believe  that  there  may 
have  been  once  a  civilization  over  the  Pacific  Ocean  of  which  neither 
we  nor  the  inhabitants  we  found  there  have  ever  heard  or  know  any- 
thing. Possibly  Easter  Island  may  have  been  a  sacred  spot  to  all  the 
islands  round,  and  different  tribes  may  have  combined  together  to  erect 
these  wonderful  images  there,  and  may  have  worshiped  them  as  their 
gods.  But  nothing  is  known  for  certain,  and  Easter  Island  remains 
the  greatest  mystery  of  the  Pacific  Ocean,  a  wonder  unexplained. 

MARVELS    OF   COPPER-COLORED    BEAUTY. 

The  group  of  islands  called  the  "  Marquesas"  was  named  in  honor  of 
a  Spanish  marquis,  who  discovered  them  in  1595.  The  islands  are 
very  numerous,  and  vary  in  size  from  ten  to  twenty  miles.  They  are 
not  encircled  or  protected  by  coral  reefs,  though  there  is  plenty  of  coral 
to  be  seen  on  the  beach  ;  the  coast  is  very  rocky  and  abrupt,  but  there 
are  many  good  harbors,  such  as  Resolution  Bay  in  Tahuata,  which  is  a 
particularly  fine  and  safe  one.  All  the  usual  fruits  and  plants  of  the 
South  Seas  grow  there,  and  the  climate  is  warm,  but  very  healthy.  The 
inhabitants  belong  to  the  same  race  as  those  of  the  Society  and  Sand- 
wich Islands.  They  have  dark  copper-colored  skins  ;  but  that  of  the 
women  is  much  paler  than  of  the  men.  They  are  said  to  have  won- 
derfully beautiful  figures;  and  one  navigator  describes  a  chief  the  meas- 
urements of  whose  body  agreed  exactly  with  those  of  the  Apollo 
Belvedere.  The  tattooing  whh  which  he  was  adorned  must  have  entirely 
destroyed  the  resemblance  to  the  Apollo.  This  art  is  carried  to  a  greater 
degree  of  perfection  in  the  Marquesas  Islands  than  in  any  other  nation. 
The  bodies  of  distinguished  persons  are  completely  covered  with  regular 


WONDERS    OF   THE    PACIFIC    ISLES. 


289 


figures  in  most  tasteful  and  elaborate  patterns ;  and  this  process  makes 
their  skin  darker  than  it  would  be  otherwise.  The  women,  who  are 
nearly  as  fair  as  Caucasians,  and  very  beautiful,  do  not  often  disfigure 
themselves  in  this  way,  being  content  with  their  natural  adornment. 

The  island  of  Java  has  been  styled,  on  account  of  its  natural  beauty 
and  fertility,  "the  Queen  of  the  Eastern  Archipelago."  It  forms  a  lead- 
ing link  in  the 
great  chain  of  is- 
lands extending 
from  the  Bay  of 
Bengal  to  the 
shores  of  New 
Guinea.  In  this 
crescent  Java  oc- 
cupies the  middle 
place.  It  is  bound- 
ed north  by  the 
Java  Sea,  and 
south  by  the  In- 
dian Ocean.  It 
measures  six  hun- 
dred and  thirty 
miles  in  length, 
and  varies  from 
thirty-five  to  one 
hundred  and 
twenty-six  miles  in 
breadth.  Its  total 
area  is  nearly  two- 
thirds  of  the  area 
of  the  New  Eng- 
land States. 

On  the  south  by 
the  Indian  Ocean, 
the  coast  is  steep 


Vtf-  -' 


A   TATTOOED    CHIEF    OF   THE    MARQUESAS  ISLANDS. 

and  rocky,  and  forms  a  sufficient  rampart  against  the  incessant  roll  of 
the  billows ;  but  on  the  opposite  side,  where  only  a  shallow  channel 
separates  it  from  Borneo,  the  land  terminates  in  a  low,  flat,  alluvial 
plain,  bordered  by  extensive  mangrove  swamps.  The  coast-line  is 
irregular  and  broken,  especially  on  the  north. 

Throughout  its  entire  length  Java  is  traversed  by  two  chains  of  moun- 
tains, which  occasionally  unite,  but  more  frequently  run  at  some  distance 
19 


290  WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 

from  one  another,  and  send  spurs  and  branches  of  the  most  various 
outHne  down  to  the  shore.  These  chains  are  lofty  and  imposing  ;  grand 
in  outHne,  and  surrounded  by  mighty  forests.  Occasionally  their  tow- 
ering peaks  soar  to  an  elevation  of  twelve  thousand  feet ;  they  seldom 
,  descend  below  seven  thousand  ;  and  the  average  height  of  the  volcanoes 
with  which  each  chain  is  thickly  studded,  may  be  taken  at  nine  thousand 
feet.  Many  of  the  volcanoes  are  still  active  ;  so  that  along  the  axis  of 
the  island  a  series  of  fire-towers  seem  to  be  planted,  like  burning  beacons, 
to  throw  their  warning  light  far  over  the  Indian  seas.  This  volcanic 
character  of  the  mountains,  while  accounting  for  the  fertility  of  the 
island,  also  explains  the  peculiar  aspect  of  its  scenery.  They  have 
nothing  of  that  austere,  that  almost  terrible  grandeur  which  distinguishes 
the  heights  of  the  Alps  and  Rocky  Mountains.  They  are  remarkable 
for  beauty  rather  than  sublimity.  Volcanic  cones  are  so  regular  in  their 
shapes,  and  stand  out  so  definitely  as  objects  of  perfect  form  and  sym- 
metrical outline,  that  they  give  an  almost  architectural  tone  to  the 
scenery.  One  traveler  compares  them  to  noble  columns  or  pyramids 
which  are  perfectly  beautiful,  in  the  recesses  of  which  the  imagination 
loves  to  wander,  and  at  times  to  lose  itself.  The  volcanic  peaks  of 
Java,  moreover,  are  clothed  even  to  their  topmost  ridges  with  wood  and 
green  waving  grass,  except  one  or  two  summit  cones  of  cinders  and 
ashes  fresh  from  the  crater ;  but  these,  too,  from  the  effect  of  distance, 
look  as  smooth  as  if  built  up  of  sand,  and  are  regular  in  shape. 

A    MAGNIFICENT    LANDSCAPE. 

Mr.  Jukes  enables  us  to  realize  the  general  features  of  a  Javanese 
landscape  from  one  of  his  descriptions.  He  sketches  the  picture  which 
unfolds  before  the  spectator  from  the  north-west  corner  of  the  broad 
green,  undulating  valley-plain  of  Malang.  On  the  right  hand,  towards 
the  west,  rises  the  picturesque  group  of  the  Kawi,  from  which  a  verdu- 
rous but  broken  and  serrated  ridge  strikes  northward  to  the  grand 
mountain-mass  of  the  Ardjoonoo,  immediately  in  our  rear,  with  its 
peaked  summit  and  shaggy  sides,  occupying  all  the  north-western 
quarter  of  the  horizon.  A  low  gap  in  the  north  has  been  seized  upon 
by  man,  and  cultivated,  while  a  road  running  through  it  opens  up  ac- 
cess to  the  northern  coast  and  its  towns  and  harbors.  Towards  the 
east,  with  many  a  bristling  peak  and  ridge,  towers  the  massive  Tengger 
range,  reaching  its  greatest  elevation  in  the  large  crags  and  buttresses 
of  the  Bromo  and  the  Ider-Ider.  Thence  it  curves  towards  the  south- 
cast,  to  crown  itself  with  the  shapely  and  symmetrical  cone  of  the 
Semiru,  and  present  a  scene  of  great  natural  sublimity. 

The  chord  of  this  magnificent  amphitheatre,  or  the  distance  bet^veen 
Semiru  and  the  Kawki,  is  nearly  forty  miles,  and  is  formed  by  low  un- 


WONDERS    OF    THE    PACIFIC    ISLES. 


291 


dulating  ridges  which  close  the  prospect  on  the  south.  The  aspect  of 
this  great  valley  is  joyous  and  exultant  with  luxuriant  beauty;  every- 
where it  is  fresh,  and  fertile,  and  radiant ;  bright  in  tint  and  varied  in 


outline ;  while  even  the  wildest  and  ruggedest  of  the  mountains  are 
profusely  clothed  with  virgin  forests,  except  the  two  cones  of  the  Se- 
miru  and  Ardjoonoo,  where  still  reigns  the  demon  of  the  volcanic  fires. 


292  WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 

Java  has  been  appropriately  called  the  Land  of  Fire.  It  possesses 
upwards  of  forty  volcanic  mountains,  which,  taken  together,  display  all 
the  phenomena  of  igneous  action,  except  lava-streams,  which  never  oc- 
cur in  Java.  The  active  craters  are  remarkable  for  the  quantity  of 
sulphur  and  sulphurous  vapors  which  they  discharge.  The  crater  of 
Taschem  contains  a  lake,  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  in  length,  from 
which  issues  a  stream  so  strongly  impregnated  with  sulphuric  acid,  that 
no  forms  of  life  can  exist  in  it,  and  even  fish  cannot  live  in  the  sea  near 
its  mouth.  Near  Butar,  an  extinct  volcano,  about  half  a  mile  in  circuit, 
is  known  as  the  "Vale  of  Poison."  No  living  creature  can  enter  it 
with  safety  ;  and  it  is  said  that  the  soil  is  strewn  with  the  carcasses  of 
birds,  deer,  and  other  animals,  killed  by  the  fatal  carbonic  acid  gas 
which  accumulates  in  the  hollow  of  the  deadly  valley. 

Owing  to  its  mountainous  character,  Java  has  no  great  navigable 
rivers  ;  but  it  is  watered  by  many  shallow  streams,  which  carry  bright- 
ness and  fertility  along  with  them  in  their  rapid  course.  These  may  be 
ascended  to  some  distance  in  the  light  proas  and  canoes  of  the  natives ; 
but  only  a  few  are  open  to  vessels  of  any  considerable  burden. 

Much  of  the  charm  of  the  Javanese  landscape  lies  in  the  extraordinary 
richness  of  its  vegetation,  which  clothes  every  valley-side  and  every 
mountain-height  with  masses  of  diversified  foliage.  This  richness  is 
not  to  be  wondered  at,  when  we  remember  that  the  soil  consists  of  de- 
composed volcanic  rock,  limestone  and  sandstone  ;  that  it  is  abundantly 
watered,  either  by  nature  or  by  art ;  and  that  the  climate  exhibits  a 
remarkable  range  of  temperature.  At  an  elevation  of  six  thousand  feet 
the  thermometer  does  not  rise  above  sixty  degrees  ;  in  the  plains,  during 
the  day,  it  ascends  from  eighty-five  degrees  to  ninety-four  degrees,  and 
during  the  night  from  seventy-three  degrees  to  eighty  degrees.  The 
character  of  the  natural  products  of  the  island  is  necessarily  affecteil  by 
this  variation  of  temperature  ;  and  the  traveler,  beginning  with  the  flora 
of  the  Tropics  in  the  plains  and  warm  moist  valleys,  ends  with  that 
of  the  Temperate  Zone  on  the  breezy  mountain-heights.  The  coast, 
which  in  some  places  is  fringed  with  coral  reefs,  is  generally  lined  with 
feathery  groves  of  cocoa-nut  trees.  Inland  spread  vast  fields  of  rice, 
extending  up  the  sides  of  the  hills,  and  irrigated  by  a  multitude  of  arti- 
ficial water-courses.  They  yield  two  and  three  crops  a  year.  Hedges 
and  terraces  rise  to  a  considerable  height,  which,  as  they  wind  round 
the  flanks  of  the  hills,  produce  all  the  effect  of  stately  amphitheatres. 
Hundreds  of  square  miles  of  country  are  thus  ter.raced,  and  conxey  a 
striking  idea  of  the  industry  of  the  people  and  the  antiquity  of  their 
civilization.  These  platforms  are  annually  extended  as  the  population 
increases,  the  inhabitants  of  each  village  working  in  concert  under  the 


WONDERS    OF    THE    PACIFIC    ISLES. 


293 


direction  of  their  chiefs  ;  and  it  is  by  this  system  of  village  culture  alone 
that  such  immense  areas  of  terraces  and  irrigating  canals  have  been 
rendered  possible. 

The  wonderful  mountain  vegetation  almost  surpasses  any  adequate 
description.  The  colossal  wild  fig-trees  are  among  the  most  grateful 
presents  of  Nature  to  hot  countries  ;  the  shade  of  their  magnificent 
head  refreshing  the  traveler  when  he  reposes  under  their  wonderfully 
wide-spreading  branches  and  dark,  green,  shining  foliage. 

The  most  remarkable  species  is  the  banyan.  In  its  early  state  the 
banyan  resembles  other  trees  in  having  a  single  trunk  of  variable  size, 


A    TREE    WHOSE   BRANCHES    TURN    TO    ROOTS. 

and  a  dense  head  of  foliage.  The  branches  spread  out  horizontally  to 
so  great  an  extent  that  they  would  be  unable  to  support  themselves 
simply  by  their  attachment  to  the  parent  stem.  To  supply  the  necessary 
support  the  branches  throw  out  here  and  there  small  fibrous  shoots  to- 
wards the  ground.  On  reaching  the  ground  they  take  root,  gradually 
increase  in  size,  and  become  stable  supports  for  the  parent  bough,  and 
even  rival  the  original  trunk  itself  A  fresh  start  is  taken  from  these 
secondary  stems,  and  the  lateral  branches  continue  to  throw  out  new 
shoots  until  the  plant  attains  an  extent  which  is  almost  incredible,  and 
alone  forms  in  time  a  considerable  forest.  The  height  of  the  tree  is  at 
the  same  time  slowly  increasing.     Single  trees  have  been  seen  which 


294  WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 

were  fully  five  hundred  yards  in  circumference  round  the  extremities  of 
the  branches,  and  about  one  hundred  feet  high.  The  principal  trunks 
were  twenty -five  feet  to  the  first  branches,  and  had  a  diameter  of  eight 
or  nine  feet.  They  are  largest  about  the  villages  which  are  situated  in 
fertile  valleys  among  the  mountains.  They  daily  afford  shelter  to  man 
and  cattle,  to  pilgrims  and  travelers,  who  at  times  congregate  in  great 
numbers  beneath  their  branches.  The  public  meetings  and  merry- 
makings of  the  villagers  are  held  under  their  grateful  shade. 

The  leaves  of  the  banyan  are  of  an  elliptical  cordate  shape,  about  six 
inches  long.  They  are  used  by  the  natives  as  plates  for  their  meat. 
The  wood  is  light,  white  and  porous.  The  fruit,  which  grows  on  the 
smaller  twigs,  has  no  stem ;  when  ripe  it  has  the  size  and  color  of  a 
middle-sized  red  cherry.  It  is  eaten  by  monkeys,  paroquets  and  other 
birds,  but  is  insipid,  and  therefore  seldom  made  use  of  by  natives,  and 
never  by  white  men,  as  an  article  of  food.  The  seeds  are  said  to  grow 
the  better  after  having  been  picked  by  birds.  Birds  scatter  them  in  the 
most  curious  places,  sometimes  in  the  angles  between  the  leaves  and 
stem  of  the  Palmyra  palm,  where  they  grow,  sending  down  their  stem, 
so  as  to  embrace  entirely  the  palm,  except  its  crown  of  feathery  leaves, 
and  giving  the  palm  the  appearance  of  growing  out  of  the  trunk  of  the 
banyan.  Such  a  combination  forms  an  object  of  religious  veneration  to 
the  Hindoos,  who  call  it  a  holy  marriage  instituted  by  Providence. 

The  banyan  is  generally  supposed  to  be  the  only  fig  whose  branches 
send  down  supporting  stems  into  the  earth.  Recently  another  species 
has  been  found  in  one  of  the  islands  of  the  New  Hebrides  Group  which 
has  the  same  habit.  Its  leaves  are  very  small,  scarcely  an  inch  long. 
One  tree,  described  by  its  discoverer,  was  one  hundred  feet  high,  forty- 
five  feet  around  the  trunk,  and  its  branches  covered  a  space  two 
hundred  and  sixty  feet  in  diameter.  The  natives  had  built  their  houses 
under  its  shade. 

The  bases  of  the  mountains,  whither  we  must  now  carry  our  survey, 
are  clothed  with  vast  forests  of  different  species  of  the  fig-tree  tribe ; 
some  of  which  seem  allied  to  the  Indian  banyan  ;  all  are  interlaced  and 
bound  together  by  creepers  and  trailing  parasites,  and  are  remarkable 
for  their  immense  height,  so  that  their  overarching  foliage  glimmers  like 
a  green  mist,  their  milky  sap,  their  fruit,  and  their  far-spreading  branches. 
At  about  the  same  height  above  the  sea  grow  noble  trees  of  different 
families,  their  boughs  embelli.shed  with  fantastic  orchids,  and  their  trunks 
covered  with  parasites,  while  among  the  low  undergrowth  rise  grand 
arborescent  ferns  of  surpassing  beauty.  Here  we  meet  with  the  screw- 
pine,  in  .stature  and  character  resembling  the  palms.  Higher  up  we 
come  to  the  plane-like  liquid-ambars,  their  tall  and  shapely  .stems  clasped 


WONDERS    OF   THE    PACIFIC    ISLES. 


295 


round  by  fences  of  fruit-trees  here  and  there,  inclosing  the  Javanese 
villages,  in  which  the  huts  arc  built  of  bamboo,  and  with  their  high- 
pitched  roofs  and  quaint  construction  seem  to  have  been  modeled  after 
the  well-known  architectural  designs  of  the  willow-plate.  The  white 
buildings  and 'tall  chimney  of  a  sugar-mill  occasionally  diversify  the 
prospect ;  the  open  fields  are  skirted  by  rows  of  bamboos ;  and  the 
straight  and  well-kept  roads  run  through  monotonous  avenues  of  dusty 
tamarind-trees.  At  each  mile,  in  a  queer  little  wooden  guard-house,  a 
policeman  is  stationed,  who  communicates  with  his  comrades  by  means 
of  a  gong  ;  and  the  din  of  that  discordant  instrument  frequently  alarms 
the  echoes  of  the  quiet  country.  If  we  penetrate  further  inland,  we 
come  upon  the  _^^.  .      -^^ 

remains    of   de-  ^ ""    -^^  ^^^ 

serted  cities, 
now  given  over 
to  the  wild  bull 
and  the  tiger ; 
or  in  the  recesses 
of  the  forest  we 
pause  before 
some  colossal 
statue  of  a  god, 
or  one  of  the 
ancient  temples, 
such  as  that  of 
Borobodo.  Here 
a  central  dome,  the  wild  ox  of  java. 

fifty  feet  in  diameter,  and  surrounded  by  a  triple  circle  of  seventy-two 
towers,  covers,  with  its  terraced  walls,  the  entire  slope  of  the  hill. 
Such  magnificent  specimens  of  human  industry  and  science  are  seldom 
found  in  so  small  a  compass ! 

We  may  now  take  a  rapid  glance  at  the  animal  life  of  Java.  If 
domestic  and  marine  animals  be  included,  it  boasts  of  no  fewer  than 
one  hundred  species  of  mammals.  In  the  west  of  the  island  the  one- 
horned  rhinoceros  stalks  among  the  ruined  temples ;  and  in  the  high 
wooded  districts  and  dense  jungles  of  the  upper  valleys  may  be  found 
the  tiger-cat,  the  panther,  and,  more  formidable  than  either,  the  royal 
tiger,  annually  demanding  its  human  victims.  Neither  the  tapir  nor  the 
elephant  is  an  inhabitant  of  Java.  Among  the  Suidae  may  be  named 
the  wild  hog  and  the  babyroussa ;  the  latter  a  fierce  and  dangerous 
animal,  with  four  strong  tusks  projecting  above  the  snout.  The  napu, 
or  Java  musk,  is  one  of  the  most  graceful  of  the  moschine  deer.     The 


SSV^^S^-ir-^" 


296  WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 

wild  OX  is  numerous  in  the  woods,  and  remarkable  not  less  for  the  beauty 
of  his  shape  than  the  untamableness  of  his  disposition.  Of  the  Ape 
family  the  only  representatives  are  the  silvery  gibbon,  and  the  ubiqui- 
tous "  tailed  ape ;  "  these  are  found  in  almost  innumerable  hosts,  and 
the  forests  resound  with  their  noisy  chatterings. 

Two  kinds  of  lemurs  belong  to  Java,  and  are  regarded  by  the  natives 
with  all  the  dread  that  arises  from  superstitious  ignorance.  Probably 
their  alarm  is  increased  by  the  animal's  nocturnal  habits.  For  it  is  at 
night  that  the  loris  awakes  from  its  .slumbers  :  night,  when  the  birds  on 
which  it  preys  are  resting  in  unsuspicious  tranquility,  with  their  heads 
screened  by  their  soft  plumage.  Then  through  the  forest-gloom  its 
large  round  eyes  burn  like  two  balls  of  red-hot  iron  ;  and  by  these  eyes 
alone  can  its  presence  be  detected,  for,  owing  to  the  color  of  its  fur,  its 
outline  is  invisible,  and  its  white  breast  may  be  mistaken  for  a  slanting 
moonbeam  falling  athwart  a  branch.  With  slow  and  stealthy  movements 
it  glides  along  the  trees — lifting  paw  after  paw,  and  advancing  step  by 
step,  until  it  has  gained  its  victim's  resting-place.  The  destroyer  raises 
its  hand,  until  the  long,  curved  fingers  overhang  and  nearly  touch  the 
sleeping  bird,  which  in  a  moment  is  torn  from  its  percli  and  slain,  almost 
before  it  has  opened  its  startled  eyes. 

To  Java  also  belongs  the  largest  member  of  the  Bat  tribe,  measuring 
five  feet  across  its  membranous  wings.  It  abounds  in  the  neighborhood 
of  the  orchards  and  gardens  ;  hanging  suspended  from  the  branches 
during  the  day,  and  then  at  night  banqueting  freely  upon  stolen  fruit. 
Java  is  dowered  with  volcanic  fires.  Notwithstanding  its  limited  area, 
it  possesses  as  many  as  the  entire  American  continent,  and  all  of  them 
more  terrible  than  burning  Etna.  And  to  these  we  must  add  its  liquid 
volcano,  its  vein  of  sombre  azure,  which  the  Javanese  call  the  "  Black 
River."  This  is  the  great  Equatorial  Current,  which,  in  its  northed)- 
course,  warms  the  Asiatic  seas  ;  is  remarkable  for  its  muddiness  ;  and 
tastes  Salter  than  human  blood. 

A  hot  sea — a  torrid  sun — volcanic  fire — volcanic  life  !  Not  a  day 
])asses  but  a  tempest  breaks  out  among  the  Blue  Mountains,  with  light- 
ning so  vivid  that  the  eyes  cannot  endure  to  gaze  at  it.  Torrents  of 
electric  rain  intoxicate  earth  and  madden  vegetation.  The  very  forests, 
smoking  with  wreathed  vapors  in  the  burning  sun,  seem  so  many  addi- 
tional volcanoes  situated  midway  on  the  mountain  slopes.  In  the  loftier 
regions  they  are  frequently  inaccessible,  and  sometimes  so  thickly  in- 
tertangled,  so  dense,  so  gloomy,  that  the  traveler  who  penetrates  them 
must  carry  torches  even  at  noonday.  Nature,  without  an  eye  to  watch 
her,  celebrates  there  her  "orgies  of  vegetation,"  and  creates  her  river- 
monsters  and  colossi. 


CHAPTER  X. 
WONDERS  OF  SOUTH  AMERICA. 


Histor)-  in  Stone — Peru  and  its  Marvels — Dangers  of  Exploration — Grandeur  of  Mountain- 
Scenery — Ancient  Temples— Dress  of  the  Natives— A  City  of  Wealth — Warriors — 
Brazil  and  its  Palace— Negro  Women — Medical  Jugglers— Cotton — Sugar-Cane — Mag- 
nificent Forests— Products  of  the  Country — Volcanic  Flames— Wild  Horses— Birds  and 
Animals^The  Matamata — The  Spider  Crab — The  Wasp — Wonder- 
S)      ful  Lilies — The  Patagonians — Strange  Customs  and  Manners. 

'HY  America  should  have  been  called  the  New  World 
i.s  rather  strange.  It  must  be  really  a  very  old  world  ;. 
for  this  reason,  that  a  great  many  old  temples  and 
figures,  and  buildings  of  all  kinds,  have  been  dug  up 
from  beneath  the  earth's  surface.  As  it  is  utterly  im- 
possible that  such  things  should  have  come  by  chance, 
they  prove  to  us  that  people  must  have  existed  hun- 
dreds— and  perhaps  thousands — of  years  ago,  who 
were  clever  enough  to  make  them.  It  is  not  likely 
we  shall  ever  know  who  these  people  were,  for  they  have  left  no  written 
record  of  themselves,  except'ng  the  characters  or  hieroglyphics,  as  they 
are  called,  which  are  cut  out  on  some  of  the  huge  stone  blocks  that  have 
been  dug  up  ;  and  these  characters,  which  no  doubt  mean  a  very  great 
deal,  are  not  intelligible  to  us. 

One  division  in  South  America  of  surpassing  interest  is  Peru.  Un- 
fortunately, however,  the  more  we  learn  about  it  the  more  we  are  con- 
vinced that  a  great  deal  of  its  history  we  can  never  know,  because  the 
fir.st  inhabitants  have  been  dead  for  many  ages,  and  have  not  written 
any  books  or  left  any  definite  record  to  tell  us  who  they  were,  where 
they  came  from,  and  many  other  particulars,  respecting  which  we  should 
like  to  be  enlightened,  but  we  know  enough  about  far-famed  Peru  to 
convince  us  that  it  is  a  land  of  wonders. 

Down  the  west  coast  of  it  are  the  lofty  Andes,  which  are  capped  with 
snow  at  the  summit,  while  below  in  some  parts  are  lovely  shrubs  and 
flowers,  and  birds  warbling  their  sweet  notes  among  the  thick  waving 
branches.  Grand  as  these  mountains  are,  travelers  who  venture  to  as- 
cend their  steep  and  rocky  sides,  run  great  risk  of  being  tJirown  down 
a  deep  precipice,  or  dashed  into  some  deep,  dark  chasm.  The  Indian 
natives  get  accustomed  to  the  narrow  winding  zigzag  paths,  and  are 
almost  as  surefooted  as  the  mules  under  their  charge ;  but  to  every  one 

(297) 


298 


WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 


else  the  task  is  much  more  difficult,  especially  if,  in  the  midst  of  the 
ascent,  a  hailstorm  should  overtake  the  traveler.  One  who  has  never 
crossed  the  Andes  can  form  no  idea  of  the  violence  of  one  of  these 
storms.  The  hailstones  are  something  tremendous,  coming  down  with 
such  force  as  to  stun  not  only  the  riders  but  also  the  patient  mules  ;  all 
that  the  poor  traveler  can  do  is  to  turn  his  back  to  the  wind,  and  shield 
himself  from  danger  by  hiding  his  neck  and  ears  in  the  folds  of  his 
cloak,  and  suffering  the  fierce  storm  to  spend  its  fury. 

An  intelligent  native  of  Peru,  describing  its  marvelous  scenes,  says . 
The  first  objects  I  c\-cr  remember  beyond  the  courtyard  of  our  house 


THE    DISCOVERY    OF    AMERICA LANDING    OF    COLUMBUS. 

in  which  I  used  to  play,  with  its  fountain  and  flower-bed  in  the  centre, 
and  surrounding  arches  of  sun-burned  bricks,  were  lofty  mountains 
towering  up  into  the  sky.  From  one  of  them,  called  Pichincha,  which 
looked  quite  close  through  the  clear  atmosphere  of  that  region,  I  re~ 
member  seeing  flames  of  fire  and  dark  masses  of  smoke,  intermingled 
with  dust  and  ashes,  spouting  forth.  Now  and  then,  when  the  wind 
blew  from  it,  thick  showers  of  dust  fell  down  over  us,  causing  great  con- 
sternation ;  for  many  thought  that  stones  and  rocks  might  follow  and 
overwhelm  the  city.  All  day  long  a  lofty  column  of  smoke  ro.se  up 
towards  the  sk\',  and  at  night  a  vast  mass  of  fire  was  seen  ascending 


.joi 


WONDERS    OF   SOUTH    AMERICA.  299 

from  the  summit ;  but  no  harm  was  done  to  the  city,  so  that  we  could 
gaze  calmly  at  the  spectacle  without  apprehension.  Pichincha  is,  indeed, 
only  one  of  several  mountains  in  the  neighborhood  from  the  tops  of 
which  bonfires  occasionally  blaze  forth.  Further  off,  but  rising  still 
higher,  is  the  glittering  cone  of  Cotopaxi,  which,  like  a  tyrant,  has  made 
its  power  felt  by  the  devastation  it  has  often  caused  in  the  plains  which 
surround  its  base ;  while  near  it  rise  the  peaks  of  Corazon  and  Rumiii- 
agui.  Far  more  dreaded  than  their  fires  is  the  quaking  and  heaving 
and  tumbling  about  of  the  earth,  shaking  down  as  it  does  human  habi- 
tations and  mountain-tops,  towers  and  steeples,  and  uprooting  trees,  and 
opening  wide  chasms,  turning  streams  from  their  courses,  and  over- 
\\;helming  towns  and  villages,  and  destroying  in  other  ways  the  works 
■of  men's  hands,  and  human  beings  also,  in  its  wild  commotion. 

MAGNIFICENT    MOUNTAIN    PEAKS. 

These  burning  mountains,  in  spite  of  their  fire  and  smoke,  appear  but 
insignificant  pigmies  compared  to  that  mighty  mountain  which  rises  in 
their  neighborhood — the  majestic  Chimborazo.  We  could  see  far  off 
its  snow-white  dome,  free  of  clouds,  towering  into  the  deep  blue  sky, 
many  thousand  feet  above  the  ocean  ;  while  on  the  other  side  its  brother, 
Tunguragua,  shoots  up  above  the  surrounding  heights,  but,  in  spite  of 
its  ambitious  efforts,  has  failed  to  reach  the  same  altitude.  I  might  speak 
of  Antisana,  and  many  other  lofty  heights  with  hard  names  ;  but  I  fancy 
that  a  fair  idea  may  be  formed  of  that  wonderful  region  of  giant  moun- 
tains from  the  description  1  have  already  given. 

I  used  often  to  think  that  I  should  like  to  get  to  the  top  of  Chimbo- 
razo, the  way  up  looked  so  easy  at  a  distance  ;  but  no  one  has  ever 
reached  its  summit,  though  several  valiant  philosophers  and  others  have 
made  the  attempt.  The  mountain  range  I  have  described,  of  which 
Chimborazo  was  long  considered  the  highest  point,  till  Aconcagua  in 
Chili  w^as  found  to  be  higher,  rises  from  the  ocean  in  the  far-off  southern 
end  of  America,  and  runs  up  along  its  western  shore,  ever  proud  and 
grand,  with  snow-topped  heights  rising  tens  of  thousands  of  feet  above 
the  ocean,  till  it  sinks  once  more  towards  the  northern  extremity  of  the 
southern  half  of  the  continent,  running  along  the  Isthmus  of  Panama, 
through  Mexico  at  a  less  elevation,  again  to  rise  in  the  almost  unbroken 
range  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  not  to  sink  till  it  reaches  the  snow- 
covered  plains  of  the  Arctic  region. 

The  Cordilleras  are  the  high  mountains  that  divide  Peru  and  Chili 
from  the  rest  of  South  America,  and  very  dangerous  it  is  for  travelers 
to  attempt  to  cross  them,  on  account  of  the  tremendous  snowstorms, 
which  come  on  quite  suddenly.  By  reason  of  these  snowstorms, 
houses  of  refuge  are  built  among  the  mountains,  with  thick  brick  walls, 


300 


WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 


and  with  nothing  but  loopholes  for  the  windows ;  and  even  tlien^ 
within  these  snug  houses,  travelers  have  frequently  been  frozen  to 
death,  and  have  left  their  bones  in  the  desolate  solitude. 


Once  ten  poor  travi-  -  v.,!  o\ciUikcn  in  one  of  these  dreadful 
storms,  and  finding  it  useless  to  attempt  proceeding  further  on  their 
journey,  they  managed  to  squeeze  themselves  into  one  of  the  houses 
of  refuge,  which  they  saw  standing  empty.     How  long  they  had  been. 


WONDERS    OF   SOUTH    AMERICA.  301 

obliged  to  remain  there  no  one  ever  knew,  for  when  they  were  found, 
six  of  them  were  quite  dead,  and  the  other  four  were  nearly  so ;  they 
could  not  speak.  Having  no  food,  they  had  killed  their  mules  and  eaten 
them,  and  also  their  one  faithful  dog ;  the  door  they  had  pulled  from 
its  hinges,  and  broken  into  pieces  to  burn  for  firewood.  All  this  told 
a  sad,  silent  tale  of  what  the  poor  creatures  had  had  to  endure. 

The  names  of  Peru  and  Pizarro  are  linked  together  because  it  was  a 
young  Spaniard  of  the  name  of  Pizarro  who,  soon  after  the  death  of 
Columbus,  conquered  the  country  and  took  possession  of  it.  Different 
adventurers  kept  returning  from  the  newly  discovered  world,  with  won- 
derful tales  of  the  quantities  of  gold  and  silver  that  were  to  be  found. 
So  Pizarro,  who,  as  a  little  boy,  had  spent  a  great  deal  of  his  time  doing 
nothing  better  than  minding  pigs,  determined  to  change  his  occupation, 
and  see  for  himself  this  fairy  land,  which  was  being  so  much  talked 
about.  On  landing  on  the  foreign  shore,  he  managed  to  gain  favor  with 
the  natives,  who  gave  him  presents  of  gold  and  silver  ornaments,  and 
silk  and  woollen  cloths  of  their  own  manufacture,  and  some  animals 
called  alpacas.  These  he  took  back  to  the  Spanish  king,  as  proof  of 
what  he  had  seen  ;  and  as  a  reward  tlie  king  made  him  governor  of 
Peru,  and  secured  to  him  the  right  of  the  discovery  of  the  place. 

STRANGE    RELICS    OF    ANCIENT    TIMES. 

Pizarro  joyfully  returned  to  the  land  of  gold.  The  people  he  found 
living  there  were  called  Incas,  who  were  very  clever,  and,  as  Pizarro 
soon  found  out,  were  much  wiser  in  many  ways  than  he  was  himself; 
but  how  long  they  had  been  there  they  could  not  tell  him.  This  much 
he  ascertained,  however — that  they  were  b)-  no  means  the  first  inhabi- 
tants of  the  place  ;  long  before  their  time  a  race  of  people  had  dwelt  on 
the  ground  where  they  then  stood,  who  must  have  been  quite  as  ad- 
vanced in  civilization,  or  even  more  so,  than  they  were  themselves. 
This  fact  has  been  confirmed  in  later  years  by  other  visitors  to  Peru, 
who  have  dug  out  ruins  of  buildings  and  idols,  that  had  no  doubt  been 
swallowed  up  at  some  time  by  earthquakes.  Not  very  long  ago,  a 
number  of  idols  were  dug  up,  some  of  which  were  thirty  feet  long. 
What  they  proved,  of  course,  as  they  were  taken  out  of  the  darkness, 
was,  that  at  some  period  in  that  region,  idolatry  had  prevailed.  Besides 
which,  they  are  specimens  of  what  the  people  could  do  in  the  way  of 
architecture.  Indeed,  all  the  old  remains  that  were  found  told  some  tale 
or  other.  Buried  prisons,  for  instance,  told  that  crimes  had  been 
punished  by  confinement,  and  cooking  utensils  explained  how  the  food 
of  the  people  used  to  be  prepared. 

According  to  tradition,  we  are  told  that  Manco,  the  first  Inca,  and 
his  wife  Mama  Oello,  first  made  their  appearance  on  the  borders  of  the 


302  WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 

lake  Titicaca.  They  said  the  sun  was  their  father,  and  that  he  had  sent 
them  down  to  their  fellow  creatures  to  be  their  teachers.  Manco  had 
in  his  hand  a  golden  wand,  which  he  said  would  at  some  particular  spot 
disappear,  when  he  struck  the  ground  with  it.  One  day,  as  he  and  his 
wife  were  traveling,  they  came  to  the  plain  of  Cuzco,  when  all  at  once 
Manco  struck  his  golden  wand.  It  immediately  disappeared,  so  at 
Cuzco  he  built  his  capital,  and  afterwards  was  built  there  the  magnifi- 
cent Temple  of  the  Sun,  called  Coricancha,  or  Place  of  Gold.  From 
all  we  have  heard,  this  temple  must  have  been  most  gorgeous ;  almost 
as  splendid  as  the  sun  himself,  of  which  it  was  the  representation.  On 
the  western  wall  was  fixed  an  immense  human  face,  made  of  gold,  from 
which  golden  rays  darted  in  every  direction.  In  other  parts  of  the 
building  were  golden  images,  plates,  and  figures  of  all  descriptions.  So 
that  when  the  real  sun  himself  shed  his  glorious  beams  into  the  edifice, 
the  place  was  one  mass  of  light  and  splendor.  Underneath  the  great 
face  of  gold  were  a  number  of  golden  chairs  in  which  were  seated  the 
embalmed  bodies  of  the  old  Inca  rulers.  In  the  court  outside,  smaller 
temples  were  built,  one  to  the  Moon,  one  to  Venus,  one  to  Pleiades, 
one  to  the  Thunder  and  Lightning,  and  one  to  the  Rainbow,  all  of 
which  were  richly  decorated  with  gold  and  silver.  At  the  present  time 
a  church  and  a  convent  stand  on  the  place  once  occupied  by  the  Temple 
of  the  Sun.  According  to  the  legend,  Manco,  after  losing  his  golden 
wand,  became  ruler  and  priest  in  the  land ;  he  made  laws,  taught  the 
men  how  to  dig,  sow,  and  build,  while  at  the  same  time  Mama  his  wife 
taught  the  women  to  weave  and  spin.  After  thus  spending  their  lives 
for  forty  years,  they  returned  to  the  Sun  their  father. 

GORGEOUS   WEALTH    OF   PERUVIAN   TEMPLES. 

We  can  imagine  how  much  wealth  those  old  Peruvian  Indians  gave 
to  their  temple  when  we  are  told  that  after  the  country  was  invaded, 
one  of  Pizarro's  pilots  asked  if  for  his  share  of  the  prize  he  might  have 
the  nails  and  tacks  which  bore  the  sacred  name  on  the  walls  of  the 
temple,  and  on  the  request  being  granted  to  him  he  gathered  together 
and  took  away  thirty-two  thousand  ounces  of  treasure.  It  is  very  little 
we  should  know  about  this  strange  place,  if  it  were  not  for  all  the 
graves  it  contains ;  and  though  dead  men  cannot  speak,  these  graves 
tell  us  in  silent  language  a  great  deal  about  the  past.  The  old  inhabi- 
tants, it  seems,  never  attained  to  a  written  language,  but  fortunately 
they  were  accustomed  to  bury  with  their  dead  the  things  they  most 
cared  for  when  living,  and  from  these  we  find  out  some  of  their  habits, 
and  what  their  religious  notions  and  beliefs  were. 

One  grave,  for  instance,  was  found  of  a  man.  his  wife,  and  three  chil- 
dren.    The   man   had  evidently  been  a  fisherman,  for  round  his  neck 


■304  WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 

was  hung  a  net  made  of  the  twisted  fibre  of  a  plant,  and,  wrapped  in  a 
cloth  between  his  feet,  were  some  fishing  lines  of  different  sizes,  and 
some  copper  hooks.  Under  each  arm  was  a  roll  of  white  alpaca  wool, 
and  in  his  mouth  a  small  thin  copper  coin,  meant,  very  likely  to  pay 
his  way  across  the  river  of  death.  It  was  the  custom  of  the  ancient 
Greeks  to  adopt  the  same  plan  of  putting  a  coin  into  the  mouths  of  their 
dead  friends.  The  body  of  the  wife  was  wrapped  in  a  sheet  of  fine 
cotton  cloth,  on  which  were  woven  figures  of  the  sacred  monkey.  In 
one  hand  she  held  a  comb  made  of  fishes'  fins  stuck  into  a  slip  of  hard 
palm-tree  wood.  In  her  other  hand  was  part  of  a  fan  with  a  cane 
handle,  and  to  which  were  still  attached  the  faded  feathers  of  parrots 
and  humming-birds.  Around  her  neck  was  a  necklace  of  shells  that 
almost  fell  to  pieces  when  exposed  to  the  air  and  light. 

A    LITTLE   girl's    GRAVE   AND   WHAT    IT   CONTAINED. 

Resting  between  the  body  and  bent-up  knees  (for  in  that  position 
most  of  the  dead  people  were  buried)  were  several  domestic  articles, 
among  them  an  ancient  spindle  for  spinning  cotton,  half  covered  with 
spun  thread.  The  Indian  women  of  the  present  time  use  the  same  kind 
of  spindle.  By  her  side  was  a  prettily  made  bag,  of  colored  cotton  cloth, 
containing  first  of  all  some  Lima  beans ;  a  few  pods  of  cotton  ;  some 
fragments  of  a  silver  ornament ;  t\\  o  little  silver  rings  that  most  likely 
had  been  coins;  and  a  number  of  small  valuable  beads.  In  the  box 
containing  the  body  of  the  little  girl  were  some  pieces  of  knitting  that 
the  child  had  done  ;  in  some  places  the  stitches  were  dropped,  just  as 
though  the  little  learner  had  been  taking  her  first  lessons. 

Then  there  were  braids  of  thread  of  various  thickness,  that  had  evi- 
dently been  kept  to  show  how  the  little  girl  had  improved  in  her  weav- 
ing and  winding  as  .she  grew  older.  There  were  also  skeins  of  thread, 
strips  of  colored  cloth,  knitted  and  woven  pouches  of  all  sizes,  needles 
of  bone  and  of  bronze,  a  comb,  a  bronze  knife,  and  a  little  fan.  In  ad- 
dition to  all  these  things,  there  was  a  little  piece  of  polished  iron  that 
had  no  doubt  served  as  a  looking-glass,  a  netting  needle  of  very  hard 
wood,  and  a  crushed  gold  butterfly  that  the  little  girl  had  most  likely 
treasured  very  much.  On  her  arm  hung  a  thin  silver  bracelet,  and  at 
her  feet  laid  the  dried  body  of  a  parrot,  that  had  once  been  the  child's 
pet,  no  doubt.  The  burial  of  all  these  articles  with  the  dead  bodies 
proved  that  the  inhabitants  of  Pachacamac  believed  in  a  future  state, 
and  thought  that  the  buried  things  would  be  useful  to  the  possessors  of 
of  them  in  another  world.  The  little  boy  had  a  sling  tied  tightly  round 
his  forehead,  and  then,  what  seems  still  more  strange,  a  quantity  of 
pans  and  pots  were  lying  in  the  vault,  the  people  who  put  them  there 
evidently  thinking  that  after  death  their  friends  would  require  food. 


WONDERS    OF   SOUTH    AMERICA.  305 

After  all  the  changes  it  has  undergone,  Lima,  the  capital  of  Peru, 
still  is  a  rich,  gay  city,  containing  within  its  walls  the  bones  of  its 
great  founder  Pizarro.  As  a  proof  of  its  wealth,  one  of  its  viceroys 
once  rode  through  its  streets,  over  a  pavement  of  solid  ingots  of  silver, 
on  a  horse  whose  mane  was  strung  with  pearls,  and  whose  shoes  were 
of  gold — so  much  do  the  inabitants  think  of  wealth  and  show.  Owing 
to  the  absence  of  rain  in  the  region  where  Lima  stands,  and  to  the  fact 
that  an  earthquake  may  be  expected  at  any  time,  most  of  the  houses 
are  built  of  very  light  materials,  because  a  strong  building  of  brick  or 
stone  would  be  no  protection  during  an  earthquake.  Many  of  them 
are  little  more  than  large  cages  of  canes  plastered  over  with  mud,  and 
then  made  to  imitate  stone.  The  roofs  are  flat,  because  the  absence 
of  rain  renders  a  sloping  roof  unnecessary ;  and  even  churches  and 
large  buildings  that  look  strong  and  massive  have  really  no  foundation 
stronger  than  a  number  of  poles  and  canes  tied  together.  Under  a 
brisk  shower,  such  as  we  often  experience  of  a  summer  afternoon,  the 
whole  city  would  melt  away,  leaving  only  a  mass  of  broken  canes  in  a 
great  mud  puddle,  and  the  inhabitants  would  be  houseless. 

A    TERRIBLE    CALAMITY. 

Both  in  Chili  and  in  Peru  the  people  have  many  times  been  visited 
by  earthquakes  that  have  swallowed  up  a  number  of  them  alive,  with 
their  houses  and  cattle,  but  not  very  long  ago,  in  the  year  1863,  a 
misfortune  quite  as  sad  as  an  earthquake  came  upon  the  inhabitants  of 
Santiago.  A  very  important  festival  was  being  held  at  the  cathedral, 
which  was  decorated  magnificently  for  the  occasion,  and  was  filled  with 
people  who  had  assembled  within  the  walls  to  worship.  By  some 
means  or  other,  part  of  the  gay  ornaments  took  fire,  when,  at  the  sight 
of  the  flames,  the  frightened  people  rushed  to  the  different  entrances, 
crushing  and  mangling  each  other  by  trying  to  make  their  exit.  The 
number  who  perished  at  the  time  is  said  to  have  been  between  two 
and  three  thousand,  chiefly  women.  The  poor  creatures  were  either 
burnt  to  death,  suffocated  by  smoke,  or  killed  by  the  falling  stones  and 
rafters.  On  the  spot,  in  place  of  the  cathedral,  now  stands  a  monu- 
ment in  memory  of  the  awful  event. 

Before  the  Spaniards  made  their  appearance  at  all  in  the  country,  the 
old  Incas  or  rulers  from  Peru  had  crossed  that  great  desert  of  Atacama, 
which,  though  so  rich  in  silver  mines,  is  a  terribly  dreary  place,  and 
had  taken  possession  of  as  much  territory  as  they  could  seize.  Owing 
to  the  absence  of  rain,  the  soil  of  this  desert  is  so  dry  and  arid  that 
no  plants  or  vegetables  will  grow  in  it.  Fortunately  a  railway  runs 
across  its  dreary  waste  now  ;  consequently,  travelers  who  wish  to  cross 
it,  need  not  long  be  exposed  to  the  misery  that  a  long  sojourn  would 
20 


JJ06 


WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE, 


necessitate.  When  Almagro  arrived  in  Chili,  he  found  a  large  portion 
of  it  peopled  by  a  tribe  of  Indians  called  Araucanians ;  and  of  all  the 
red  men  in  South  America,  these  Araucanians  seem  to  have  been  most 
determined  not  to  let  the  Spaniards  conquer  them.  They  were  a  wild, 
warlike  people,  who  loved  horse-riding  ;  and  very  clever  riders  they  all 
were,  both  men  and  women.  Their  houses  were  merely  wicker-work 
frames  plastered  with  clay,  and  although  they  seemed  happy  enough — 
men,  women,  children,  dogs,  and  horses,  all  huddled  up  together  at 
night — 'Almagro  and  his  friends  no  doubt  thought  it  a  miserable  state 


INDIAN    WOMEN    Ol'    (,  IIILI. 

of  things.  It  was  lawful  amongst  them  for  a  man  to  have  as  many 
wives  as  he  liked,  but  as  the  rule  also  was  that  every  day  each  wife 
should  give  to  her  husband  a  dish  of  food  prepared  at  her  own  fire,  the 
number  of  fires  in  each  habitation  was  not  unfrequently  considerable. 
A  polite  way  of  asking  a  man  what  number  of  wives  he  was  blessed 
with  was  to  say,  "  How  many  fires  have  you  ?  " 

The  women  are  not  without  some  degree  of  taste,  and  often  may- 
be seen  embroidering  and  decorating  screens.  Their  hair  is  usually 
worn  long  and  loose,  and  their  dress  is  of  a  light  order,  suited  to  a 


WONDERS    OF   SOUTH    AMERICA.  307 

tropical  climate.     Their  complexion  is  dark,  and  their  general  appear- 
ance not  very  inviting. 

For  their  religious  observances  the  natives  required  neither  temple 
nor  priest ;  all  they  did  by  way  of  worship  was  to  sacrifice  some  animal 
under  a  particular  tree  in  the  forest  which  they  considered  sacred.  Like 
most  ignorant  people,  they  were  highly  superstitious.  They  thought, 
for  instance,  that  when  one  of  their  tribe  died  from  any  other  cause 
than  old  age,  some  evil  spirit  had  been  at  work  ;  and  before  partaking  of 
food  they  always  sprinkle  on  the  ground  a  small  quantity  of  whatever 
they  had  spread  before  them  by  way  of  gaining  favor  with  the  evil 
spirits,  which  seems  to  be  a  shrewd  way  of  buying  him  up. 

A   STRANGE   METHOD    FOR    OBTAINING    GUNPOWDER. 

A  few  of  these  bold,  wild  men  are  still  left  in  Chili,  and  may  be  seen 
roaming  happily  about  on  the  banks  of  rivers  or  in  deserted  villages. 
Their  idea  of  freedom  is  to  be  allowed  to  wander  at  will  in  any  direction 
they  like,  and  they  have  the  notion  that  people  who  dwell  in  walled 
cities  are  slaves.  When  they  fought  with  the  Spaniards  they  were 
sadly  puzzled  to  find  out  how  gunpowder  was  made,  for  they  saw,  of 
course,  how  useful  it  was  to  their  enemies  in  battle  ;  but  what  they 
actually  did  to  discover  the  secret  you  could  never  imagine.  They 
noticed  that  among  the  Spaniards  were  some  negro  soldiers,  whose 
color,  they  thought,  resembled  gunpowder.  Consequently  the  first 
negro  that  was  taken  prisoner  by  them  they  burnt  alive,  hoping  that 
they  would  obtain  the  precious  gunpowder  from  his  ashes. 

Most  of  the  silver  mines  in  South  America  are  found  at  an  immense 
height  up  the  mountains,  very  near  the  limit  of  perpetual  snow. 
Therefore,  in  order  to  explore  them,  men  and  provisions  have  to  be 
brought  from  a  great  distance.  Those  mines  which  are  lower  down  on 
a  level  with  towns  or  villages  are,  of  course,  more  easily  worked.  The 
richest  silver  mine  in  Peru  is  at  Potosi,  but  many  of  the  South  American 
Indians  are  made  to  work  so  hard,  digging  out  these  precious  metals, 
that  they  have  no  doubt  often  wished  the  foreigners  had  never 
discovered  them.  Indeed,  some  of  the  Indians  are  sly  enough  to  keep 
the  knowledge  to  themselves  as  to  where  certain  mines  are  to  be  found, 
so  that  when  they  want  any  for  their  own  use  they  can  go  alone  secretly 
and  take  as  much  as  they  require. 

SINGULAR   STORY    OF   A    MONK. 

There  was  once  *an  old  monk  in  Peru  who  lost  a  large  sum  of  money, 
and  so  troubled  was  he  in  consequence  that  a  great  friend  of  his,  an 
Indian,  by  way  of  consoling  him,  went  and  obtained  for  him  a  bag  full 
of  silver.  The  monk,  instead  of  being  satisfied,  asked  for  more,  then 
another  bag,  then  another,  and  actually  at  last  said  he  should  like  to 


308  WONDERS    OF    EXPLORATION    AND    ADVENTURE. 

see  the  mine  where  all  the  silver  came  from.  He  was  so  eager  in  his 
request  that  his  friend  consented  to  gratify  his  curiosity ;  so  one  night 
the  Indian,  with  two  companions,  went  to  the  monk's  house.  First  of 
all  they  blindfolded  him  ;  then,  instead  of  letting  him  walk,  they  carried 
him  in  turns  on  their  shoulders — how  far  the  monk  did  not  know — 
until  at  last  he  was  put  down  on  the  ground  and  the  bandage  taken 
from  his  eyes.  To  his  great  delight  he  then  found  himself  in  a  real 
mine,  surrounded  by  large  pieces  of  solid  silver,  of  which  he  was  told 
he  might  take  as  much  as  he  liked. 

The  old  monk  filled  his  pockets  to  the  utmost,  and  took  in  his  arms 
and  hands  as  much  as  they  would  hold,  but,  to  his  sorrow,  instead  of 
being  allowed  to  walk  home  alone,  he  was  blindfolded  again  and  carried 
back  as  he  had  been  taken  ;  consequently,  he  had  no  idea  of  the  route 
they  had  traversed.  All  at  once  it  occurred  to  him  that  he  would  be 
as  cunning  as  his  friends  ;  so  he  secretly  unfastened  a  string  of  beads 
(or  a  rosary,  as  it  is  called)  which  he  wore  round  his  neck,  and  which 
he  used  for  counting  his  prayers.  These  he  dropped  one  by  one  occa- 
sionally, as  he  was  being  carried,  thinking  that  when  day  light  came  he 
could,  by  means  of  them,  find  his  way  back  to  the  mine.  How  mistaken 
he  was  remains  to  be  seen.  As  he  lay  in  bed,  pleased  with  the  thought 
that  he  would  soon  be  very  rich,  and  able  to  bestow  large  benefactions 
upon  the  needy,  the  Indian  knocked  at  the  door.  "  I  have  brought  you 
your  beads,  father,"  said  he;  "  you  dropped  them  on  your  way." 

One  method  of  carrying  the  metal  down  the  steep  paths  is  to  put  it 
on  the  back  of  an  animal  called  the  llama — a  pretty  creature,  a  little 
taller  than  a  sheep,  and  covered  with  a  short,  dark,  course  wool.  It 
cannot  travel  quickly,  but  is  very  sure-footed,  and  although  only  an 
animal,  is  sufficiently  sensible  not  to  attempt  to  carry  too  great  a  burden. 
When  it  finds  the  weight  greater  than  it  can  bear,  it  lies  down,  and 
will  not  rise  until  its  load  has  been  lightened.  So  useful  arc  these  gentle- 
eyed  animals  (for  each  llama  can  carry  a  sack  containing  a  hundred 
pounds  of  metal),  that  it  would  be  difficult  to  carry  on  the  mining 
business  without  them  ;  and,  fortunately,  they  are  very  plentiful. 

Troops  of  many  hundreds  of  them  may  be  seen  in  Peru,  descending 
the  mountains  with  their  bags  of  barilla,  as  the  powdered  ore  is  called, 
each  troup  led  by  a  horse,  with  a  bell  attached  to  his  neck,  to  warn 
approaching  travelers  to  stop  at  places  where  the  road  is  not  wide 
enough,  or  to  avoid  deep  precipices. 

In  some  parts  of  South  America  so  many  droves  of  mules  and 
llamas  cross  the  pampas,  or  treeless  deserts,  with  loads  of  various 
kinds  that  the  tract  is  covered  with  bones  of  animals  that  have  died 
either  of  fatigue  or  of  hunger.     To  one  of  these  places  the  name  of 


WONDERS    OF   SOUTH    AMERICA.  309 

"  The  Tombs  "  has  been  given.  The  care  of  all  these  animals  provides 
occupation  for  very  many  of  the  red  men  in  South  America,  who  have 
been  trained  from  boyhood  to  the  keeping  of  flocks  and  herds. 

A  traveler  gives  this  vivid  description  of  the  wonderful  beauty  of 
the  harbor  of  Rio  de  Janeiro,  as  it  appears  to  those  who  enter  it  on 
ship-board :  Just  at  sunrise,  when  I  went  on  deck  to  enjoy  the  cool 
air,  I  heard  the  shout  of  "  Land  !  "  and  looking  out,  I  saw  a  line  of  blue 
mountains  rising  out  of  the  water.  The  breeze  carried  us  quickly 
towards  them,  and  in  a  short  time  we  could  distinguish  a  lofty  height, 
shaped  like  a  sugar-loaf,  which  stands  at  the  south  side  of  the  entrance 
into  the  harbor  of  Rio.  A  little  to  the  left  rose  three  peaks,  called  the 
"Three  Brothers,"  with  the  lofty  peak  of  Corcovado  a  little  further 
south.  On  the  right  of  the  entrance  we  could  distinguish  the  white 
walls  of  the  fortress  of  Santa  Cruz,  which  commands  it,  with  another 
range  of  mountains  rising  above  it,  and  terminating  in  a  bold,  lofty, 
promontory,  known  as  Cape  Frio,  while  far  beyond  towered  up  the 
blue  outline  of  the  distant  Organ  Mountains.  We  sailed  on,  passing 
between  the  lofty  heights  I  have  described,  being  hailed,  as  we  glided 
under  the  frowning  guns  of  Santa  Cruz,  by  a  stentorian  voice,  with 
various  questions  as  to  who  we  were,  whence  we  came,  our  object  in 
entering  the  port,  to  all  of  which  our  guide  replied  through  his  speak- 
ing-trumpet. It  would  be  difficult  to  describe  the  beautiful  scene  in 
which  we  now  found  ourselves — curious-shaped  canoes  and  boats  of 
all  rigs,  manned  by  half-naked  blacks,  sailing  about,  and  a  number  of 
vessels  at  anchor  in  the  vast  harbor ;  numerous  white  forts,  backed  by 
picturesque  hills  rising  above  them,  covered  with  the  richest  verdure, 
and  villages  peeping  forth  here  and  there  in  beautiful  little  bays  ;  while 
higher  up  the  bay  the  vast  city  appeared,  extending  for  miles  along  its 
irregular  shore,  and  running  back  almost  to  the  foot  of  the  Tijuca 
Mountains,  with  hills  and  heights  in  every  direction.  In  the  midst  of 
this  scene  we  dropped  our  anchor  under  the  frowning  fortress  of 
Villegagnon.  the  first  castle  erected  by  Europeans  in  that  region. 

I  cannot  hope  to  convey  by  words  a  correct  idea  of  the  beauty  of 
the  scenery  or  the  magnificence  of  the  harbor.  All  visitors  agree  that 
it  is  one  of  the  finest  in  the  world. 

Rio  is  a  large  city,  with  heights  rising  about  in  various  parts,  covered 
with  buildings.  Most  of  the  streets  are  very  narrow,  the  architecture 
very  unlike  anything  to  be  seen  elsewhere.  Numbers  of  priests; 
gangs  of  slaves,  carrying  loads  ;  ladies  in  black  hoods  reaching  to  the 
feet,  called  mantilhas  ;  gentlemen  in  cloaks ;  soldiers  on  foot  and  on 
horseback,  were  moving  about  in  all  directions. 

The  palace  of  the  emperor  is  finely  located,  having  an  extensive  park 


310 


WONDERS    OF   SOUTH    AMERICA.  311 

on  one  side,  filled  with  fountains,  beautiful  walks  and  avenues,  and 
shrubs  and  flowers,  that  bloom  perennially.  Here  the  royal  family 
spend  much  of  their  time,  adding  to  the  social  gayety  of  the  city,  and 
extending"  hospitality  to  the  higher  ranks  of  society. 

There  are  well-built  houses  in  the  city,  handsome  churches,  hotels 
and  other  buildings,  large  extensive  gardens  in  which  vegetables  are 
grown,  and  at  the  Rio  Botanical  Gardens  is  a  splendid  avenue  of 
mango-trees,  which  not  only  yield  very  delicious  fruit,  but  which  send 
forth  a  fragrance  so  strong  that  the  air  for  miles  round  is  scented  with 
it.  People  with  skins  of  all  shades  are  parading  up  and  down  the  busy 
streets.  Wealthy  Portuguese  gentlemen  may  be  seen  riding  about  in 
their  carriages,  driven  by  black  coachmen,  who  look  quite  contented 
as  they  sit  perched  aloft,  dressed  in  their  gay  livery.  In  addition  to 
the  drivers,  three  or  four  negroes  are  often  mounted  on  mules  and  rid- 
ing behind  the  carriage,  just  by  way  of  giving  an  air  of  importance  to 
the  affair,  and  conveying  an  idea  of  the  gentleman's  wealth. 

In  the  busy  streets,  where  buyers  and  sellers  of  cotton,  coffee,  sugar, 
tobacco,  and  other  articles  of  commerce  are  trading  with  each  other, 
dozens  of  negroes  pace  up  and  down,  carrying  great  bales  and  bags  of 
goods,  most  of  them  laughing  and  talking  to  each  other,  or  singing 
their  negro  songs.  The  streets  of  this  city  are  so  steep  that  the  negroes 
generally  poise  their  burdens  cleverly  on  their  heads ;  then,  forming 
themselves  in  a  line,  they  set  off  running,  singing  as  they  go.  At  one 
time  the  noise  of  these  singing  negroes  was  so  great  that  they  were 
ordered  to  be  quiet,  not  for  a  long  time  though  ;  the  masters  found  out 
that  their  work  did  not  get  done  as  quickly  with  the  quiet  negroes  as 
with  the  noisy  ones,  so  permission  was  given  for  the  singing  to  go  on. 

CHARMS    OF    THE    NEGRO    WOMEN. 

The  women  of  this  negro  race,  who  assemble  in  great  numbers  in 
the  market,  are  many  of  them  quite  handsome  and  gracefully  formed, 
and,  judging  from  the  proud  independent  air  which  the  beauties  as- 
sume, it  is  evident  that  they  are  conscious  of  their  charms.  On  their 
heads  they  wear  a  high  muslin  turban,  in  addition  to  which  a  gay-col- 
ored shawl  is  thrown  around  their  shoulders  in  all  kinds  of  fantastic 
styles.  It  is  sometimes  crossed  over  the  breast,  sometimes  carelessly 
thrown  over  one  shoulder ;  in  fact,  no  white  lady  could  excel  these 
negro-market  women  in  the  skill  the}'  display  in  the  arrangement  of 
their  shawls.  Another  purpose  to  which  these  gay  shawls  are  appro- 
priated is  for  the  benefit  of  the  negro  babies ;  for  the  mothers  have  a 
plan  of  twisting  them  so  as  to  form  comfortable  little  cradles,  in  which 
the  little  creatures  rock  to  and  fro  as  happily  as  if  they  were  by  the 
fireside,  thus  releasing  the  mother  for  her  other  duties. 


312  WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 

Among  the  mountainous  regions  and  in  the  forests  of  South  America 
many  tribes  of  wild  Indians  are  dwelling  who  are  still  in  a  state  of  un- 
civilization,  and  who  delight  in  acts  of  cruelty.  Of  these  the  Boticudos 
are  the  most  savage,  and  although  many  efforts  have  been  made  to- 
conquer  them,  they  have  never  yet  been  subdued.  One  favorite  custom 
of  theirs  is  to  make  themselves  still  uglier  than  they  are  naturally,  by 
tearing  open  their  under-lips  and  ears,  and  inserting  pieces  of  wood  into 
the  rents  thus  made.  A  very  remarkable  circumstance  to  be  noticed 
among  most  savages  is  the  power  they  have  of  enduring  pain.  We 
often  hear  in  our  own  country  of  good  men  and  women  who  are  very 
patient  under  suffering,  but  that  ignorant  wild  men  like  these  Indians,, 
who  have  no  refinement,  and  do  not  act  from  high  and  noble  motives, 
should  impose  upon  themselves  unnecessary  suffering  seems  rather 
curious  These  Brazilian  Indians  are  particularly  brave  and  strong,  even 
while  enduring  excruciating  pain.  They  never  seem  to  lose  their  courage, 
and  would  much  sooner  rush  straight  on  to  their  own  destruction  than 
turn  their  back  on  the  enemy,  thus  proving  themselves  to  be  cowards. 

SHEDDING    BLOOD    IN    THE    NAME    OF    RELIGION. 

Some  of  their  homes  are  nothing  better  than  miserable  huts,  where 
mothers,  fathers,  sisters  and  brothers  all  huddle  together,  living  much 
more  as  do  the  animals  that  they  feed  upon  than  as  human  beings  who 
were  made  to  love  each  other  From  childhood  they  grow  up  with  the 
idea  that  happiness  and  greatness  consist  in  the  possession  of  bodily 
strength  The  man  who  succeeds  in  killing  the  greatest  number  of 
wild  animals,  or  even  the  greatest  number  of  his  own  fellow-creatures, 
raises  himself  at  once  to  the  rank  of  hero.  They  do  not  understand 
that  the  truest  bravery  consists  in  resisting  evil,  because  they  have  no 
true  idea  of  what  evil  is,  or  what  goodness  is.  What  religion  they  have 
teaches  them  that  there  are  two  gods — one  a  good  god ;  the  other  a  bad 
god  The  good  god,  the  Indian  thinks,  helps  him  in  whatever  he  wishes 
to  do,  whether  the  action  be  good  or  bad.  Supposing  he  were  to  suc- 
ceed in  killing  his  own  child,  he  would  say  the  good  god  had  helped 
him  to  do  so  ;  instead  of  that,  if  he  were  prevented  in  an  act  of  cruelty, 
he  would  say  the  bad  god  had  been  working  against  him.  Warmth, 
food  and  pleasure  are  supposed  to  come  from  the  good  god,  while  cold, 
pain,  failure,  hunger,  and  even  death  are  thought  to  be  sent  by  the  bad 
god.  The  South  American  Indians  believe  that  the  bad  spirit  is  stronger 
than  the  good  spirit,  so  they  spend  a  great  deal  of  time  and  thought  in 
preventing  him  doing  them  any  harm.  They  seem  to  hold  the  idea 
that  by  some  means  or  other  he  must  be  kept  in  a  good  temper. 

One  precaution  against  evil,  among  many  other  very  absurd  ones 
adopted  by  the  Indians,  is  to  be  supplied  with  what  is  called  a  medicine 


WONDERS    OF    SOUTH    AMERICA.  313^ 

bag.  From  its  name  we  might  be  led  to  imagine  that  the  bag  contained 
physic  of  some  kind,  but  the  word  medicine  means  to  the  Indian  mys- 
tery, not  physic  ;  and  certainly  it  is  very  mysterious  that  a  bag  made 
of  the  skin  of  some  animal,  as  these  bags  always  are,  should  have  the 
power  of  charming  away  evil  and  danger. 

Indian  boys,  therefore,  as  soon  as  they  are  about  fifteen  years  of  age,, 
start  out  one  day  in  search  of  some  wild  animal,  which  they  must  kill, 
and  afterwards  make  their  medicine  bag  of  the  skin.  The  size  of  the 
bag,  perhaps,  depends  upon  what  animal  happens  to  be  chosen  for  the 
purpose  ;  for  the  bags  are  of  all  sizes,  and  the  skins  of  all  kinds  of  ani- 
mals are  used — sometimes  that  of  a  buffalo,  a  wolf,  or  even  of  a  rat. 
When  the  bag  is  once  made,  the  boy  is  very  careful  not  to  lose  it ;  for 
if  he  were  to  be  so  unfortunate  he  would  have  to  be  prepared  for  dis- 
asters of  all  kinds,  and  as  to  making  a  new  one,  that  would  be  out  of 
the  question.  Medicine  bags  are  sometimes  lost,  of  course,  however 
careful  the  owners  may  be  ;  but  in  such  cases  the  unlucky  person,  who 
is  not  allowed  to  supply  himself  with  a  second  new  one,  tries  to  steal 
one  from  an  enemy,  and  if  he  should  succeed  in  doing  this  he  is 
looked  upon  with  greater  respect  than  he  was  before  he  lost  his  own. 

Not  only  are  there  medicine  bags  among  these  Indians,  but  there  are 
also  what  are  called  medicine  men  ;  and  the  title  is  one  of  very  great 
honor,  because  it  is  only  given  to  those  of  their  number  who  prove 
themselves  to  be  very  wise  or  powerful.  It  happens  sometimes  in  their 
country  that  there  is  no  rain  for  many  days  ;  so  after  waiting  for  a  long 
time,  until  the  people  begin  to  fear  there  will  be  no  harvest,  one  of  them 
declares  that  he  will  make  the  rain  come.  Accordingly,  he  goes  up  a 
high  hill  or  mountain  with  a  lance  in  his  hand,  and  there  he  points  to 
the  clouds,  pretending  to  pierce  them,  shouting  to  them  all  the  time 
and  entreating  the  rain  to  descend.  If  when  night  comes  there  should 
still  be  no  rain,  some  one  else  takes  his  place  next  day ;  and  thus  they 
go  on  until  the  rain  descends,  when  the  man  whose  turn  came  last  in 
the  business  gains  the  title  of  medicine  man,  and  is  greatly  honored  by- 
all  the  rest,  who  ascribe  to  him  power  over  the  elements  of  nature. 

A    BEASTLY   LOOKING   DOCTOR. 

A  traveler  gives  this  description  of  one  of  these  medical  jugglers  : 
There  was  a  poor  Indian  who  had  been  accidentally  shot,  and  as  he  lay 
dying  his  friends  sent  in  haste  for  the  medicine  man.  On  making  his 
appearance  he  was  covered  with  the  skin  of  a  yellow  bear,  he  had  a 
bear's  face  stuck  over  his  own,  and  all  kinds  of  strange  things  were 
hanging  about  him — such  as  skins  of  snakes,  hoofs  of  deer,  birds,  bears' 
claws,  animals'  tongues,  tails,  and  teeth  ;  in  fact,  he  looked  most  fright- 
ful.    In  one  hand  he  held  a  rattle,  made  of  a  number  of  bones  strung. 


314  WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 

together,  and  which  made  a  great  noise  as  they  knocked  against  each 
other ;  in  the  other  hand  he  waved  a  spear,  and  as  he  approached  the 
spot  where  the  sufferer  lay  he  grunted  and  growled  like  a  real  bear, 
jumping  and  frisking  about  in  a  very  ridiculous  manner.  Then,  when 
he  reached  the  Indian,  instead  of  soothing  or  trying  to  cure  the  poor 
fellow,  all  he  did  was  to  drag  the  wounded  man  about.  Of  course  the 
sick  man  could  not  bear  such  rough  treatment,  therefore  we  are  not  sur- 
prised that  in  a  few  minutes  he  was  dead  ;  and  though  the  friends  .stand- 
ing round  appeared  quite  satisfied  with  what  had  been  done,  it  is  difficult 
to  discover  any  good  that  had  been  accomplished  in  any  way  by  the 
wonderful  medicine  man.  More  difficult  still  is  it  to  understand  how 
special  wisdom  and  power  should  be  imagined  to  exist  in  a  human  being 
capable  of  acting  so  foolishly. 

However,  these  savage  tribes"  are  gradually  growing  smaller  in  num- 
bers ;  but  the  few  of  them  that  still  remain  in  South  America,  especially 
the  Boticudos,  hate  their  conquerors,  the  Portuguese,  and  watch  every 
opportunity  of  shooting  at  them  or  doing  them  harm  in  other  ways. 
Like  all  selfi.sh,  quarrelsome  people,  they  imagine  that  every  man's  hand 
is  against  them  ;  therefore  they  regard  all  white  men  as  their  enemies. 
Sometimes  they  hide  among  the  trees,  and  cleverly  send  their  arrows  at 
any  white  travelers,  or  even  at  negroes ;  indeed,  they  hate  the  African 
negroes  more  than  the  white  men,  and  whenever  they  can  do  so  they 
both  kill  and  eat  them.  Many  of  these  Indian  tribes  liv^e  in  the  treeless 
regions,  of  which  there  are  so  many  both  in  North  and  South  America, 
as  well  as  in  Europe  and  Asia. 

Either  from  fear  or  dislike  of  the  white  men  who  from  time  to  time 
have  arrived  amongst  them,  most  of  the  Indians  have  fled  to  the 
mountains  and  plains  and  forests,  so  that  there,  unmolested,  they  may 
lead  the  old  life  to  which  they  have  always  been  accustomed. 

THE    NATIVE.S'    MANIA    FOR    DRESS. 

In  all  South  American  towns  in  which  settlements  are  made  by 
•civilized  foreigners,  the  negroes  and  dark-colored  natives  live  in  dis- 
tricts of  their  own,  quite  distinct  from  those  occupied  by  the  white 
people.  When  at  the  very  first  the  English  people  made  their  home  in 
Guiana,  the  negroes  took  no  trouble  to  adorn  themselves  with  dress  of 
any  kind,  but  would  wander  about  doing  their  daily  work  almost 
naked.  The  masters  and  mistresses  who  employed  them  to  do  certain 
kinds  of  work  insisted,  therefore,  that  clothing  should  be  worn  by 
their  servants,  and  in  order  to  reconcile  them  to  the  new  custom,  would 
frequently  give  them  old  clothes  of  their  own  that  they  had  done 
■wearing,  including  often  various  articles  of  finery. 

Very  comical  it  was  .'■:ometimes  to  see  the  black  women  especially 


WONDERS    OF   SOUTH    AMERICA.  315 

dressed  in  the  garments  with  which  they  had  been  presented.  The 
novelty  of  their  appearance  seemed  at  first  only  to  amuse  them,  but  by 
degrees,  as  the  fi-eshness  of  the  affair  wore  away,  they  began  to  show 
the  usual  signs  of  womanly  vanity,  and  would  imitate  the  manners  and 
appearance  of  their  mistresses,  imagining,  no  doubt,  that  they  had 
succeeded  in  making  themselves  quite  as  attractive  as  any  white  lady. 
Not  only  the  women  but  the  black  men  also  looked  very  ludicrous 
dressed  up  in  their  masters'  old  clothes.  The  common  dress,  however, 
now  generally  worn  by  the  negresses  and  mulatto  women  is  much  like 
that  of  white  people.  Their  dress  consists  of  a  piece  of  stuff  or  muslin 
known  by  the  name  of  gaule,  folded  gracefully  round  the  body  ;  and 
the  peculiar  head-dress  worn  by  them  consists  of  a  handkerchief 
fastened  turban-fashion  round  the  head. 

This  Madras,  as  it  is  called,  is  so  universally  adopted  by  the  natives 
of  Guiana  that  it  may  almost  be  regarded  as  a  national  peculiarity,  and 
yellow  is  the  color  usually  ghosen  for  it — the  color  of  gold  or  of  the 
sun — while  in  others  are  united  all  the  colors  of  the  rainbow,  woven 
into  gaudy  and  elaborate  patterns.  A  casual  observer  might  imagine 
that  there  was  but  one  method  of  arranging  their  gay  head-dress,  but 
in  reality  almost  every  wearer  adopts  a  different  style.  The  policeman 
puts  on  his  turban  one  way,  a  soldier  another,  and  ladies  have  so  many 
different  methods  that  it  would  be  a  very  long  time  before  we  could 
understand  them  all.  The  fact  is,  they  arrange  their  Madras  to  suit 
the  temper  they  happen  to  be  in  at  the  time.  If  they  are  feeling  very 
sad,  they  give  it  a  certain  twist,  which  means  "  I  am  very  miserable;  " 
if  they  are  joyous,  the  handkerchief,  assumes  another  shape,  which 
means  "  Look  how  happy  I  am  ;  "  if  they  have  been  offended,  another 
form  is  given  to  it,  meant  to  imply  "  I  am  very  angry."  So  that  these 
head-dresses  are  really  very  useful  articles  of  attire,  as  well  as  being 
what  their  owners  consider  them,  exceedingly  ornamental. 

The  natives  of  Guiana,  like  the  rest  of  the  South  American  Indians, 
-are,  although  ignorant  and  savage,  in  some  respects  both  clever  and 
ingenious  ;  and  as  to  bravery,  like  most  other  Indian  tribes,  they  would 
never  think  of  turning  their  back  upon  an  enemy,  or  of  trying  to  escape 
pain.  It  once  was  the  custom  among  one  of  their  tribes,  called  the 
Caribs,  of  whom  not  very  many  now  remain,  that  when  a  captain  was 
chosen,  in  order  to  prove  his  powers  of  endurance  he  was  for  a  certain 
time  exposed  to  a  mass  of  biting  insects.  His  suffering  in  consequence 
was  intense ;  but  if  he  bore  it  bravely,  he  was  chosen  as  captain,  and 
the  rest  of  his  tribe  laid  at  his  feet  their  bows  and  arrows,  to  show  that 
they  would  henceforth  obey  his  commands. 

They  believe  that  all  created  things  came  from  the  branch  of  a  silk 


316  WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 

cotton  tree,  cut  down  by  the  Great  Creator,  excepting  the  white  men^ 
who  sprang  from  the  chips  of  a  tree ;  they  therefore  are  of  Httle  value. 

They  beheve  also  that  at  one  time  there  was  somewhere  a  very  large 
tree  on  which  grew  every  kind  of  flower  and  fruit  that  has  ever  been 
known,  and  that  all  the  flowers  and  fruits  we  have  now  came  originally 
from  that  large  tree.  The  tree  must  have  been  gigantic  ;  for  they  say 
that  in  the  middle  of  it  was  a  large  reservoir  of  water,  in  which  were 
all  the  fishes,  and  that  one  day  a  mischievous  monkey  amused  himself 
by  letting  loose  the  water,  and  that  consequently  the  world  was  flooded. 

The  love  of  finery  is  as  strong  in  them  as  it  was  in  their  ancestors. 
Most  of  the  Carib  women  wear,  just  above  the  knee,  and  above  the 
ankle  of  each  leg,  a  tight  cotton  strap  painted  red.  This  strap  is  put 
on  in  childhood,  and  as  the  girl  grows  is  only  taken  off  to  be  replaced 
by  a  new  one  ;  the  result  is  that  their  legs  become  ugly  and  unnatural, 
though  the  women  themselves  are  very  proud  of  them  Another  strange 
custom  of  theirs  is  to  make  a  pin-cushion.of  their  lower  lip,  by  sticking 
into  it  two  or  three  pins,  which  when  they  want  to  use,  they  take  out, 
and  then  put  them  back  into  the  same  place.  At  onetime,  before  they 
could  get  pins,  they  used  thorns  for  the  purpose  instead.  The  cloth 
worn  round  the  waist  by  the  men  is  sometimes  long  enough  to  be 
thrown  over  the  shoulder,  and  made  to  hang  gracefully  down  the  back. 
In  that  case  it  is  often  ornamented  with  tassels,  the  owner  at  the  same 
time  having  his  body  painted  gaudily,  and  wearing  on  his  head  a 
crown  of  feathers,  so  that  in  his  own  estimation  at  any  rate  his 
appearance  is  truly  magnificent. 

There  are  to  be  found  on  this  coast  great  numbers  of  turtles,  which 
as  an  article  of  food  the  natives  regard  as  a  very  great  delicacy.  A 
very  favorite  occupation  of  theirs  is  for  a  number  of  them  to  set  out 
with  their  steel-pointed  arrows  to  the  edge  of  the  water,  there  to  lie  in 
wait  for  turtles.  They  are  so  accustomed  to  the  business  that,  without 
waiting  for  the  fish  to  make  its  appearance,  they  can  tell  by  the  appear- 
ance of  the  water  the  exact  spot  where  one  is  quitely  paddling  along, 
and  often  shoot  their  arrows  quite  a  long  way  out  exactly  on  the  turtle's 
shell.  By  means  of  a  long  piece  of  twine  fastened  to  the  arrow  the 
Indian  manages  to  draw  the  animal  to  shore,  when,  if  it  should  not  be 
quite  dead,  he  strikes  it  with  a  second  arrow.  The  turtle  pools  abound 
sometimes  with  ugly  red  leeches,  which  fasten  on  the  legs  of  the  fisher- 
men, much  to  their  annoyance. 

Better  still,  however,  than  the  turtles  themselves  are  their  eggs  ;  and 
as  each  turtle  lays  about  one  hundred  and  twenty  eggs,  there  are  plenty 
of  them  to  be  found,  to  say  nothing  about  a  great  many  that  are  not 
found  by  the  fishermen  owing  to  their  being  laid  in  places  where  they 


WONDERS    OF   SOUTH    AMERICA. 


317 


are  not  looked  for.  The  turtles  lay  their  eggs  by  night,  leaving  the 
water  in  vast  crowds  when  nothing  disturbs  them,  and  crawling  to  a 
high  part  of  the  shore.  With  their  broad  webbed  paws  they  dig  deep 
holes  in  the  fine  sand.  One  turtle  goes  first,  and  after  making  a  pit 
about  three  feet  deep,  lays  its  eggs  and  covers  them  with  sand. 
Another  then  goes,  and  lays  its  eggs  on  the  top  of  those  of  its  com- 


CARIB    INDIANS    MASHING    TURTLES     EGGS. 

panion,  a  third  does  the  same,  and  so  on,  until  the  pit  is  full.  For  a 
whole  body  of  turtles  to  lay  their  eggs  in  this  way  it  takes  fourteen  or 
fifteen  days,  and  when  all  have  done,  the  space  where  they  have  been 
at  work  is  distinguishable  from  the  rest  of  the  ground  only  by  the  sand 
having  a  rather  rougher  appearance  than  usual. 

After  having  laid  their  eggs  they  waddle  back  to  the  river,  looking, 
"vvhen  there  is  a  multitude  of  them,  like  a  great  black  cloud  moving 


318  WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 

along  the  sands  ;  and  down  they  tumble  head  first  into  the  water.  The 
eggs  are  especially  valuable  on  account  of  the  oil  that  is  extracted  fi-om 
them,  and  which  is  used  in  different  parts  of  the  country  for  lighting, 
for  frying  fish,  and  other  purposes.  First  of  all,  the  eggs,  which  are 
quite  round,  have  a  leathery  shell,  and  are  a  little  larger  than  a  hen's 
egg,  are  thrown  into  a  large  tub,  or  perhaps  an  empty  canoe,  and  are 
mashed  with  wooden  prongs.  Or,  instead  of  that,  sometimes  naked 
Indians  and  children  jump  into  the  mass  and  tread  it  down,  besmearing 
themselves  with  yolk,  and  making  a  scene  anything  but  pleasant.  The 
beating  process  finished,  water  is  poured  over  the  mass,  and  it  is  left  for 
a  few  hours  to  be  heated  by  the  sun,  when  the  oil  separates  and  rises  to 
the  surface.  With  long  spoons,  made  by  tying  large  mussel  shells  to  the 
end  of  rods,  the  floating  oil  is  then  skimmed  off,  and  purified  over  the 
fire  in  copper  kettles,  when  it  is  ready  for  use.  The  Indians  say  that  at 
one  time  the  waters  teemed  as  thickly  with  turtles  as  the  air  does  now 
with  mosquitoes,  in  that  part  of  the  world  ;  but,  owing  to  so  much  oil 
being  made  from  the  eggs,  and  also  owing  to  a  great  many  of  the 
newly  hatched  young  ones  being  eaten  by  vultures  and  alligators,  there 
are  not  nearly  so  many  left  as  there  used  to  be. 

THE    CULTIVATION    OF    COTTON. 

There  is  great  luxuriance  of  vegetation  in  many  parts  of  South 
America.  One  of  the  products  is  cotton.  The  shrub  grows  in  many 
countries.  It  is  found  in  America,  in  India,  China,  Persia,  and  Sicily. 
A  writer  who  lived  in  very  old  times,  when  America  was  overgrown 
with  forests,  says  of  the  cotton  trees  :  "  There  is  a  plant  which  does  not 
bear  fruit,  but  cotton  ;  and  the  people  make  their  clothes  of  it." 

The  flower  of  the  cotton  tree  is  white,  and  the  leaves  are  a  dark 
glossy  green.  The  seed  or  pod  bursts  when  it  is  ripe,  and  then  the 
owner  of  the  cotton  plantation  knows  that  it  is  time  to  bestir  himself. 
Men,  women  and  children  come  into  the  fields  before  the  sun  rises. 
If  the  sun  shines  on  the  cotton  it  will  turn  yellow.  Sometimes  they 
take  off  the  whole  of  the  pod  just  as  it  is.  In  other  places,  they  take 
out  the  cotton  and  leave  the  pod  behind.  The  product  now  looks  like 
a  white  pulp,  and  is  mixed  with  the  seeds  that  have  come  with  it  out 
of  the  pod.  The  first  thing  to  be  done  is  to  get  the  cotton  away  from 
the  seeds.  This  is  very  tiresome  to  do,  and  takes  a  long  time,  if  the 
men  do  it  by  hand,  that  is,  without  the  help  of  a  machine. 

In  India,  all  the  cotton  is  picked  by  hand.  A  man  can  gather  only 
about  a  pound  of  cotton  in  a  day  which  is  very  slow  work.  In  other 
places  people  use  machinery.  In  this  country  the  planters  have  a  very 
large  machine,  which  can  cleanse,  or  separate  from  the  seeds,  three 
thousand  pounds  of  cotton  a  day. 


319 


S20 


WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 


Formerly  the  process  of  separating  the  pulp  from  the  seed  was  very- 
slow,  being  performed  by  hand  or  rude  machinery.  In  1793,  Eli 
Whitney  invented  the  celebrated  cotton  gin,  now  in  use,  which  has  justly 
been  considered  one  of  the  most  important  triumphs  of  mechanical 
genius,  as  it  cuts  away  the  seed  by  a  system  of  revolving  saws,  and  by 
a  series  of  brushes  frees  the  pulp  from  fragments  of  the  seed,  thus  pre- 
paring it  for  market,  thus  not  only  saving  a  vast  amount  of  labor,  but 
giving  to  the  product  a  finer  quality. 

One  South  American  industry  is  the  cultivation  of  the  sugar-cane. 
When  they  are  cut  and  tied  in  bundles  the  canes  are  quite  ripe,  and  are 
full  of  a  sweet  juice.  To  squeeze  this  juice  out,  the  canes  are  put  into 
a  mill.     The  mill  is  nothing  more  than  two  great  rollers,  and  as  the 


AN    01,1  )-lA.si  HONED    COTTON    GIN. 

juice  is  squeezed  out,  it  runs  into  a  kind  of  cistern  beneath.  Then,  it 
has  to  be  boiled  directly,  or  else  it  goes  sour.  The  juice  becomes  a  thick 
syrup  with  being  boiled.  It  is  put  into  shallow  basins  to  get  cool,  and 
as  it  cools,  it  becomes  sugar,  and  is  packed  into  great  tubs ;  holes  are 
pierced  in  the  bottom  of  the  tubs,  and  the  molasses  is  allowed  to  drain 
away.  When  this  is  done,  the  sugar  is  ready  to  be  shipped  off  to  other 
countries.  Large  numbers  of  natives  are  employed  in  this  liranch  of 
labor,  which  is  a  source  of  vast  wealth. 

Through  the  north  of  Brazil  flows  that  immense  river,  the  Amazon, 
which  is  the  largest  river  in  the  world,  and  which  is  so  famed  for  its 
beauty.  Along  its  banks,  stately,  graceful  trees  wave  their  luxuriant 
branches.     Parrots,  with  lovely  crimson  and  gold  feathers,  chatter  and 


WONDERS    OF   SOUTH    AMERICA. 


321 


gleam  among  them,  and  monkeys  chase  each  other,  and  gambol  to  their 
hearts'  content.  The  voyagers  who  sail  down  its  lovely  waters  as  they 
lie  in  their  hammocks,  with  the  fine  fresh  sea-breezes  streaming  in  upon 
them,  are  surrounded  by  some  of  the  most  beautiful  pictures  imaginable. 
There  are  to  be  seen  numbers  of  little  islands  covered  with  palm  and 
other  trees.     So  close  to  each  other  some  of  these  islands  are,  that  a 


GATHERING    SUGAR-CANE. 

child  standing  on  one  could  easily  throw  a  stone  to  another.  Among 
them  birds  with  gaudy  plumage  are  fluttering,  while  below  them  num- 
bers of  flowers  are  thickly  strewing  the  ground.  The  scene  altogether 
from  the  vessel  is  like  one  immense  dissolving  view,  for  the  reason  that 
every  minute  the  picture  changes.  Huts  belonging  to  the  natives  are 
occasionally  to  be  seen  on  the  water's  edge,  many  of  which,  to  preserve 
them  from  being  washed  away,  are  well  supported  with  large  stones. 
21 


322  WONDERS    OF    EXPLORATION    AND    ADVENTURE. 

Sometimes  during  heavy  storms  a  whole  island  is  washed  away  in 
little  more  than  a  few  minutes.  It  happened  once  that  some  travelers, 
during  a  storm  on  the  Amazon,  had  fortunately  taken  shelter  on  an 
island  so  full  of  high  spreading  palm  trees  that  their  branches  formed 
quite  a  strong,  spacious  roof,  and  served  as  a  protection  from  the  storm. 
Seated  in  their  canoe,  and  while  waiting  for  the  storm  to  subside,  the 
travelers  actually  saw  the  little  island  of  Jahmna,  which  was  three  miles 
in  length,  entirely  disappear.  The  tremendous  waves  rushed  over  it, 
swamping  all  the  low  trees  and  plants  until  nothing  could  be  seen  of 
them.  Some  very  old  trees  that  had  stood  the  storms  of  many  years 
struggled  very  hard  for  life.  They  appeared  almost  to  be  saying,  "  We 
and  the  tempest  will  try  who  are  to  be  the  conquerors  ;  "  but  after  a 
brave  fight  their  roots  were  torn  up,  their  graceful  branches  strewed 
hither  and  thither,  and  in  a  very  few  more  minutes  the  waters  roared 
over  the  spot  just  as  if  no  island  had  ever  stood  there. 

Of  all  South  American  trees,  perhaps  the  palm-trees  are  as  remarka- 
ble as  any  other,  for  the  Indians  make  use  of  them  in  so  many  ways 
that  they  are  evidently  regarded  as  an  absolute  necessity.  They  do  not 
grow  in  every  part  of  the  country  ;  miles  of  forests  may  be  passed  with- 
out a  single  palm  being  seen,  while  in  other  parts  they  grow  in  great  num- 
bers. On  river  banks  especially  they  abound,  bending  over  the  stream 
and  waving  their  beautiful  leaves  in  the  breeze.  There  are  very  many 
different  kinds  of  them  ;  some  are  only  a  few  feet  high,  called  dwarf 
trees,  while  the  great  mauritia  palms  of  the  Amazon  are  more  than  one 
hundred  feet  high.  One  traveler  tells  us  that  he  measured  one  that 
was  one  hundred  and  ninety-two  feet  high.  Some  are  stemless,  con- 
sisting only  of  a  spreading  crown  of  large  leaves,  and  one  palm  bears 
fruit  that  hangs  in  such  large  bunches  that  it  requires  more  than  one 
strong  man  to  carry  a  single  bunch.  The  leaves  of  the  trees  are  so  large 
that  the  natives  thatch  their  huts  with  them,  and  the  leaf-stalks,  often 
fifteen  or  twenty  feet  long,  are  used  as  rafters,  or,  when  fastened  to- 
gether with  pegs,  form  doors  and  shutters.  In  fact,  there  is  a  special 
kind  of  tree  for  almost  every  want  of  the  red  man ;  he  has  one  for  his 
bows  and  arrows,  another  for  his  blow-pipe,  and  one  from  the  leaf  of 
which  he  makes  a  cradle  for  his  little  black  baby,  a  hat  for  himself,  or 
even  a  wrapper.  Numberless  articles  of  food  also  are  produced  from 
palms,  such  as  bread,  oil,  sugar,  salt,  fruit,  and  vegetables.  The  famous 
betel  nut  chewed  by  the  Malays  is  the  fruit  of  what  is  called  the  areca 
palm ;  it  is  esteemed  as  highly  by  them  as  the  coca  leaf  is  by  the  Bo- 
livians, the  opium  is  by  the  Chinese,  or  as  tobacco  is  by  Americans. 

The  cow-tree  also  we  must  not  forget  to  speak  about,  for  it  is  one  of 
the  largest  of  the  forest  monarchs,  and  is  peculiar  in  appearance  on  ac- 


A»: 


WONDERS    OF   SOUTH    AMERICA.  323 

•count  of  its  red  ragged  bark.  The  fruit  it  bears  is  very  delicious,  and 
is  sold  in  the  streets  by  the  negro  market-women,  but  what  is  most 
wonderful  is  that  sweet  milk  is  drawn  from  the  wood,  even  from  dry 
logs  that  have  been  standing  for  many  days  in  the  hot  sun,  though  if 
left  to  stand  long  it  becomes  very  thick,  like  glue;  in 'fact,  it  is  often 
used  as  a  cement  for  mending  crockery,  and  is  very  good  for  that  purpose. 

THE    FAMOUS    INDIA-RUBBER   TREE. 

From  another  tree  called  the  seringa  we  obtain  that  useful  substance 
•called  india-rubber.  The  men  who  are  engaged  in  extracting  the  liquid 
earn  very  good  wages  for  themselves,  if  they  choose  to  work  well  and 
be  industrious.  They  often  begin  very  early  in  the  morning,  and  the 
plan  they  adopt  is  to  cut  a  hole  in  one  tree  after  another,  leaving  under 
each  one  a  jar  to  catch  the  milky  substance  ;  so  that  in  a  few  hours  they 
are  able  to  get  quite  a  large  quantity,  all  of  which  has  to  be  dried  in  the 
sun  before  it  is  fit  for  use.  Hundreds  of  Indians  build  their  huts  close 
to  the  banks  of  the  river  under  the  shade  of  the  high  trees,  and  gain 
their  livelihood  by  collecting  the  sap.  With  a  sharp  knife  they  split 
open  the  bark  of  the  tree,  when  out  flows  the  milky  substance,  which, 
when  dried  in  the  sun,  makes  india-rubber ;  the  smoke-drying  process 
by  which  it  is  hardened  accounts  for  its  black  appearance  as  we  see  it. 

At  one  time  the  provinces  watered  by  the  Amazon  were  called  the 
country  of  the  Amazones,*  though,  strange  to  say,  those  great  brave 
women  called  the  Amazones  who  brought  up  their  girls  to  be  warriors, 
and  either  killed  their  boys  or  sent  them  away,  did  not  live  near  this 
river  Amazon,  as  we  might  have  supposed,  but  in  the  far-off  east. 
Many  other  lofty  trees  grace  the  banks  of  the  Amazon,  and  not  far  from 
the  coast  are  thick  plantations  of  cacao  trees,  which  supply  us  with  the 
chocolate  and  cocoa  we  use.  Most  of  these  plantations  belong  to  rich 
Portuguese  gentlemen,  who  have  built  for  themselves  handsome  houses 
along  the  river's  banks,  and  who  lead  an  easy,  idle  kind  of  life.  They 
keep  plenty  of  black  servants  to  attend  to  the  plantations,  and  once  a 
year,  when  the  fruit  is  gathered,  all  are  hard  at  work  as  we  are  at  har- 
vest time.  After  being  gathered  the  fruit  has  to  be  cut  open,  the  pips 
are  then  taken  out,  dried  in  the  sun,  packed  up,  and  put  into  ships  that 
are  bound  for  other  lands. 

Coffee,  also,  is  very  extensively  grown  in  Brazil.  It  is  said  to  have 
been  first  introduced  there  about  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
and  now  in  some  of  the  Brazilian  provinces  immense  forests  of  coffee- 
trees  flourish,  and  the  ov/ners  of  them  think  there  is  no  coffee  in  the 
world  equal  to  theirs.  In  order  to  make  a  coffee  plantation,  or  a 
fazenda,  as  it  is  called,  the  owner  first  of  all  sows  his  seeds,  and  leaves 
the  young  plants  for  a  whole  year  to  develop.     At  the  end  of  that  time 


324  WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 

his  servants  gather  them  very  carefully,  and  transplant  them  into 
another  piece  of  ground,  where,  after  being  carefully  tended  for  three 
years  more,  they  begin  to  produce  berries,  bearing  more  and  more 
every  year,  an^l  sometimes  as  many  as  two  crops  in  one  year.  After 
doing  this  for  thirty  years,  both  the  trees  and  the  soil  seem  to  have 
exhausted  themselves,  and  new  plantations  have  to  be  made.  On  being 
gathered  the  berries  are  white,  and  have  to  be  dried  in  the  hot  sun,  or 
baked,  before  they  receive  the  rich  brown  color  that  is  so  familiar  to  us. 

TREES    OF    IMMENSE    SIZE. 

The  whole  of  Brazil,  in  fact,  is  famous  for  the  great  size  and  number 
of  its  trees,  most  of  which  are  made  useful  in  some  way  or  other  by 
the  natives.  There  is  one  favorite  nut-tree  of  the  Indians  that  grows 
to  the  height  of  a  hundred  feet.  In  summer  its  branches  are  covered 
with  rose-colored  leaves  and  white  blossoms,  and  in  autumn  nuts  as 
large  as  a  canon  ball  are  hanging  from  its  branches.  The  Indians  take 
the  precaution  of  keeping  away  from  these  nut-trees  during  a  storm  ; 
for  if  the  fruit  were  to  fall  on  the  head  of  some  unfortunate  fellow,  the 
result  would  be  anything  but  agreeable,  however  thick  and  woolly  his 
hair  might  be.  As  a  proof  of  the  great  size  of  these  Brazilian  trees,  a 
canoe  that  belonged  to  a  missionary  was  made  out  of  a  single  tree,  and 
measured  thirty  feet  in  length  and  five  in,  breadth  ;  and  from  a  single 
trunk  of  the  wild  cotton-tree  canoes  have  been  built  large  enough  to 
contain  a  hundred  persons  ;  while  the  leaf  of  a  certain  palm-tree  affords 
a  shade  to  five  or  six  men.  It  seems,  however,  that  the  strength  of 
them  is  not  equal  to  their  size  and  beauty.  Reared  in  a  warm  climate, 
they  are  like  hot-house  plants ;  and,  unlike  our  sturdy  oak,  that  is  so 
strong  and  so  deeply  rooted  that  it  can  stand  erect  in  a  furious  tempest, 
these  graceful  foreign  trees,  with  their  roots  extending  only  a  little  way 
below  the  surface  of  the  earth,  are  often  blown  down  by  a  strong 
breeze  ;  and  as  they  fall  they  frequently  destroy  many  others  with  them. 

Round  some  of  the  large  trees  grow  parasitical  or  climbing  plants, 
called  lianes,  the  branches  of  which  twine  round  the  trunks  of  large 
trees,  forming  very  often  perfect  galleries  or  canopies  of  flowers  ; 
though  in  some  parts  these  parasitical  plants  grow  so  thickly  that  the 
forests  are  rendered  impassable  by  them,  and  their  tendrils  so  cover 
the  tops  of  the  highest  trees  that  all  foliage  and  flowers  but  their  own 
are  almo.st  entirely  hidden.  These  creepers  twist  round  thick  trunks 
of  trees,  and  round  slender  stems,  hanging  sometimes  in  loops  from  the 
branches,  or  perhaps  stretching  themselves  from  tree  to  tree.  Where 
their  root  is,  or  how  they  grow,  is  quite  a  puzzle.  These  wild  climbers 
start  up  from  some  unknown  corner  and  cling  round  the  first  shrubs 
or  trees  that  happen  to  be  near,  clinging  so  tightly,  too,  that  it  is  difli- 


WONDERS    OF    SOUTH    AMERICA.  325 

cult  to  tear  them  away.  Some  of  them  are  slender  and  smooth ;  others 
are  rugged  and  knotted.  Very  often  a  number  of  them  are  twined 
together,  so  as  to  form  quite  a  thick  cord,  and  are  used  by  the  Indians 
for  cables,  to  bind  the  wooden  anchors  they  use.  Indeed,  they  are 
made  to  serve  almost  every  purpose  for  which  we  should  need  a  rope 
or  chain.  The  Indians  are  so  well  acquainted  with  these  forest  ropes 
that  when  in  want  of  one  they  take  their  choice  among  them,  according 
to  the  use  for  which  it  is  meant  to  be  employed.  Some  of  them  will 
bear  twisting  and  tying ;  some  will  last  longest  in  salt  water ;  others  in 
fresh  water.  With  one  kind  the  planks  of  boats,  and  even  of  large 
sailing  vessels,  are  bound;  andthey  are  useful  in  numberless  other  ways. 

When  the  branch  of  a  tree  falls,  creepers  are  often  left  hanging  in 
the  air.  If  so,  they  blow  about  wildly  far  a  little  time,  then,  as  if 
resolving  not  to  despair  because  one  friend  has  forsaken  them,  they 
throw  out  their  tendrils  and  catch  hold  of  other  trees  growing  beneath 
them,  and  round  these  they  are  very  soon  as  tightly  clasped  as  they 
were  round  their  lost  friends.  As  if  to  prove  their  gratitude  for  the 
support  given  them,  they  sometimes  burst  out  into  lovely  blossoms,  thus 
ornamenting  with  delicate  tinted  flowers  tall,  strong,  stately  trees  upon 
which  nothing  but  leaves  are  ever  seen  ;  but,  strange  to  say,  in  the  shade 
of  the  forest  the  climbers  flower  very  rarely.  Hundreds  of  other  trees 
also  are  to  be  found  in  those  grand  forests,  all  of  which  are  made  useful 
in  one  way  or  another  by  the  inhabitants  ;  and  not  to  them  only  are 
all  these  trees  useful,  for  we  also,  who  live  so  far  away,  derive  untold 
benefits  from  the  vast  wooden  treasure-houses  of  South  America. 

A  traveler  gives  this  graphic  description  of  Brazilian  scenery:  We 
forthwith  set  out,  and  descending  the  mountain,  were  soon  in  the  midst 
of  the  thick  forest.  Two  of  the  Indians,  who  carried  lighter  burdens 
than  the  rest,  went  ahead  with  axes  in  their  hands  to  clear  the  way. 
It  was  extraordinary  with  what  rapidity  they  cut  through  the  sipos,  or 
hanging  vines,  which  threw  their  serpent-like  coils  from  tree  to  tree. 
So  quick  is  their  growth  in  that  moist  region,  that  other  travelers  fol- 
lowing in  a  few  weeks  would  have  to  perform  the  same  operation.  As 
Ave  advanced  the  forest  became  thicker  and  thicker,  the  dark  foliage 
forming  a  lofty  vault  through  which  no  sunlight  can  ever  enter.  The 
air  felt  cool  and  excessively  damp,  compared  to  the  exposed  sides  of 
the  mountains.  A  constant  mist  seemed  to  hang  on  the  branches. 
The  stillness  and  gloom,  indeed,  became  almost  painful.  From  the 
lofty  trees  hung  down  thousands  of  lianas,  or  air-roots,  some  forming 
thick  festoons,  others  perfectly  straight,  of  all  lengths,  many  reaching 
almost  down  to  our  heads,  others  again  touching  the  ground  and  taking 
root  in  the  soft  earth.     Here  and  there  some  giant  of  the  forest,  decayed 


326 


WONDERS    OF   SOUTH    AMERICA.  327 

by  age,  had  fallen,  to  remain  suspended  in  the  loops  of  the  sipos.     Thus 
we  went  on,  following  in  Indian  file. 

We  had  thus  been  progressing  for  some  time,  the  only  sound  heard 
being  that  of  our  footsteps  on  the  rustling  leaves,  or  that  produced  by 
the  sharp  axes  of  our  pioneers,  when  suddenly  our  ears  were  startled 
by  a  loud  crash,  which,  contrasted  with  the  previous  silence,  made  it 
seem  as  if  the  whole  forest  was  coming  down  together.  In  a  short 
time  the  crashing  sound  ceased,  and  directly  afterwards  we  came 
in  sight  of  a  vast  trunk,  which  had  fallen  across  the  path  we  were  about 
to  pass  along.  We  had  to  make  a  circuit  therefore  to  avoid  it.  We 
could  not  but  feel  thankful  that  it  had  not  delayed  its  fall  till  we  were 
passing  beneath,  although  we  might  possibly  have  had  time  to  escape, 
in  consequence  of  its  being  upheld  for  a  few  seconds  by  the  sipos,  till 
its  vast  weight  had  dragged  them  down. 

A    TERRIBLE   VOLCANIC    ERUPTION. 

The  highest  of  the  volcanoes  is  Cotapaxi,  from  which  at  different 
times  there  have  been  eruptions,  when  the  cinders  and  fragments  of 
rock  sent  out  by  it  have  covered  the  valleys  around  to  the  extent  of 
several  leagues.  In  1758  the  flames  of  the  volcano  rose  two  thousand, 
seven  hundred  feet  abov^e  the  edge  of  the  crater,  and  in  1744  the  roar- 
ing of  the  mountain  was  heard  as  far  as  Honda,  six  hundred  miles 
away.  Another  time,  in  1768,  the  quantity  of  cinders  sent  up  from  the 
mouth  of  the  volcano  was  so  great  that  until  mid-day  the  sky  was 
darkened  with  them.  After  this,  for  twenty  years  it  was  quiet;  then  it 
burst  out  again  as  furiously  as  before.  The  old  Mexicans  gave  the 
name  of  Popocatepel,  or  "the  Hill  that  Smokes,"  to  a  volcano  in  their 
country,  and  looked  upon  it  as  a  god.  They  had  a  mysterious  dread 
of  it,  and  told  the  white  strangers  in  whispers  that  no  man  could  ascend 
its  slopes  and  still  live.  The  Spaniards  laughed  on  hearing  this,  and 
resolved  to  find  out  what  there  was  to  fear.  Accordingly,  ten  of  them 
began  ascending  the  steep  sides  of  the  mountain,  taking  with  them  as 
many  Indians  as  they  could  persuade  to  join  them.  On  they  all  went 
happily  for  some  time,  until  they  came  to  where  no  grass  was  seen 
growing,  nor  any  trees,  nor  any  vegetation  of  any  kind,  but  where 
strange  noises  were  heard  like  distant  thunder.  The  Indians  then 
looked  alarmed,  and  set  off  back  again  with  all  speed,  thinking  to  them- 
selves how  foolish  the  white  men  were  to  rush  as  they  were  doing  into 
such  great  danger.  Left  to  themselves,  the  ten  brave  Spaniards  con- 
tinued their  way,  over  the  black,  glazed  sand,  and  through  the  chilling 
air,  until  they  reached  the  region  of  perpetual  snow,  and  found  them- 
selves among  glittering,  treacherous  glaciers  and  crevasses,  and  with 
huge  slippery-pathed  precipices  yawning  around — a  great  change  for 


328  WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 

them,  when  it  had  been  warm,  bright  summer  not  many  hours  before 
at  the  foot  of  the  volcano.     Not  daunted,  however,  they  pressed  on. 

In  the  ascent  they  had  made  but  slow  progress.  This  was  not  sur- 
prising, considering  that  they  had  to  climb  up  rugged  steeps,  and  to 
descend  again  into  deep  valleys,  to  cross  rapid  streams  and  wade  through 
morasses,  again  to  mount  upwards  and  wind  round  and  round  number- 
less rugged  heights,  with  perpendicular  precipices,  now  on  one  side,  now 
on  the  other,  and  gulfs  below  so  profound  that  often  their  eyes,  when 
they  unwisely  made  the  attempt,  could  scarcely  fathom  them.  Still 
almost  interminable  ranges  of  mountains  appeared  in  the  distance.  The 
patient  mules  slowly  climbed,  and,  the  summit  reached,  the  ridge  was 
so  narrow  that  parts  of  the  same  rocks  might  have  been  hurled,  the  one 
down  into  the  valley  towards  the  setting  sun,  the  other  in  the  direction 
of  the  Atlantic.  They  there  stood  fifteen  thousand  feet  at  least  above 
the  ocean,  their  animals  panting  with  the  exertion,  and  themselves, 
though  inured  to  the  air  of  the  mountains,  breathing  with  difficulty. 
Still  before  them  there  was  a  scene  of  wild  grandeur — mountain  rising 
beyond  mountain,  with  deep  valleys  intervening,  their  bottoms  and  sides 
clothed  with  a  dense,  unbroken  mass  of  foliage. 

All  at  once  they  encountered  a  fierce  storm  of  ashes  and  cinders,  the 
air  was  filled  with  the  flying  mass  and  was  almost  suffocating,  and  their 
only  hope  of  safety  was  in  precipitate  flight.     No  time  was  to  be  lost. 

They  were  nearly  an  hour  descending,  their  mules  carefully  picking 
their  way  among  the  rocks  and  lofty  trees,  and  along  the  edges  of 
yawning  chasms,  which  threatened  to  swallow  them  up.  Sometimes 
they  passed  through  wooded  regions,  where  the  giant  trees,  falling  from 
age,  remained  suspended  in  the  net-work  of  sipos  or  wild  vines,  which 
hung  from  the  branches  of  their  neighbors.  Now  they  had  to  make 
their  way  round  the  trunks,  now  to  pass  beneath  them.  As  they  looked 
up,  they  could  not  help  dreading  that  the  cordage  which  held  tliem 
might  give  way,  and  allow  them  to  fall  at  that  instant  and  crush  them. 
At  last  they  reached  a  level  spot  or  terrace  on  the  mountain-side,  but 
still  the  bottom  of  the  valley  seemed  far  down  below  them. 

CAPTURING   WILD    HORSES. 

A  considerable  portion  of  La  Plata  or  the  Argentine  Republic,  con- 
sists of  large  plains  called  the  pampas,  which  in  reality  are  the  prairies 
of  South  America  ;  though  sometimes  the  term  is  meant  to  signify  any 
tract  of  level  land,  wherever  it  may  happen  to  be  found.  These  pampas 
are  the  homes  not  only  of  thousands  of  animals,  but  also  of  the  Gauchos 
and  the  wild  Indians,  the  former  of  whom  are  a  race  of  wild  Spaniards 
well  known  in  this  district  of  South  America,  and  who  are  the  peons, 
or  laborers,  employed  by  large  owners  of  horses  and  cattle. 


329 


330  WONDERS    OF    EXPLORATION   AND    ADVENTURE. 

Their  work  is  all  done  on  horseback ;  for  there  are  so  many  horses 
in  South  America  that  they  run  wild,  and  are  not  only  used  as  beasts 
of  burden,  but  are  eaten  by  the  inhabitants.  The  huts  of  the  Gauchos 
are  made  of  mud  thatched  with  grass  ;  and  very  often  the  cradles  of  the 
babies  are  bullocks'  skins  swung  to  the  roof  Their  work  is  nearly  all 
performed  on  horseback,  and  as  they  boldly  scamper  across  the  pampas, 
holding  in  their  hands  the  lasso  and  bolas  (ropes  with  weights  attached 
to  each  end),  with  which  to  catch  the  different  animals  they  pursue,  they 
appear  to  be  thoroughly  happy.  As  soon  as  one  horse  is  tired  they 
catch  another,  and  tire  that  out  also.  Like  most  ignorant  people,  how- 
ever, they  are  often  very  idle ;  so  instead  of  taking  the  trouble  to  culti- 
vate the  ground,  in  order  to  be  supplied  with  vegetables  for  food,  they 
live  entirely  upon  the  wild  animals  they  catch.  Some  of  them  are  very 
musical,  and  are  as  delighted  to  sit  playing  their  guitars  as  their  com- 
panions are  to  hurl  their  lassos.  They  generally  wear  large,  soft  hats, 
cloaks  called  ponchos,  which  are  pieces  of  woollen  stuff  covering  the 
back,  chest,  and  arms,  trousers  of  a  bright,  showy  color,  a  leather  belt, 
and  large  boots  adorned  with  silver  spurs.  Bold,  wild,  cruel  men  most 
of  them  are,  and  by  no  means  such  as  any  of  us  would  like  to  meet 
alone  in  a  thick  forest. 

The  vast  plain  of  the  pampas  may  be  divided  into  three  portions. 
First,  the  land  of  tall  thistles,  which  wither  every  year,  when  rich 
clover  springs  up  in  their  place.  Then  the  land  of  long  grass ;  and 
this  pampas  grass  is  very  different  from  any  that  is  seen  elsewhere. 
It  consists  of  coarse  tufts  of  hard,  dry  grass,  which  cover  the  yellow 
clay  like  thousands  of  little  islands.  In  the  distance  the  spaces  between 
these  little  tufts  cannot  be  seen,  so  that  the  pampas  look  like  a  great 
lawn,  and  in  autumn,  when  the  seeds  of  the  grass  are  ripe,  they  look 
quite  white;  so  that  the  large  plain  is  like  a  great  ocean  covered  with 
gently  rolling  silvery  waves.  Then  lastly  there  is  the  land  of  low  trees- 
and  shrubs,  which  grow  in  great  profusion  and  variety. 

ANIMALS    AND    BIRDS. 

Among  the  animals  that  frequent  the  pampas  are  the  viscachas, 
animals  about  the  size  of  squirrels,  and  which  are  as  much  dreaded  as 
the  prairie  dogs  are  in  North  America,  for  the  reason  that  they  burrow 
into  the  land  so  much  that  it  is  quite  dangerous  to  travel  on  the  plains 
after  dark.  Horses,  mounted  by  Gauchos,  very  frequently  stumble  in 
the  holes  made  by  them.  The  armadillo,  the  hare  of  the  pampas  (a 
kind  of  guinea-pig),  the  beautiful  Argentine  skunk,  rats,  mice,  tiger- 
cats,  deer,  pole-cats,  the  ugly  river-hog,  the  puma,  the  jaguar,  and 
serpents  of  all  kinds  in  abundance,  dwell  in  these  wonderful  regions. 

As  to  birds,  too,  there  are  plenty  of  them,  from  the  tiny  humming- 


WONDERS    OF    SOUTH    AMERICA. 


331 


bird  to  the  huge  ostrich,  so  many  of  which  are  to  be  found  in  Pata- 
gonia. The  condor,  also,  sometimes  finds  its  way  to  the  pampas, 
though,  as  a  rule,  it  makes  a  point  of  keeping  near  its  much-loved 
mountains.  Strange  tales  have  been  told  about  this  remarkable  bird. 
Some  old  travelers  once  said  that  his  plumage  could  not  be  pierced  by 
a  musket  ball — an  absurd  idea,  founded,  no  doubt,  on  the  fact  that  it  is 
generally  a  very  difficult  business  to  kill  him,  on  account  of  his  plumage, 
especially  on  his  wings,  being  so  strong  and  thick.  The  natives,  there- 
fore, seldom  attempt  to  shoot  the  condor.    They  usually  catch  it  by  traps 


-XT!* 
A  FULL  FLEDGED 


SOUTH  AMERICAN  CONDOR. 

or  by  the  lasso,  or  kill  it  by  stones  flung  from  slings,  or  with  bolas. 
When  fully  grown  it  measures  between  four  and  five  feet,  from  the 
point  of  the  beak  to  the  end  of  the  tail,  and  from  the  tip  of  one  wing 
to  that  of  the  other  it  measures  twelve  to  fourteen  feet.  In  one 
province  a  curious  method  of  capturing  the  condor  alive  is  practiced. 
A  fresh  cow-hide,  with  some  fragments  of  flesh  adhering  to  it,  is 
spread  out  on  one  of  the  level  heights,  and  an  Indian,  provided  with 
ropes,  creeps  beneath  it,  while  some  others  station  themselves  in  ambush 
near  the  spot,  ready  to  assist  him.     Presently  a  condor,  attracted  by 


.'332  WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 

the  smell  of  the  flesh,  darts  down  upon  the  cow-hide,  and  then  the 
Indian,  who  is  concealed  under  it,  seizes  the  bird  by  the  legs,  and 
binds  them  fast  in  the  skin  as  in  a  bag.  The  captured  condor  flaps  its 
wings  and  tries  to  fly,  but  is  soon  secured,  and  carried  in  triumph  to 
the  nearest  village.  Living  condors  are  often  sold  in  the  markets  of 
Chili  and  Peru,  where  a  very  fine  one  may  be  bought  for  a  dollar  and 
a  half,  or  about  six  shillings. 

To  the  astonishment  of  all  the  birds  and  animals,  a  railway  runs 
across  the  pampas  now.  They,  no  doubt,  wonder  who  the  bold,  flying 
intruder  can  be  who  dares  to  rush  screaming  across  their  domain  just 
when  he  pleases  ;  forgetting,  if  they  do  thus  wonder,  that  they  them- 
selves are  unlike  the  very  first  occupants  of  their  home.  Ages  ago 
the  sea  tossed  its  silvery  spray  where  the  pampas  now  are,  and  under 
the  surface  have  been  found  carcases  of  great  sloths  and  armadillos, 
and  other  skeletons  of  old  animals  that  have  been  buried  in  its  soil, 
which  must  have  fallen  into  the  river  as  it  flowed  through  the  forests. 
Though  like  their  present  descendants  in  form,  the  creatures  were  in 
those  days  much  larger,  the  most  famous  of  them  all,  perhaps,  being 
the  Megatherium  Cuvieri,  an  immense  sloth,  from  twelve  to  eighteen 
feet  long,  and  with  bones  larger  than  those  of  an  elephant.  If  trees 
grew  in  those  days  the  sloth  was  so  huge  that  it  certainly  could  not 
have  climbed  them,  as  the  present  sloths  do  now,  back  downward. 
Instead  of  attempting  that  performance,  it  is  thought  that  it  used 
actually  to  uproot  the  whole  tree,  in  order  to  get  the  foliage  that  it 
wanted  for  food.  A  great  many  other  immense  skeletons  of  animals 
have  been  found.  So  many  there  are  that  it  is  almost  impossible  to 
dig  deeply  in  any  part  of  the  pampas  without  finding  some  such 
remains,  which  tell  of  tribes  long  since  extinct  and  buried. 

A    STRANGE    CREATURE    WITH    SHIELD    AND    HELMET. 

From  the  interesting  narrative  of  a  South  American  traveler  we  ap- 
pend this  account  of  a  singular  monster,  which  is  one  of  the  wonders 
of  the  animal  kingdom  :  Paddling  on  till  nearly  dark,  we  landed  on  an 
island,  where  it  was  proposed  we  should  pass  the  night.  There  were 
but  few  trees  in  the  centre,  the  rest  consisting  of  sand  and  rock.  This 
spot  had  been  selected  to  avoid  the  risk  of  being  surprised  by  unfriendly 
natives  or  prowling  jaguars.  The  canoes  were  hauled  up,  the  goods 
landed,  and  fires  were  lighted,  round  which  we  were  soon  seated  taking 
our  evening  meal.  The  Indians  then  cut  a  number  of  stout  poles, 
which  they  drove  into  the  ground,  forming  a  square,  the  roof  being 
thatched  over  with  palm-leaves,  extending  some  distance  beyond  the 
poles,  so  as  to  form  deep  caves.  To  these  poles  were  hung  up  our 
hammocks.     This  was   our  usual   style   of  encampment.     When  the 


WONDERS    OF   SOUTH    AMERICA.  335^ 

trees  grew  sufficiently  wide  apart,  we  sometimes  secured  our  hammocks 
to  them,  with  a  roof  such  as  1  have  mentioned  above  our  heads.  The 
fires  were  kept  up  all  night,  and  a  watch  set  to  prevent  surprise,  should 
any  unfriendly  natives  find  us  out,  nnd  come  across  the  river  in  their 
canoes. 

Before  retiring  for  the  night,  taking  my  companion,  I  went  out  for 
a  stroU,  and  while  the  Indians  remained  in  the  canoe,  we  landed  and 
walked  along  the  sandy  shore  of  the  island.  The  dog  ran  before  us, 
shoving  his  nose  into  the  tall  reeds  and  rushes.  Suddenly  out  he  backed, 
barking  furiously,  but  still  retreating,  and  evidently  less  disposed  than 
usual  for  battle.  Fully  expecting  to  see  a  huge  anaconda  come  forth, 
we  retired  to  a  safe  distance,  while  I  got  my  gun  ready  to  fire  at  the 
serpent  when  he 
should  appear.  W'c 
stood  watching  the 
spot  which  the  dog 
still  faced,  when  the 
reeds  were  moved 
aside,  and  the  od- 
dest-looking mon- 
ster I  ever  set  eyes 
on  came  slowly 
forth,  and  for  a 
moment  looked 
about  him.  The 
dog  actually  turned  the   wonderful  matamata. 

tail,  and  fell  back  on  us  for  support.  He  would  have  faced  a  lion, 
but  the  creature  before  him  had  not  a  vulnerable  part  on  which  he  could 
lay  hold.  It  meantime,  regardless  of  him  or  us,  made  its  way  towards 
the  water.  It  was  as  grotesque  and  unlike  what  we  fancy  a  reality  as 
those  creatures  which  the  wild  imaginations  of  the  painters  of  bygone 
days  delighted  in  producing.  How  can  I  describe  it  ?  It  was  covered 
all  over  with  armor — back,  neck,  and  head.  On  its  head  it  wore  a  curi- 
ously-shaped helmet,  with  a  long  tube  in  front  serving  as  a  snout,  while 
its  feet  were  webbed,  and  armed  with  sharp  claws  at  the  end  of  its  thick 
and  powerful  legs.  From  the  chin  hung  two  fringe-like  membranes,, 
and  the  throat  and  neck  were  similarly  ornamented.  Our  guide  was 
not  far  off,  and  came  paddling  up  at  a  great  rate,  crying  out  to  us  to 
turn  the  creature  from  the  water.  Its  formidable  appearance  and  size 
made  us  somewhat  unwilling  to  get  within  reach  of  its  head  ;  for  it  was 
fully  three  feet  long,  and  its  covering  would,  it  appeared,  turn  off  a 
bullet.     We  impeded  its  progress ;  but  still  it  made  way,  and  was  just 


334  WONDERS    OF    EXPLORATION    AND    ADVENTURE. 

about  to  launch  itself  into  the  river  when  the  canoe  coming  up,  the 
guide's  harpoon  struck  it  under  the  shield  at  the  neck.  It  struggled  to 
get  free,  but  was  hauled  again  upon  the  sand,  and  soon  dispatched  by 
the  Indians.  They  seemed  highly  pleased  at  the  capture,  and  signified 
that,  in  spite  of  its  strange  appearance,  it  was  excellent  for  food. 

The  strange  creature  we  had  met  was  a  matamata.  It  is  found  plen- 
tifully in  Demerara,  where  its  flesh  is  much  esteemed.  W' hat  we  took 
to  be  a  helmet,  consisted  of  two  membranous  prolongations  of  the  skin, 
which  projected  out  on  either  side  from  its  broad  and  flattened  head. 
The  back  was  covered  with  a  shield,  with  three  distinct  ridges  or  keels 
along  it,  and  was  broader  before  than  behind.  It  had  a  stumpy  pointed 
tail.  I  should  add  that  it  feeds  only  in  the  water,  concealing  itself 
among  reeds  by  the  bank,  when  it  darts  forward  its  long  neck  and  seizes 
with  its  sharp  beak  any  passing  fish,  reptile,  or  water-fowl — for  it  likes 
a  variety  of  food — or  it  will  swim  after  them  at  a  great  rate.  We  carried 
the  matamata  to  the  camp,  and  on  landing  it  drew  it  up  with  sipos,  with 
its  neck  stretched  out.  One  could  scarcely  believe  that  it  was  a  real 
creature,  so  strange  was  its  appearance  and  withal  so  formidable. 

AN    UNEQUAL    COMBAT. 

Our  traveler  goes  on  to  relate  another  adventure,  showing  the  habits 
of  some  of  the  smaller,  yet  voracious  species  of  animals,  or  reptiles,  that 
infest  South  America  :  Daylight  was  increasing.  We  should  soon,  we 
hoped,  be  able  to  see  our  way  through  the  forest,  and  ascertain  our  po- 
sition. We  all  remained  silent  for  some  time,  the  dog  lying  down  by 
my  side,  and  placing  his  head  upon  my  arm.  While  thus  half  between 
sleeping  and  waking,  I  heard  a  rustling  sound,  and  opening  my  eyes, 
half  expecting  to  see  a  snake  wriggling  through  the  grass,  they  fell  on  a 
beautiful  little  lizard  making  its  way  down  to  the  water.  At  that  mo- 
ment a  pile  of  dry  leaves,  near  which  it  was  passing,  was  violently  agi- 
tated, and  from  beneath  them  sprung  a  hairy  monster,  with  long  legs 
and  a  huge  pair  of  forceps,  and  seized  the  lizard  by  the  back  of  its  neck, 
holding  it  at  the  same  time  with  its  front  feet,  while  the  others  were 
firmly  planted  in  the  ground  to  stop  its  progress.  In  vain  the  lizard 
struggled  to  free  itself.  The  monster  spider  held  it  fast,  digging  its 
forceps  deeper  and  deeper  into  its  neck.  I  was  inclined  to  go  to  the 
rescue  of  the  little  saurian,  but  curiosity  prevented  me,  as  I  wished  to 
see  the  result  of  the  attack,  while  I  knew  that  it  had  already,  in  all  prob- 
ability, received  its  death  wound.  The  struggles  of  the  lizard  grew 
feebler  and  feebler.  Its  long  tail,  which  it  had  kept  whisking  about, 
sank  to  the  ground,  and  the  spider  began  its  meal  off  the  yet  quivering 
flesh,  enjoying  it  apparently  to  the  fullest  extent. 

On  examining  it  I  found  that  it  was  a  great  crab-spider,  which  are 


WONDERS    OF    SOUTH    AMERICA. 


335 


said  to  cat  young  birds  and  other  small  vertebrates,  though  they  gen- 
erally, like  other  spiders,  live  upon  insects.  This  spider  will  attack 
humming-birds,  and,  indeed,  other  small  specimens  of  the  feathered  tribe. 
When  unable  to  procure  its  usual  food  of  ants,  it  lies  concealed  under 
leaves  as  this  one  had  done,  and  darts  out  on  any  passing  prey  which 
it  believes  it  can  manage  ;  or  if  not,  it  climbs  trees  and  seizes  the  smaller 
birds  when  at  roost,  or  takes  the  younger  ones  out  of  their  nests.  It 
does  not  spin  a  web,  but  either  burrows  in  the  ground,  or  seeks  a  cavity 
in  a  rock,  or  in  any  hollow  suited  to  its  taste. 


^^y^'V^c: 


I  had  never 
seen  any  crea- 
ture  of  the 
spider  tribe  so 
monstrous  o  r 
formidable.  Un- 
der other  cir- 
cumstances I 
should  have 
liked  to  have 
carried  the  crea- 
ture with  us  to 
show  to  my 
companions.  As 
soon  as  my  com- 
panion had 
killed  it,  a  na- 
tive jumped  up 
and  cut  off  the 
two  forceps, 
which  were  as 
hard  and  strong 
as  those  of  a 
crab ;  and  I  have 
since  seen  such  a  spider  crab  seizing  a  lizard. 

set  in  metal  and  used  as  toothpicks,  under  the  belief  that  they  contain 
some  hidden  virtue  for  curing  the  toothache.  Whether  the  creature 
possesses  any  poison  in  its  system  I  do  not  know,  but  the  dog  seemed 
disinclined  to  have  anything  to  say  to  it,  although  he  did  not  object  to 
make  a  breakfast  off  the  lizard  it  had  killed. 

South  America  is  a  rare  place  for  venomous  insect  life.  One  pest 
that  any  traveler  would  wish  to  escape  is  the  wasp.  The  wasp  is  not 
generally  looked  upon  with  much  favor ;  indeed,  he  rarely  gets  any 


336 


WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 


quarter.  It  is  certainly  a  severe  trial  to  the  temper,  when  you  pull  a. 
plum,  to  find  that  this  insect  has  already  taken  possession  of  the  fruity 
and  to  have  your  attention  somewhat  forcibly  drawn  to  the  circumstance 
by  a  fierce  sting  on  your  finger.  The  natural  and  pardonable  impulse 
is  to  visit  the  aggressor,  and  all  his  kith  and  kin,  with  the  most  condign 
punishment.  Two  of  a  trade  never  agree — the  wasp  and  the  human 
being  are  both  fruit  eaters,  and  fall  out  in  consequence. 

Yet,  notwithstanding  our  natural  hostility  to  thehornet,  there  are  many 
circumstances  with  reference  to  hmiself  and  his  histor\  that  foi  m  most 


THE    LIVELY    HORNET. 

interesting  subjects  for  study,  and  many  naturalists  have  devoted  a  great 
deal  of  attention  to  the  matter.  The  sting  which  we  fear  with  such 
good  reason,  is  a  very  beautiful  apparatus.  It  is  a  \'cry  minute  tube,  at 
the  end  of  which,  in  the  body  of  the  wasp,  is  a  small  bag,  in  which  a 
store  of  the  poisonous  fluid  is  kept.  When  the  hornet  is  irritated,  he 
darts  the  little  tubular  sting  into  the  offender,  the  small  bag  is  compressed 
and  a  drop  of  poison  is  inserted,  producing  a  sharp  pain. 

The  nests  which  are  suspended  from  the  branches  of  trees  are  much 
finer  and  closer  in  texture  than  those  buried  under  the  ground,  which 


WONDERS    OF    SOUTH    AMERICA.  337 

are  the  most  frequently  met  with  ;  but  the  method  of  construction  is 
much  the  same  in  both  cases.  The  history  of  the  formation  of  one  of 
these  nests  is  as  follows  : — A  female  wasp  which  has  survived  the  winter 
that  has  proved  fatal  to  the  males,  seeks  in  spring  for  a  suitable  spot. 
She  selects  a  hole  in  a  bank,  or  in  a  thatch,  or  sometimes  a  bush,  as  the 
scene  of  her  labors.  Here  she  commences  to  make  her  nest.  Her 
materials  are  paper,  and  this  paper  is  made  of  wood.  The  wasp  has 
been  seen  sitting  on  a  window-sill  tearing  off  shreds  of  wood,  collecting 
them  into  a  bundle,  and  flying  away  with  them.  She  has  been  further 
traced  in  the  process  of  comminuting  them,  adding  to  them  a  glutinous 
secretion,  making  a  mixture  which,  spread  out  in  layers,  forms  the  paper. 
With  these  layers  of  paper  she  commences  the  globular  nest.  It  is 
coated  all  round  with  many  layers  of  the  paper,  and  contains  inside  a 
number  of  combs,  somewhat  resembling  those  of  a  bee-hive,  except  that 
they  are  vertical,  while  the  combs  in  a  wasp's  nest  are  horizontal. 

After  the  female  has  completed  a  certain  portion  of  the  nest  and  con- 
structed a  number  of  cells,  she  deposits  an  egg  in  each.  These  eggs 
are  shortly  hatched.  She  then  supplies  the  young  with  food.  This 
consists  of  various  sweet  morsels,  portions  of  fruit,  honey  stolen  from 
the  bees,  and  particles  collected  in  visits  to  sugar  casks.  As  soon  as 
the  young  have  reached  maturity,  on  them  devolves  the  entire  duty  of 
finishing  the  home,  and  of  nurturing  the  grubs.  There  is  but  one  queen 
wasp  in  each  nest,  the  others  being  either  males  or  workers,  and  she 
alone  lays  eggs,  so  that  all  the  population  of  the  vespiary  are  her  off- 
spring. The  young  wasps  which  are  to  form  future  queens — to  be  the 
parents  of  other  nests  in  the  succeeding  seasons — are  fed  differently 
when  young  from  the  ordinary  workers  :  they  have  an  allowance  of 
animal  food  consisting  of  insects  which  have  been  captured,  or  of  frag- 
ments of  meat  purloined  from  the  butcher's  stall  or  elsewhere.  The 
males  are  larger  than  the  workers,  but  are  not  so  large  as  the  queens. 
Their  duty  appears  to  be  to  discharge  certain  menial  offices  connected 
Avith  the  internal  economy  of  the  nest. 

In  this  part  of  the  world  are  to  be  seen  some  immense  water-lilies. 
So  large  are  they  that  we  could  almost  imagine  they  belonged  to  an 
ancient  family  of  very  large  plants  that  ornamented  the  world  in  those 
ages  long  ago  when  the  Megatherium  and  the  Mylodon  and  similar 
huge  creatures  lived  and  stalked  about  among  our  forests  and  by  the 
sides  of  our  rivers.  The  place  where  the  finest  of  the  lilies  grow  is 
on  the  beautiful  Lake  Muna,  the  water  of  which,  instead  of  being  pure 
and  clear,  as  we  should  think  the  home  of  such  lovely  flowers  ought 
to  be,  is  as  black  as  ink.  A  traveler  thus  describes  a  beautiful  scene  : 
The  surface  of  the  lake  was  thick  with  huge  dark-green  leaves,  each  of 
22 


838 


WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 


which  had  all  round  its  edge  a  border  of  a  wine-colored  rosy-tint_ 
Among  these  great  leaves  expanded  magnificent  flowers,  whose  petals 
outside  were  milky  white,  while  inside  they  were  rose-colored,  the  very 
centre  of  the  flower  being  a  rich  violet  tint.  The  surface  of  the  lake 
looked  like  an  immense  flowery  carpet,  upon  which  were  walking 
hundreds  of  wading  birds,  who  trotted  along  perfectly  at  ease,  knowing 
all  of  them  that  the  ground  beneath  them  was  quite  strong  enough  to 
bear  the  weight  of  their  bodies,  even  though  some  of  them  were  by  no 
means  small  specimens  of  the  bird  family. 

The  next  thing  to  be  done  was  to  gather  one  of  the  lilies  ;   in  order 


A    BEAUTIFUL    tUREST    SCENE    WITH    REMARKABLE    WATER    LILIES. 

to  do  this  the  boat  was  pushed  into  the  huge  net-work  of  leaves  and 
flowers,  and  there,  with  the  aid  of  a  strong  stick,  a  splendid  lily,  and 
also  a  bud  were  broken  away  from  the  rough,  strong,  prickly  stalk. 
More  difficult  still  was  it  to  obtain  one  of  the  huge  leaves,  for  they  were 
held  down  by  knotty  stalks  as  thick  as  a  ship's  cable  ;  but  after  a  good 
deal  of  hard  work  a  leaf  also  was  broken  off.  Its  weight  was  actually 
thirteen  pounds  and  a  half;  the  flower  weighed  three  pounds  and  a  half, 
and  the  bud  weighed  two  pounds  and  a  quarter.  A  kind  of  carriage  for 
theleafwasmadeby  fastening  together  a  number  of  sticks  which  two  black 
servants  carried,  the  large  flower  and  bud  being  carried  by  a  third  native. 


WONDERS    OF   SOUTH    AMERICA.  339 

The  extreme  southern  point  of  South  America  is  Patagonia.  The 
Patagonians  have  long  been  famous  for  their  great  height ;  though  some 
travelers  tell  us  that  many  of  our  countrymen  are  quite  as  tall.  In  the 
year  1 520  a  great  explorer,  named  Magellan,  landed  on  the  coast  of  their 
country,  and  he  was  very  much  amused  at  the  sight  of  these  huge 
creatures.  They  were  much  bigger  than  the  Spaniards  he  had  left  be- 
hind, and  because  they  wore  shoes  made  of  the  skin  of  the  animal 
called  guanaco,  his  men  gave  them  the  name  of  Patagones,  which  word 
means  large  feet. 

They  paint  their  bodies,  not  only  for  the  sake  of  ornament,  but  with 
the  idea  of  protecting  their  skin  from  the  cold,  and  rain,  and  sun.  Those 
of  them  who  prefer  real  clothing,  make  mantles  out  of  guanaco  fur,  and 
boots  from  either  the  skin  of  a  horse  or  that  of  a  puma.  These  gar- 
ments are  made  by  the  women,  who  are  very  clever  workwomen,  for 
the  needles  they  use  are  nothing  but  pieces  of  bone  sharpened  to  a 
point,  and  the  thread  is  made  from  the  sinews  of  the  guanaco.  Like 
most  savages,  both  the  men  and  women  are  very  fond  of  ornaments, 
such  as  large,  square  ear-rings,,  and  necklaces  of  all  descriptions.  A 
comical  appearance  they  present.  When  seated  on  their  horses  they 
trot  off  to  the  hunt  wdth  their  painted  bodies  decked  out  in  feathers  and 
jewelry.  Their  houses,  or  toldos,  as  they  are  called,  are  simply  tents 
made  by  planting  stakes  of  wood  in  the  ground,  and  then  covering  them 
with  the  skins  of  animals. 

The  guanacos,  which  are  to  be  seen  in  great  numbers  all  over  Pata- 
gonia, are  very  quick  runners.  The  head  of  this  animal  is  like  that  of 
a  camel ;  his  body  is  like  a  deer's,  only  it  is  covered  with  a  yellowish 
kmd  of  wool,  and  he  neighs  like  a  horse.  It  is  in  the  skin  of  one  of 
these  animals,  made  into  what  is  called  a  capa  by  the  Indian  women, 
that  the  Patagonian  ostrich  hunters  are  arrayed,  when,  mounted  on  their 
horses,  they  fly  across  the  pampas  after  the  swift-footed  birds.  These 
capas,  made  from  the  skins  of  the  young  guanacos,  are  extremely  warm, 
and  serve  well  to  protect  the  wearers  of  them  from  the  cold  winds  that 
blow  over  the  pampas. 

The  plan  adopted  for  catching  these  animals  is  rather  curious,  and 
one  which  makes  a  fine  day's  sport  for  the  hunters.  Around  a  large, 
open  space  of  ground  a  number  of  posts  are  fixed  in  the  form  of  a  large 
circle ;  a  piece  of  string  is  then  carried  from  one  post  to  another,  and 
in  the  spaces  large  sheets  of  paper  or  linen  are  hung.  The  hunters — 
who  may  be  men,  women,  or  even  children — scatter  themselves  in  all 
directions,  and  try  to  chase  as  many  guanacos  as  possible  from  the 
mountains  around  towards  the  inclosure  which  has  been  made.  A  large 
opening  is  of  course  made  where  the  animals  can  enter  ;  and  the  hunters 


340  WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 

make  so  much  noise,  shouting,  screaming  and  throwing  their  sticks  and 
weapons  about,  that  the  frightened  creatures  before  long  are  assembled 
in  the  inclosure.  There  they  scamper  about,  and  would  like  to  rush 
out  again,  because  of  course  they  could  easily  leap  the  lines  of  cord, 
but  the  flying  sheets  waving  about  in  the  breeze  so  terrify  them  that 
they  do  not  dare  to  approach  them,  and  thus  are  very  soon  put  to  death 
by  their  pursuers. 

The  weapon  chiefly  used  by  these  wild  hunters  is  called  the  bolas, 
which  in  their  hands  answers  all  the  purposes  of  firearms  or  bows  and 
arrows.  It  is  made  by  covering  two  round  stones  or  pieces  of  lead  with 
leather,  and  then  joining  them  together  with  thongs,  which,  very  fre- 
quently, are  the  sinews  from  the  legs  of  the  ostrich.  The  Indians  swing 
the  bolas  quickly  round  their  heads,  and  then  throw  them  at  the  animal 
they  are  chasing.  Nearly  always  the  balls  get  twisted  round  whatever 
part  of  the  body  they  fall  on,  so  that  the  animal  cannot  run,  and  thus 
the  hunter  gains  possession  of  it. 

One  very  strange  custom  among  these  people  is  that  of  gathering 
together  all  a  dead  man's  possessions  and  burning  them  ;  consequently 
there  is  no  such  thing  in  Patagonia  as  a  child  inheriting  the  father's 
property,  because,  however  rich  a  man  may  be  in  horses,  dogs,  bolas, 
clothes,  or  anything  else,  all  are  gathered  together  in  a  heap  at  his  death 
and  burned.  After  this  performance — which  of  course  appears  to  us 
useless  and  extravagant — the  body  of  the  man  is  wrapped  in  a  coat  of 
mail,  if  he  should  have  happened  to  own  one,  if  not,  in  guanaco  skins; 
and  in  the  skin  with  him  are  placed  his  hunting  and  warlike  weapons, 
and  also  any  objects  of  value  that  he  very  much  cared  for  when  living; 
and  these,  with  the  body,  are  fastened  securely  upon  the  dead  man's 
favorite  horse. 

In  order  to  make  the  procession  still  more  mournful,  the  horse  has  to 
endure  the  pain  of  having  one  of  its  hind  legs  broken,  after  which  it 
has  to  go  limping  on  under  its  load  until  it  reaches  the  last  resting-place 
of  its  master.  All  the  women  friends  of  the  Indian  widow  join  in  the 
procession,  and  mingle  their  shrieks  and  cries  of  agony  with  hers,  and 
the  men  of  the  party  paint  their  bodies  black.  On  reaching  the  grave 
— which  is  usually  chosen  on  the  summit  of  a  high  hill — the  body  is 
laid  in  it,  after  which  the  lame  horse  is  thrown  in  also,  and  very  often 
with  it  a  number  of  other  animals,  which  will  be  needed,  so  the  Patago- 
nians  think,  as  food  by  the  dead  man  in  the  unknown  world  to  which 
he  has  traveled. 


CHAPTER  XL 


A  WONDERFUL  COUNTRY. 


Wonders  of  the  Great  West — Niagara  Falls — Buffalo  Hunting—"  Dog  Town  "  —Wonders 
of  Vegetation — The  Marvelous  Yellowstone  Region — Geysers  and  Falls — Masterpieces 
of  Sublime  Scenery — The  Celebrated  Canons — The  Romantic  Colorado — The  Moun- 
tain Cross — Utah  and  the  Great  Salt  Lake — The  Mormons — Polygamy — Strange 
Extinct  Animal  Life — Rivers  of  Ice — Yosemite — Awful  Abysses — Towering  Falls — 
Nature's  Prodigal  Magnificence — The  Traveler's  Astonishment — Immense  Trees — 
Untold  Mineral  Resources — Indians — A  Crow  Chief — Indian  Characteristics — Red 
Man  as  a  Farmer— Indian  Wars  and  Ambushes — Indians  not  Dying 
Out — Life  in  the  Forest — Wigwams  and  their  Inmates. 

HE  countries  already  described  abound  in  marvelous 
objects,  but  in  many  respects  our  own  land  surpasses 
all  others,  and  leads  the  world  in  its  unrivaled 
wonders.  Especially  is  this  true  of  the  vast  region 
lying  beyond  fhe  Mississippi,  yet  before  coming  to 
th^t,  we  find  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Great  Lakes  natu- 
ral phenomena  which  have  awakened  the  astonishment 
of  every  beholder. 
The  great  natural  wonder  of  this  locality  is  the  Falls 
of  Niagara,  discovered  by  Pere  Hennepin  in  the  year  1678.  The 
Niagara  River,  forming  the  boundary  line  between  Canada  and  the 
States,  flows  almost  north  for  a  distance  of  thirty-six  miles  of  which 
twenty-two  are  above  and  fourteen  are  below  the  Falls.  Above  the 
Falls  the  river  encircles  a  large  island,  known  as  Grand  Island,  its  course 
thus  far  being  quiet.  Presently,  however,  it  begins  to  feel  the  influence 
of  the  coming  leap,  and  sweeps  along  more  impetuously,  and  soon 
breaks  into  furious  rapids.  Reaching  the  head  of  Goat  Island,  it 
separates  into  two  branches  ;  that  on  the  American  side  rushing  straight 
forward  to  the  brink  in  a  mass  a  thousand  feet  broad,  and  shooting  over 
into  the  gulf  below.  That  on  the  Canadian  side  of  Goat  Island  sweeps 
around,  and  plunges  over  a  cliff  in  the  form  of  a  horseshoe  (hence  the 
name  of  this  Fall),  the  two  parts  of  the  river  mingling  at  the  foot  of 
the  Fall.  The  height  of  the  American  Fall  is  one  hundred  and  eighty 
feet.  That  of  the  Horseshoe  Fall  is  slighty  less,  owing  to  the  smaller 
height  of  the  crest.     Its  leap  is  one  hundred  and  seventy-three  feet. 

As    the    current    approaches    Goat    Island    it    seems    to    flow   with 
redoubled  velocity.     It  is  impossible  to  conceive  anything  equal  to  the 

(341) 


342  WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 

force  and  swiftness  of  its  progress  to  the  ledge  of  rocks  over  which  it 
is  propelled,  till  it  impetuously  tumbles  into  the  bed  of  the  river  beneath, 
with  a  noise  louder  than  thunder.  When  the  waters  fall  into  the  deep 
basin,  they  rebound  into  the  air  in  immense  spherical  figures,  white  as 
snow  and  sparkling  as  diamonds.  These  figures,  after  rising  and 
apparently  remaining  stationary  for  a  moment,  explode  at  the  top  and 
emit  columns  of  spray  to  an  astonishing  height.  They  then  subside 
and  are  succeeded  by  others  which  disappear  in  the  same  manner. 
From  that  part  of  the  Table  Rock  which  yet  remains,  the  spectator 
commands  one  of  the  grandest  and  most  romantic  views  in  nature. 
The  tremendous  rapids  above  the  Falls — Goat  Island  in  their  midst, 
covered  with  trees,  which  seem  at  every  moment  about  to  be  swept 
away ;  the  Horseshoe  Fall,  immediately  below  Table  Rock ;  Fort 
Schlosser  Fall,  beyond  Goat  Island  ;  and  the  frightful  gulf  beneath, 
boiling  with  perpetual  rage  and  shooting  upwards  immense  volumes  of 
sparkling  foam,  smoking  with  apparent  intensity  of  heat ; — are  a  few 
of  the  great  objects  which  are  forced  upon  his  attention. 

Another  place  from  which  the  Falls  assume,  if  possible,  a  more 
striking  and  awful  appearance,  is  at  the  bottom  of  the  cataract.  The 
precipice  leading  to  this  spot  is  descencjed  by  means  of  a  ladder,  the  per- 
pendicular height  of  which  is  upwards  of  sixty  feet;  you  proceed  along 
the  edge  of  the  river,  which  is  covered  with  broken  rocks,  wrecks  of 
boats,  and  other  rubbish,  until  you  arrive  at  the  bottom  of  the  Horseshoe 
Fall.  From  this  place  visitors  frequently  proceed  on  foot  several 
hundred  yards,  within  a  prodigious  sheet  of  caverned  water,  which  is 
formed  by  the  overshooting  of  the  cataract.  But  they  must  be  men  of 
the  firmest  nerve  who  venture  on  such  a  daring  enterprise,  for  the  most 
undaunted  resolution  is  in  danger  of  being  shaken  on  looking  upward 
at  the  impending  rock,  which  continually  seems  to  bend  and  groan 
beneath  the  rolling  flood,  to  which  it  serves  as  a  fearful  support.  From 
the  projecting  edge  of  this  rock  the  mass  of  waters  is  impelled  forward, 
and  leaves  a  large  and  smooth  expanse,  which  reaches  from  the  sheet 
of  falling  watjr  to  the  very  base  of  the  gradually  undermined  moun- 
tain. If  the  atmosphere  be  dense  it  is  still  more  dangerous  to  engage 
in  the  bold  attempt  of  exploring  the  stable  foundations  of  the  river,  for 
])eople  at  such  times  not  infrequently  lose  the  power  of  respiration  in 
proceeding  far  beneath  the  rocky  ceiling.  Notwithstanding  this  and 
various  other  dangers  to  which  all  arc  equally  exposed  who  venture  to 
approach  the  Fall  in  boats,  the  fisherman  frequently  continues  there  for 
hours  together,  apparently  without  any  apprehension  of  danger. 

The  crumbling  edge  of  the  precipice,  for  it  does  crumble,  proves  that 
Niagara,  like  all  waterfalls,  tends  to  work  backwards. 


THE  WORLD  RL.NUWNED  NIAGARA  FALLS. 

343 


344  WONDERS    OF    EXPLORATION    AND    ADVENTURE. 

There  would  be  no  erosion  but  for  the  fact  that  the  last  seventy-eight 
feet  of  its  course,  a  more  yielding  argillite  or  clay  slate  has  been  washed 
from  beneath  the  overlying  limestone  by  the  mechanical  force  of  the 
vast  volume  of  water  here  precipitated.  When  the  Niagara  shall  have 
carried  its  gorge  back  to  the  mouth  of  Lake  Erie,  great  changes  will 
ensue.  Every  day  sees  something  taken  from  the  rocky  barrier  ;  and, 
geologically  speaking,  at  no  remote  time  our  Great  Lakes  will  have 
shared  the  fate  of  those  that  once  existed  at  the  far  West.  Already 
they  have  been  reduced  to  less  than  half  their  former  area,  and  the 
water  level  has  been  depressed  three  hundred  feet  or  more.  This  pro- 
cess is  pretty  sure  to  go  on  until  they  are  completely  emptied.  The 
cities  that  now  stand  upon  their  banks  will,  ere  that  time,  have  grown 
colossal  in  size,  then  gray  with  age,  but  in  the  sediments  that  are  now 
accumulating  in  these  lake  basins  will  lie  many  a  wreck  and  skeleton^ 
tree  trunk,  and  floated  leaf  Near  the  city  sites  and  old  river  mouths 
these  sediments  will  be  full  of  relics  that  will  illustrate  and  explain  the 
mingled  comedy  and  tragedy  of  human  life.  These  relics  the  geologist 
of  the  future  will  doubtless  gather  and  study  and  moralize  over,  as  we 
do  the  rocky  records  of  the  ages  past. 

ASTONISHING    PHENOMENA    OF   THE    GREAT    WEST. 

The  western  part  of  the  North  American  Continent  is  one  great  pla- 
teau, crested  by  the  numerous  ranges  which  collectively  make  up  the 
Cordilleras  of  North  America.  Occupying  nearly  the  whole  breadth 
of  Mexico,  from  ocean  to  ocean,  it  enters  the  United  States,  extending, 
with  its  long  eastward  slope,  from  near  the  one  hundredth  meridian 
westward  nearly  to  the  Colorado  River.  Its  flat  crest  is  at  the  conti- 
nental water-parting,  where  it  is  four  to  five  thousand  feet  above  the 
sea.  As  we  follow  its  limits  northward,  we  find  its  eastern  boundary, 
though  indefinite  and  shading  by  imperceptible  degrees  into  the  prairies 
of  the  Mississippi  Valley,  generally  to  run  nearly  north.  The  western 
boundary  sweeps  gradually'  to  the  westward  to  the  Sierra  Nevada,  and, 
follows  this  great  range  and  the  Cascade  Mountains  of  Oregon,  Wash- 
ington Territory,  and  British  Columbia.  As  its  breadth  increases,  its 
elevation  increases  also.  The  continental  water-parting,  following  its 
summit,  increases  in  elevation  through  New  Mexico  and  Colorado, 
reaching  its  maximum  in  the  latter  State,  where,  over  a  great  area,  the 
mean  elevation  of  this  plateau  is  from  eight  to  nine  thousand  feet. 
Thence  northward  its  elevation  decreases  gradually,  and  at  the  northern 
boundary  of  the  States  its  mean  elevation  is  not  above  four  thousand 
feet.     Within  this  region  marvels  appear  at  every  step. 

The  plains  which  form  the  eastern  slope  of  the  great  Cordilleran  pla- 
teau have  no  well-defined  eastern  limits,  but  pass  imperceptibly  into  the 


A    WONDERFUL    COUNTRV.  *  345 

prairies  of  the  Mississippi  Valley.  They  rise  gradually,  with  a  very 
uniform  slope,  towards  the  west.  The  surface  is  a  monotonous,  rolling, 
treeless  expanse.  The  stream-beds  are  but  slightly  below  the  general 
level,  and  the  water-partings  between  the  streams  are  indicated  only  by 
broad  swells  in  the  surface.  The  landscape  resembles  the  ocean  in  its 
long,  billowy  undulations.  There  are  no  landmarks,  and  the  mariner  is 
no  more  dependent  upon  his  compass  and  sextant  than  is  the  traveler 
upon  this  great  expanse  when  away  from  the  traveled  routes. 

When  we  mention  the  plains,  the  buffalo  is  immediately  suggested. 
The  buffalo,  or  more  properly  the  American  bison,  formerly  ranged  over 
the  larger  part  of  the  continent,  being  restricted  on  the  eastward  only 
by  the  AUeghanies,  and  on  the  north  by  the  increasing  cold  of  the 
higher  latitudes.  Now,  its  range  is  practically  restricted  to  the  plains, 
and  the  roads  and  railroads  intersecting  the  latter  are  fast  limiting 
its  home  to  small  and  unfrequented  localities  in  the  far  north  and  south. 
They  have  retreated  and  diminished  before  advancing  civilization. 

HUNTING    THE    WILD    BUFFALO. 

They  are,  as  is  well  known,  gregarious  animals,  and  formerly  ranged 
over  the  plains  in  almost  fabulous  numbers.  At  times,  herds  have  been 
met  with  of  immense  size,  numbering  thousands,  and  even  millions,  of 
individuals.  The  accounts  given  by  many  veracious  travelers  respecting 
their  size  sound  almost  like  exaggerations.  Herds  were  formerly  met 
with  extending  for  many  miles  in  every  direction,  so  that  the  expression, 
"  so  numerous  as  to  blacken  the  plains  as  far  as  the  eye  can  reach,"  has 
become  a  hackneyed  description  of  their  abundance.  Some  writers 
speak  of  traveling  for  days  together  without  ever  being  out  of  sight  of 
buffaloes,  while  it  is  stated  that  emigrant  trains  were  formerly  sometimes 
detained  for  hours  by  the  passage  of  dense  herds  across  their  routes. 
In  the  early  history  of  the  Kansas  Pacific  Railway  it  repeatedly  happened 
that  trains  were  stopped  by  the  same  cause.  Now  all  this  is  changed. 
Since  the  railroads  penetrated  the  buffalo  country,  they  have  been 
slaughtered  wholesale  for  their  hides  only.  The  destruction  has  been 
enormous,  and,  unless  soon  checked,  the  species  will  become  extinct  in 
a  few  years.  Where  formerly  these  immense  herds  obstructed  the  way, 
now  only  a  few  scattered  individuals  are  seen.  A  careful  estimate  from 
existing  data  places  the  number  of  these  animals  killed  during  the  last 
fifteen  years  at  about  two  millions  annually. 

The  two  modes  of  hunting  the  buffalo  chiefly  practiced  at  present  are 
the  pursuit  on  horseback  and  the  "  still  hunt."  The  first-named  is  the 
one  usually  chosen  where  sport  and  excitement  are  the  things  mainly 
desired,  the  still  hunt  being  practiced  when  a  supply  of  meat  or  of  hides 
is  the  object.      The  latter  method    affords  but  little  excitement,  and 


A    WONDERFUL    COUNTRY.  347 

entails,  with  proper  precautions,  little  or  no  risk  of  life  or  limb  on  the 
part  of  the  hunter.  Parties  hunting  for  pleasure  prefer  the  chase  on 
horseback,  shooting  from  the  saddle  with  heavy  revolvers  at  close  range, 
when  at  full  gallop.  Success  depends  almost  wholly  (provided  the 
hunter  is  a  good  rider)  upon  the  speed  and  endurance  of  his  horse,  and 
is  really  about  as  noble  sport  as  attacking  a  herd  of  domestic  cattle 
would  be.  The  chase  on  horseback  of  a  drove  of  Texas  cattle  would 
be  far  more  dangerous,  and  attended  probably  with  as  much  excitement, 
except  that  in  the  case  of  the  buffalo  the  hunter  has  the  consciousness 
of  pursuing  a  nominally  wild  animal,  and  hence  legitimate  game.  That 
the  chase  on  horseback  affords  the  wildest  excitement  is  an  undeniable 
fact.  The  swift  pursuit  of  the  flying  mass  of  buffaloes,  the  mingling 
with  the  terrified  herd,  the  singling  out  of  the  victim,  the  rapid  shots  at 
the  huge  moving  bulk  of  hair  and  flesh,  at  so  close  range  that  the  game 
is  almost  within  reach  of  the  hand,  the  tottering  fall  or  headlong  tumble 
of  the  doomed  animal,  the  risk  of  pursuit  by  a  wounded  bull  maddened 
with  pain,  the  general  din  and  confusion  with  the  double  risk  of  collision 
with  the  blind,  fleeing  monsters,  or  of  being  thrown  by  treacherous 
marmot  or  badger  holes,  can,  of  course,  yield  only  excitement  of  the 
intensest  kind,  both  to  the  rider  and  his  steed. 

The  still  hunt  is  far  more  fatal,  and  is  the  method  adopted  by  the 
professional  hunter.  The  buffalo  being  naturally  unsuspicious  and 
sluggish,  even  to  stupidity,  is  readily  approached  within  easy  range, 
even  in  a  level  country,  where  the  slight  herbage  of  the  plains  is  the 
only  shelter.  The  chief  precaution  necessary  is  to  keep  to  leeward  of 
the  herd,  in  order  not  to  give  them  the  scent.  The  professional  hunter, 
when  desiring  to  load  his  teams  with  meat,  will  rarely  make  his  first 
shot  at  a  greater  distance  than  fifty  or  seventy  yards.  If  the  shot  result 
fatally,  the  herd  rarely  moves  more  than  fifty  yards  before  stopping  to 
look  for  the  cause  of  the  mishap  to  their  fallen  companion.  Here 
others  fall  before  the  hunter's  shots ;  the  herd,  again  slightly  startled, 
moves  on  a  few  paces,  and  again  stops  to  gaze.  The  hunter,  still  keep- 
ing prostrate,  approaches  if  necessary,  and  continues  the  work  of  de- 
struction. The  shots  are  thus  often  repeated,  till  fifteen,  twenty,  or 
even  thirty  buffaloes  are  killed  before  the  herd  becomes  thoroughly 
alarmed,  and,  in  hunter's  parlance,  "stampedes." 

VAST    CITIES    OF    BURROWING    ANIMALS. 

Elk,  antelope,  and  several  species  of  deer,  are  abundant  on  the  plains 
from  autumn  to  spring,  when  they  retire  into  the  mountains  for  the 
summer.  In  the  frozen  regions  of  the  far  north  the  buffalo  is  replaced 
by  the  musk-ox  and  the  antelope  by  the  reindeer. 

A  curious  animal,  popularly  known  as  the  prairie  dog,  is  very  abun- 


348  WONDERS    OF    EXPLORATION    AND    ADVENTURE. 

dant  all  over  the  plains.  It  is  a  burrowing  animal,  about  the  size  of  a 
large  gray  squirrel,  living  in  communities,  some  of  which  contain 
thousands  of  individuals.  Many  of  their  cities  cover  a  number  of  square 
miles  each.  The  surface  resembles  a  newly-planted  cornfield,  beings 
covered  with  little  mounds  of  earth,  each  indicating  the  home  of  a 
family.  On  each  mound  sits  a  prairie  dog  on  his  haunches,  like  a 
kangaroo,  and  greets  the  intruder  with  a  chorus  of  short  piping  barks. 
They  are  shy  little  fellows,  and,  on  a  nearer  approach,  they  make  a  dive 
for  their  holes,  and,  with  a  short  quick  wriggle  of  their  hinder  parts, 
disappear.     Living  with  them  in  their  villages,  and  tolerated  perforce^ 


THE    HOME    OF    THE    PRAIRIE     DOG. 

are  rattlesnakes  and  a  small  species  of  owls  which  make  a  good  diet 
off  the  young  of  their  hosts. 

The  territory  of  the  great  plains  was  formerly  a  region  of  deep  seas. 
In  early  time  it  was  covered  by  the  ocean  that  spread  continuously 
over  almost  the  entire  region  of  the  United  States.  Its  expans  ■  was 
interrupted  only  by  a  few  islands  in  the  region  of  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains, and  a  few  embryonic  mountain  ridges  in  the  Appalachian  region. 
In  later  time  the  plains  were  covered  by  the  great  Mediterranean  Sea, 
which  extended  from  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  to  the  Arctic  Ocean.  Later 
still,  the  surface  was  marked  by  a  series  of  great  fresh-water  basins. 
The  fauna  and  flora  of  the  lake  deposits  of  the  plains  arc  of  the  same 
age  as  those  on  the  west  side  of  the  Rocky  Mountains.     During  sub- 


A    WONDERFUL    COUNTRY.  349 

sequent  periods  the  continental  surfaces  were  broad  and  covered  with 
a  vegetation  very  much  hke  that  of  the  present  day,  although  the  cli- 
mate was  mucli  milder  than  now.  Over  the  western  plains  roved  great 
herds  of  quadrupeds,  rivaling  in  number  and  variety  those  that  have 
struck  with  wonder  and  surprise  the  traveler  in  South  Africa. 

Then  a  warm  and  genial  climate  prevailed  from  the  Gulf  to  the 
Arctic  Sea ;  the  Canadian  highlands  were  higher,  but  the  Rocky 
Mountains  lower  and  less  broad.  Most  of  the  continent  exhibited  an 
undulating  surface,  rounded  hills  and  broad  valleys  covered  with 
forests  grander  than  any  of  the  present  day,  or  wide  expanses  of  rich 
savanna,  over  which  roamed  countless  herds  of  animals,  many  of 
gigantic  size,  of  which  our  present  meagre  fauna  retains  but  a  few 
dwarfed  representatives.  Noble  rivers  flowed  through  plains  and 
valleys,  and  sea-like  lakes,  broader  and  more  numerous  than  those  the 
continent  now  bears,  diversified  the  scenery.  Through  unnumbered 
ages  the  seasons  ran  their  ceaseless  course,  the  sun  rose  and  set,  moons 
waxed  and  waned  over  this  fair  land  ;  but  no  human  eye  was  there  to 
mark  its  beauty,  nor  human  intellect  to  control  and  use  its  exuberant 
fertility.  Flowers  opened  their  many-colored  petals  on  meadow  and 
hillside,  and  filled  the  air  with  their  perfumes,  but  only  for  the  delecta- 
tion of  the  wandering  bee.  '  Fruits  ripened  in  the  sun,  but  there  was 
no  hand  there  to  pluck,  nor  any  speaking  tongue  to  taste.  Birds  sang 
in  the  trees,  but  for  no  ears  but  their  own.  The  surface  of  lake  or 
river  was  whitened  by  no  sail,  nor  furrowed  by  any  prow  but  the  breast 
of  the  water-fowl ;  and  the  far-reaching  shores  echoed  no  sound  but 
the  dash  of  the  waves  and  the  lowing  of  the  herds  that  slaked  their 
thirst  in  the  crystal  waters. 

THE   YELLOWSTONE    NATIONAL    PARK. 

The  country  about  the  heads  of  the  Madison,  Yellowstone  and 
Snake  Rivers,  in  the  north-western  part  of  Wyoming,  seems  to  have 
teen  set  aside  for  the  exhibition  of  the  action  of  volcanic  forces.  In 
time  past,  but  geologically  very  recent,  this  region  has  been  repeatedly 
covered  by  floods  of  lava ;  great  ranges  of  mountains  have  been  built 
by  catastrophic  action  ;  and  to-day  we  find  these  forces  still  actively  at 
work,  as  evidenced  by  the  innumerable  hot  springs  and  geysers  which 
are  found  all  over  the  surface.  Before  the  geysers  of  the  Yellowstone 
National  Park,  all  others  of  the  world — even  the  celebrated  ones  of 
Iceland — sink  into  insignificance. 

Until  a  very  recent  period  this  country  v/as  an  unknown  region,  save 
from  the  vague  tales  of  Indians  and  white  hunters  and  trappers,  and 
these  wonders  were  scarcely  suspected.  Deterred  by  the  difficulties 
of  approach,  many  exploring  parties  have  passed  by  this   marvelous 


350 


WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 


locality.  It  was  not  until  1864  that  any  authentic  account  of  any  part 
of  the  country  was  obtained.  In  that  year  a  prospecting  party  pene- 
trated the  western  edge  of  this  region,  and  by  accident  came  to  what 
is  now  known  as  the  Lower  Geyser  Basin,  near  the  head- waters  of  the 
Madison  River.  The  accounts  of  this  discovery,  however,  attracted 
little  attention;  but  in  1870  a  party  was  organized  in  Montana  to  test 
the  truth  of  these  stories.  This  party  discovered  most  of  the  wonders 
of  the  region,  and  published  them  to  the  world.  During  the  two 
following  years  the  region  was  thoroughly  explored  by  the  parties  of 
the  United  States  Geological  Survey  of  the  Territories,  and  the  results 
were  officially  published  by  the  Government ;  and  in  the  winter  of 


A    YELLOWSTONE   SPOUTING    GEYSER. 

1 87 1-2  the  region  embracing  these  wonders  was  set  off  by  Congress 
as  a  national  park.     Its  marvels  arc  the  property  of  the  public. 

This  park  contains  about  three  thousand  five  hundred  square  miles. 
It  is  mainly  a  high  rolling  country,  covered  by  a  dense  growth  of 
coniferous  timber.  Several  small  groups  of  mountains  diversify  its 
surface,  and  along  its  eastern  border  stretches  a  high,  rugged,  volcanic 
range,  separating  the  waters  of  the  Yellowstone  from  those  of  the  Big 
Horn.  The  average  elevation  of  the  Park  is  about  eight  thousand  feet 
above  sea-level,  an  elevation  which  gives  it  an  almost  arctic  climate. 
For  nearly  nine  months  of  the  year  snow  lies  on  the  ground,  and  frost 
is  liable  to  occur  even  in  midsummer  nights.  The  month  of  September 
usually  ushers  in  the  winter,  and  there  is  no  abatement  of  its  rigors. 

Hot  springs  are  found  in  innumerable  localities  throughout  the  Park. 


A    WONDERFUL   COUNTRY.  351 

They  are  omnipresent.  Among  the  den.sc  timber,  on  the  plateaus,  in 
the  valleys,  on  the  walls  and  at  the  bottoms  of  canons,  on  mountain 
slopes  and  even  at  the  summits — yes,  even  in  the  beds  of  lakes  and 
rivers — they  are  found.  With  their  deposits  they  have  built  mountains, 
as  at  the  White  Mountain  Springs,  or  have  floored  whole  valleys,  as 
in  the  Geyser  Basins  of  the  Firehole  or  Madison  River.  They  are  of 
all  sizes,  from  a  few  inches  in  diameter  to  areas  of  several  acres  of  hot 
water — of  all  temperatures,  from  tepid  to  boiling.  Associated  with 
these  springs,  at  a  dozen  or  more  localities,  are  active  geysers,  throwing 
columns  of  boiling  water,  in  extreme  cases,  two  hundred  feet  in  height.. 
Altogether  there  are  known  to  be  fifty  geysers  within  the  Park. 

THE    FAMOUS    WHITE    MOUNTAIN    SPRINGS. 

Leaving  the  settlements  at  Bozeman,  Montana,  and  following  up  the 
Yellowstone  River  to  the  Park, — which,  by  the  way,  is  the  usual  route 
to  "Wonderland," — the  first  group  of  springs  which  arrests  attention 
on  entering  the  Park  is  that  of  White  Mountain  or  the  Mammoth 
Springs.  These  springs  are  highly  charged  with  calcareous  matter, 
which  they  deposit,  on  cooling,  in  marvelous  quantity.  On  approaching 
them  the  visitor  beholds  a  hill,  two  hundred  feet  in  height,  of  dazzling 
whiteness,  vv'ith  its  sides  striped  with  bands  of  vivid  red  and  yellow. 
This  hill  is  the  work  of  the  springs,  which  burst  forth  upon  its  summit 
and  pour  their  waters  down  from  basin  to  basin  upon  its  sides.  The 
steep  sides  of  the  hill  are  ornamented  with  a  series  of  semi-circular 
basins,  with  margins  varying  in  height  from  a  few  inches  to  six  or 
eight  feet,  and  so  beautifully  scalloped  and  adorned  with  a  kind  of  bead- 
work,  that  the  beholder  stands  amazed  at  this  marvel  of  Nature's  handi- 
work. Add  to  this  a  snow-white  ground,  with  every  variety  of  shade 
of  scarlet,  green  and  yellow,  as  brilliant  as  the  brightest  of  our  aniline 
dyes.  The  pools  or  basins  are  of  all  sizes,  from  a  few  inches  to  six  or 
eight  feet  in  diameter,  and  from  two  inches  to  two  feet  in  depth.  As 
the  water  flows  from  the  spring  over  the  hill-side  from  one  basin  to 
another,  it  loses  continually  a  portion  of  its  heat,  and  the  bather  can 
find  any  temperature  he  desires.  At  the  top  of  the  hill  there  is  a  broad 
flat  terrace,  covered  with  these  basins,  one  hundred  and  fifty  to  two 
hundred  yards  in  diameter.  Here  are  the  active  springs.  The  largest 
one  is  near  the  edge  of  the  summit.  It  is  twenty-five  by  forty  feet,  and 
the  water  is  so  perfectly  transparent  that  one  can  look  down  into  the 
blue  ultramarine  depth  to  the  bottom.  The  transparency  rivals  that 
of  the  far-famed  waters  of  Lake  Geneva. 

Near  the  head  of  the  Madison  River,  which  here  is  known  as  the 
Firehole,  are  two  small  valleys,  one  containing  a  dozen,  the  other  about 
twenty  square  miles,  in  which  is  the  greatest  collection  of  hot  springs. 


352  WONDERS    OF   EXPLORATION    AND    ADVENTURE. 

and  geysers  in  the  region.  Of  these  the  upper  contains  the  greatest 
number  and  the  most  active  geysers.  Imagine  a  valley  shut  in  by  high 
bluff  walls,  its  bottom  floored  throughout  with  a  hard  white  glistening 
crust  of  silica,  the  deposit  from  the  almost  innumerable  hot  springs  and 
geysers  which  dot  its  surface.  Through  the  middle  of  the  valley  flows 
a  small  river,  whose  water  is  constantly  warm.  In  this  valley  there  are 
no  less  than  eighteen  true  geysers,  most  of  which  throw  water  to  a 
considerable  height.  Some  of  them  are  irregular  in  their  periods; 
others  doubly  periodic,  having  two  or  more  eruptions  at  short  intervals, 
and  then  taking  a  long  rest.  Some  of  the  more  wonderful  are  worthy 
•of  a  brief  description. 

The  mouth  of  the  geyser  called  "Old  Faithful  "  slopes  inward,  and 
measures  on  the  outside  eight  feet  by  four.  Its  crater  is  a  mound  of 
geyserite,  which  rises  twelve  feet  above  the  surrounding  level.  The 
eruptions  of  this  geyser  commence  with  a  few  abortive  attempts,  fol- 
lowed by  a  rapid  succession  of  jets,  which  soon  reach  a  maximum,  and 
then  gradually  decrease,  followed  by  a  short  discharge  of  steam.  The 
average  length  of  an  eruption  is  about  five  minutes,  and  the  period  of 
inactivity  one  hour  and  three  minutes.  The  maximum  measured 
height  of  the  column  of  water  is  one  hundred  and  thirty  feet.  This  is 
one  of  the  finest  and  most  regular  of  all. 

The  geyser  known  as  the  "  Bee-hive"  is  recognizable  at  once  by  its 
cone,  which  has  the  form  of  an  old-fashioned  bee-hive,  three  feet  in 
height  and  about  .seven  in  diameter  at  the  base.  It  is  coated  with 
beautifully-beaded  formations,  which  have  an  almost  pearly  lustre.  The 
eruptions  are  very  fine,  and  are  peculiar  to  this  geyser.  The  water  and 
steam  issue  from  the  orifice  in  a  steady  stream  instead  of  successive 
impulses.  The  greatest  measured  height  of  the  column  of  water  is  one 
hundred  and  seventy-eight  feet,  while  the  steam  has  been  forced  one 
hundred  and  ninety-three  feet  into  the  air.  During  the  eruptions  the 
pent-up  steam  shakes  the  earth  around  with  mighty  throbs.  The  period 
■of  this  geyser  is  irregular,  as  is  also  the  duration  of  its  eruptions. 

In  approaching  the  crater  of  the  "Architectural  "  geyser,  the  observer 
is  not  at  first  impressed  with  its  importance,  as  the  outer  rim  of  the 
basin,  or  rather  table,  in  the  centre  of  which  the  fissure  is  situated,  is 
raised  but  two  or  three  feet  above  the  general  level.  The  surface  is 
diversified  by  an  infinite  number  of  forms  and  colors.  The  depressed 
parts  in  some  places  are  so  level  and  white  and  hard,  that  a  name  could 
be  engraven  as  easily  and  as  well  as  upon  the  bark  of  a  beech-tree.  In 
others,  there  are  most  exquisitely-modeled  basins  and  pockets,  with 
ornamented  rims,  and  filled  with  perfectly  transparent  water,  through 
which  thousands  of  pebbles  can  be  seen  lying  on  the  velvety  bottoms. 


A    WONDERFUL  COUNTRY. 


353 


The  "Giantess"  has  a  huge  basin,  twenty-three  and  a  half  by  thirty- 
and  a  half  feet  across. 


two  and  a 

It  is  rather  a  great  pool, 
which,  were  it  not  for  its 
rarely-occurring  eruptions, 
would  be  mistaken  for  a  quiet 
hot-spring  pool,  of  which 
there  are  many  in  the  basin. 
When  in  eruption  it  thro^\'s 
a  great  mass  of  water  to  a 
small  height,  surging  and 
splashing  in  all  directions. 
The  greatest  height  of  the 
water,  which  was  ijieasured, 
was  thirty-nine  feet,  while 
the  steam  was  forced  up 
sixty-nine  feet.  This  geyser 
seems  to  be  doubly  periodic, 
having  a  succession  of  three 
eruptions  at  intervals  of  about 
an  hour,  and  then  a  rest  for 
a  long  period,  whose  dura- 
tion has  not  been  ascertained. 
The  "Grand  Geyser"  has 
no  raised  cone,  only  a  basin 
sunk  below  the  general  level, 
like  that  of  a  quiet  spring. 
It  is  fifty-two  feet  in  diameter. 
In  its  centre  is  the  geyser 
tube,  which  measures  four 
feet  by  two.  The  greatest 
measured  height  of  an  erup- 
tion was  one.  hundred  and 
seventy-three  feet.  Its  peri- 
ods seem  to  be  irregular.  The 
eruption  consists  of  three 
distinct  periods  of  action, 
after  each  of  which  the  water 
sinks  completely  out  of  sight, 
and  water  overflows  from  the  the  gi.\ntf^s  geyser. 

Turban  Geyser,  which  is  in  immediate  proximity,  into  the  basin  of  the 
Grand.     The  mass  of  water  carried  up  is  enormous  ;  while  through  this 
23 


354  WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 

main  mass  a  smaller  column  shoots  at  intervals  to  a  much  greater 
height.  The  scene  thus  presented  is  not  only  singular,  but  is  as  difficult 
to  explain  as  it  is  beautiful. 

Of  one  of  the  hot  springs  in  the  Lower  Yellowstone  basin  a  traveler 
writes :  On  the  upper  side  of  the  spring,  next  to  the  bank,  the  water — 
in  overflowing — ran  into  large,  shallow  pools,  painting  whatever  it 
touched  with  the  colors  of  the  rainbow.  Beds  of  rich  creamy  white 
and  rich  yellows  were  interlaid  with  patches  of  siennas  and  purples,  and 
divided  up  and  surrounded  by  the  most  fantastic  patterns  of  delicate 
grays  and  rich  browns.  On  the  side  next  the  creek  the  running  water 
has  made  a  network  of  streams.  In  those  where  the  water  is  still  hot, 
the  colors  are  bright,  varying  from  a  creamy  white  to  the  brightest 
yellows  ;  but  as  the  water  becomes  cooler  further  down,  the  colors  grow 
darker  and  richer,  the  siennas  greatly  predominating ;  while  the  basins 
of  the  larger  pools  are  stained  with  still  darker  colors,  frequently  of  a 
purple  tint,  and  reflecting  the  picturesque  groups  of  pines  on  their  dark 
surfaces.     Thus  we  have  every  variety  of  color  and  imagery. 

THE  GRAND  CANON  AND  FALLS  OF  THE  YELLOWSTONE. 

Hot  springs  and  geysers  are  not  the  only  objects  of  interest  in  this 
region,  for  Dame  Nature,  ever  lavish  of  her  treasures,  has  richly  endowed 
this  country.  Its  mountains,  waterfalls,  and  canons,  are  well  worthy  of 
a  momentary  glance.  The  Yellowstone  River,  from  the  lake  at  its  head 
to  its  point  of  exit  from  the  Park,  presents  the  traveler  with  an  ever- 
changing  panorama  of  scenes.  Leaving  the  lake,  for  several  miles  the 
river  is  broad,  flowing  with  a  gentle  current  between  high,  wooded  banks. 
Soon,  however,  rapids  intervene,  the  river-bed  becomes  narrow  and 
broken  up  by  huge  rocks;  the  river  roars  tumultuously  along,  down  a 
steep,  broken  incline,  and  shoots  over  a  precipice  one  hundred  and  twelve 
feet  in  height.  This  is  the  Upper  Fall.  Recovering  itself  after  this 
ebullition,  the  great  river  moves  quietly  along  its  course  for  a  half-mile, 
and  then  suddenly  rolls  over  a  sheer  precipice  three  hundred  feet  in 
height,  into  the  depths  of  the  Grand  Caiion,  down  whose  sinuous  course 
it  roars  and  tears  along,  an  emerald-green  band,  flecked  with  snowy 
foam,  between  the  deeply  colored  walls  of  the  caiion. 

A    MASTERPIECE    OF    SUBLIMITY. 

The  river  suddenly  narrows  to  a  width  of  only  one  hundred  feet,  and 
rushes  over  a  ledge,  falling  three  hundred  feet  to  the  bottom  of  the 
caiion.  The  water  at  the  edge  of  the  fall  is  very  deep,  and  of  a  deep 
green  color.  When  we  approach  the  brink  and  look  over  into  the  abyss, 
we  begin  to  realize  the  littleness  of  man  in  the  presence  of  Nature's 
grand  masterpieces.  Down,  down  goes  the  whirling  mass,  battling  and 
writhing  as  the  water  dashes  against  the  rocks  with  a  noise  like  the  dis- 


A    WONDERFUL    COUNTRY. 


356 


charge  of  artillery.  Here  and  there  a  resisting  rock  is  met  with,  and 
the  water  rebounds,  broken  into  myriads  of  drops,  which  throw  back  to 
us  the  sunlight  resolved  into  its  primitive  colors.  The  bottom  of  the 
caiion  reached,  the  immense  mass  of  water  seems  to  dissolve  itself  into 
spray,  and  then  recovering,  it  flows  down  the  gorge  an  emerald-green 
stream,  dashed  with  patches  of  white,  beating  with  furious  waves  the 
rocky  walls  that  imprison  it.  Taken  in  connection  with  the  varied  tints 
of  the  canon  itself — red,  yellow,  orange,  white — the  dark  green  pines 
fringing  the  top,  and  the  bright  green  of  the  s[)r,'u'-nourished  moss  on 


THE    GRAND    CANON    AND    LOWER    FALLS    OF    THE   YELLOWSTONE. 

the  sides  of  "the  fall,  we  have  a  picture  of  almost  unequaled  magnificence 
and  grandeur.  It  is  a  scene  of  which  one  never  tires,  and  in  the  descrip- 
tion of  which  language  fails. 

The  Grand  Caiion  is  a  gorge  some  twenty  miles  in  length,  cut  in  a 
volcanic  plateau. .  It  has  a  depth  of  twelve  hundred  to  fifteen  hundred 
feet,  and  a  width  at  the  top  in  few  places  exceeding  a  half-mile.  The 
walls  are  precipices  or  inclined  at  a  fearful  angle.  The  river  flows  in  the 
sharp  notch  at  the  bottom.  Access  to  the  bottom  of  the  canon  is  to  be 
found  only  at  a  very  few  places,  and  in  those  the  climb  is  not  unattended 
with  dandier.     On  the  east  side  of  the  river  a  narrow  crevice  in  the 


356 


WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 


friable  volcanic  rock  affords  a  way  down  to  the  foot  of  the  fall,  where, 
if  the  visitor  desires  a  thorough  shower-bath  at  Nature's  hands,  he  can 
obtain  it.  Hot  sulphur-springs  are  found  in  the  greatest  abundance  at 
the  foot  and  on  the  slopes  of  the  caiion-walls,  adding  the  colors  of  their 
deposits  to  those  of  the  brilliant  volcanic  rocks.  Half-way  between 
the  two  falls  a  small  stream,  known  as  Cascade  Creek,  enters  the  river. 
Just  before  reaching  the  main  .stream,  this  creek  makes  a  beautiful 
cascade,  about  one  hundred  feet  in  height,  over  the  basaltic  pillars  which 
l:)order  the  river,  dashing  and  foaming  to  the  bottom  far  beneath. 


THE    WONDERFUL    ROCK    PLNNACLES,    YELLOWSTONE    RI\  EK 

Passing  around  the  cafion  of  the  Yellowstone  by  a  circuitous  trail, 
crossing  a  high  pass,  nearly  at  timber  line,  in  the  Washburn  Mountains, 
the  visitor  roaches  the  river  again  at  the  mouth  of  Tower  Creek,  a 
large  western  branch.  This,  like  most  of  the  tributaries  to  the  Yellow- 
stone in  this  neighborhood,  flows  at  a  much  higher  level  than  the  river, 
and  reaches  its  level  by  a  fall.  The  fall  on  this  stream  is,  in  itself  and 
its  surroundings,  particularly  fine.  Tearing  along  in  a  rapid  course,  it 
is  suddenly  contracted  between  two  tall  columns  of  volcanic  formations 
whence  it  leaps  over  a  precipice  in  an  unbroken  fall  of  one  hundred 


A   WONDERFUL    COUNTRY.  357 

and  thirty-two  feet,  into  a  deep,  dark,  gloomy  gorge,  where  the  sun- 
light never  penetrates.  The  walls  of  this  gorge  are  set  with  columns 
of  rock,  which  project  above  the  top  in  tall  needle-like  spires. 

This  is  a  land  of  streams  and  waterfalls.  On  each  of  the  three  forks 
of  Gardiner's  River,  on  Gibbon's  River,  and  the  main  Madison,  and  on 
Lewes'  Fork  of  the  Snake,  are  falls  well  worthy  of  the  attention  of  the 
lover  of  nature  in  her  wildest  moods.  It  is,  also,  a  land  of  lakes. 
From  the  summit  of  Mount  Sheridan,  the  topmost  peak  of  the  Red 
Mountains,  one  overlooks  a  country  diversified  by  mountains,  hills  and 
dales,  and  rolling  plateaus,  all  densely  covered  with  the  dark  black- 
green  of  coniferae.  In  this  magnificent  setting  he  sees  on  every  hand 
the  deep  blue-green  of  crystal  lakes  and  lakelets.  North  of  him 
Yellowstone  Lake. stretches  its  broad  expanse,  its  long  arms  extending 
far  inland,  and  holding  mountainous  promontories  in  its  grasp  ;  Shos- 
hone and  Lewis'  Lakes  to  the  north-west,  reflecting  the  rays  of  the 
afternoon  sun ;  Heart  Lake,  a  most  beautiful  gem,  is  at  his  feet ;  and, 
scattered  about  amid  the  primeval  forests,  are  innumerable  little  lakelets. 

Nor  are  these  all  the  beauties  or  wonders  of  the  Park.  The  miner- 
alogist finds  here  unsurpassable  treasures.  Nearly  all  the  varieties  of 
quartz  are  found  in  profusion,  and  silicified  wood  encumbers  the  ground. 
In  many  localities  forests  have  been  overflowed  by  streams  of  liquid 
rock,  or  overwhelmed  by  showers  of  volcanic  ashes  ;  and  the  forests 
thus  covered  have  been  gradually  changed,  particle  by  particle,  into 
silicified  wood,  crystalline  quartz,  amethyst,  and  other  like  products. 
Nature,  by  erosion,  has  exhumed  these  vegetable  Herculaneums,  and 
we  find  great  trunks  and  branches  of  trees  scattered  over  the  surface, 
or  standing  in  place,  or  projecting  in  bas-relief  from  the  faces  of  cliffs, 
but  all  changed  to  stone,  as  though  at  the  sight  of  a  Medusa's  snaky 
locks.     These  petrified  forms  are  of  the  most  marvelous  description. 

At  present  the  Park  is  not  easily  accessible  to  the  average  traveler. 
The  usual  route  from  the  east  is  via  the  Union  Pacific  and  the  Utah 
Northern  Railroads,  thence  reaching  Bozeman,  Montana,  by  a  long 
tedious  stage-ride  of  three  days  and  nights.  This  point  is  the  last 
settlement,  with  tlie  exception  of  a  few  ranches,  and  the  traveler  must 
henceforward  be  self-dependent.  He  must  buy  or  hire  saddle  animals 
to  carry  himself  and  party,  and  pack-animals  to  transport  provisions, 
tents,  mess-kit,  and  other  impedimenta.  He  must  carry  his  provisions 
and  reh'  upon  his  rifle  for  a  supply  of  meat.  Traveling  in  the  Park  is 
not  unattended  by  difficulties.  Heavy,  well-beaten  trails  lead  to  many 
localities  of  interest,  but  when  one  leaves  them  he  is  like  a  mariner 
upon  an  unknown  sea.  Not  only  is  the  country  rugged  and  somewhat 
mountainous,  but  it  is  so  densely  timbered  that  one  may  travel  for  days 


358  WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 

without  being  able  to  correct  his  "  dead  reckoning  "  by  the  sight  of  a 
single  landmark.  If  the  sun  disappear,  the  traveler  becomes  dependent 
upon  his  compass.  Moreover,  very  large  areas  of  country  are  covered 
not  only  with  a  living  growth  of  trees,  but  apparently  all  the  timber 
that  has  lived  and  died  there  since  the  flood  has  been  heaped  up,  like 
huge  jackstraws,  to  oppose  his  progress.  Immense  extents  of  country 
are  so  blocked  with  this  fallen  timber  as  to  be  totally  impassable. 
Again,  there  are  on  the  plateaus  and  in  the  valleys  great  areas  of  swamp 
which  are  almost  equally  impassable. 

THE   GREAT    FALLS    OF    THE    MISSOURL 

Near  Fort  Benton  the  river  apparently  tires  of  the  monotony  of  its 
course,  and,  after  a  few  preliminary  rapids,  it  enters  the  series  of  falls 
and  cataracts  which  are  known  as  the  "  Great  Falls."  There  are  five 
principal  cascades  :  the  first,  of  twenty-five  feet  fall,  abuts  three  miles 
below  the  mouth  of  Sun  River ;  the  second  nearly  three  miles  below 
this,  of  five  feet  eleven  inches  ;  and  immediately  below  it  the  third. 
Here,  between  high  banks,  a  ledge,  nearly  as  straight  as  if  formed  by 
art,  runs  obliquely  across  the  river,  and  over  it  the  waters  fall  forty-two 
feet  in  one  continuous  sheet  of  four  hundred  and  seventy  yards  in 
width.  Half  a  mile  below  this  is  the  fourth,  a  small  irregular  cascade 
of  about  twelve  feet  descent.  The  stream  then  hurries  on,  lashed  and 
churned  by  numerous  rapids,  about  five  miles  further,  when  it  precipi- 
tates itself  over  a  precipice  seventy-six  feet  high.  The  banks  are  high 
and  abrupt  on  both  sides,  with  deep  ravines  extending  into  the  prairie 
for  one  or  two  miles  both  above  and  below  it.  Below  the  falls  there  is 
a  succession  of  rapids,  which  become  less  and  less  frequent,  to  the 
mouth  of  Highwood  Creek,  gradually  disappearing  as  we  proceed. 

INACCESSIBLE    MOUNTAIN    PE.\KS. 

Turning  now  southward  again,  we  find  on  tlie  east  of  the  Upper 
Yellowstone  a  high  ragged  range,  extending  from  the  bend  of  the 
Yellowstone  southward  to  South  Pass.  Its  northern  portion  is  known 
as  the  Yellowstone  ;  its  southern  the  Wind  Ri\'er  Range.  The  latter 
separates  the  head-waters  of  Green  River,  a  fork  of  the  Colorado,  from 
those  of  the  Big  Horn.  It  is  one  of  the  most  rugged  ranges  on  the 
continent,  its  crest  being  a  line  of  .spires,  pinnacles,  needles,  and  over- 
hanging cliffs.  Its  peaks  range  from  thirteen  thousand  to  nearly 
fourteen  thousand  feet  in  height,  and  many  of  them  are  totally  inacces- 
sible except  to  creatures  with  wings.  There  is  but  one  pass  in  the 
range,  which  can  be  crossed  by  animals,  and  only  during  the  foui 
summer  months,  as  during  the  rest  of  the  year  it  is  choked  with  snow. 

In  the  year  1847,  Captain  J.  C.  Fremont,  in  command  of  an  exploring 
expedition,  succeeded,  after  three  days  of  severe  climbing,  in  scaling 


A    WONDERFUL   COUNTRY. 


859 


one  of  the  highest  peaks  of  this  chain,  a  mountain  thirteen  thousand 
five  hundred  and  seventy  feet  in  height.  This  peak  has  since  borne  his 
name.  Since  that  time  the  range  has  been  practically  untouched  by  the 
many  exploring  expeditions  which  have  traversed  the  West,  until  the 
"  Survey  of  the  Territories,"  under  Dr.  Hayden,  entered  this  field  in 
1877.  During  that  and  the  following  year  the  range  has  been  surveyed 
in  detail  by  this  organization.  Its  fastnesses  have  been  traversed  ;  its 
innermost  secrets  of  structure  unfolded.  Among  other  new  phenomena 
made  known  to  the  world,  the  existence  of  living  glaciers  in  the  rocky 


FREMONT    AND    HIS    EXPEDITION    IN    SEARCH    OF   THE    WONDERFUL. 

gorges  was  clearly  ascertained.  This  remarkable  fact  respecting  these 
mountains  of  the  United  States  was  demonstrated.  Several  small 
glaciers,  both  in  this  range,  and  in  the  Tetan  Range  further  westward, 
were  discovered.  They  are  the  ruins  of  glaciers  on  a  magnificent  scale 
which,  in  very  late  geologic  times,  this  range  sent  down  from  the  snow- 
capped peaks  far  out  into  the  Green  River  Basin.  To-day  we  see  their 
remains  in  the  form  of  great  lateral  and  terminal  moraines,  running  far 
up  the  mountain  slopes  and  skirting  each  caiion,  to  a  height  of  three 
thousand  feet  above  the  plain.  The  streams  pursue  devious  and  tumul- 
tuous courses  through,  over,  and  among  the  boulders  of  their  terminal 


360  WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 

moraines,  and  all  along  the  base  of  the  mountains  are  beautiful  crystal 
lakelets,  whose  beds  were  scooped  out  by  the  ceaseless  grinding  of  the 
great  ice-power. 

The  Snake,  or  Lewis  Fork  of  the  Columbia,  heads  in  the  Yellow- 
stone National  Park,  opposite  the  heads  of  the  Madison  and  Yellowstone 
Rivers.  Its  sources  are  in  beautiful  lakes,  embosomed  in  heavily 
wooded  hills.  Flowing  southward  it  soon  enters  a  mountainous 
country,  from  which  it  receives  several  large  tributaries.  It  washes  the 
east  base  of  the  Tetan  Range,  which  rears  its  rugged  Gothic  spires 
seven  thousand  feet  above  its  valley.  Turning  to  the  west,  the  river 
cuts  across  the  mountains  which  seek  to  check  its  course,  in  a  terrific 
gorge,  well  nigh  impassable.  On  the  west  side  of  these  mountains  it 
enters  upon  a  great  field  of  basalt,  a  great  volcanic  plain,  covered  with 
drifting  sand  and  seamed  with  crevasses  like  those  of  a  glacier.  This 
is  known  as  the  Snake  River  Plains.  In  its  course  across  and  around 
the  basalt  plain  it  is  rapid  and  tumultuous,  boiling  and  seething  along, 
its  bed  broken  by  boulders  and  ledges.  In  several  places  there  are 
noteworthy  falls.  The  upper  of  these  is  the  American  Fall,  at  a  point 
a  few  miles  below  the  mouth  of  the  Portneuf,  where  the  "  Mad  "  River» 
as  it  was  called  in  early  days,  leaps  over  a  wall  of  basalt  thirty  feet  in 
height,  thus  accounting  for  the  singular  name  given  to  it. 

THE  GRAND  NIAGARA  OF  THE  WEST. 

Some  distance  further  down  is  the  Shoshone  Fall,  by  far  the  greatest 
and  finest  on  the  river.  A  visitor  gives  us  this  fine  description  of  it: 
The  wall  of  the  gorge  opposite  us,  like  the  cliff  at  our  feet,  sank  in 
perpendicular  bluffs  nearly  to  the  level  of  the  river.  A  horizon  as 
level  as  the  sea  ;  a  circling  wall,  whose  sharp  edges  were  here  and 
there  battlemented  in  huge  fortress-like  masses  ;  a  broad  river,  smooth 
and  unruffled,  flowing  quietly  into  the  middle  of  the  scene,  and  then 
plunging  into  a  labyrinth  of  rocks,  tumbling  over  a  precipice  two  hun- 
dred feet  high,  and  flowing  westward  in  a  still  deep  current  to  disappear 
behind  a  black  promontory.  Dead  barrenness  is  the  whole  sentiment 
of  the  scene.  In  plan  the  fall  recurves  up-stream  in  a  deep  horseshoe, 
fesembling  the  outline  of  Niagara.  The  total  breadth  is  about  seven 
hundred  feet,  and  the  greatest  height  of  a  single  fall  about  one 
hundred  and  ninety.  The  whole  mass  of  the  fall  is  one  ever-varying 
sheet  of  spray.  In  the  early  spring,  when  swollen  by  the  rapidly 
melted  snows,  the  river  pours  over  with  something  of  the  volume  of 
Niagara.  There  are  no  rocks  at  the  base  of  the  fall.  The  sheet  of 
foam  plunges  almo.st  vertically  into  a  dark,  beryl-green,  lake-like 
expanse  of  the  river.  Immense  volumes  of  foam  roll  up  from  the 
cataract-base,  and,  whirling  about  in  the  eddying  winds,  rise  often  one 


361 


562  WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 

thousand  feet  into  the  air.     The  incessant  roar,  reinforced  by  a  thous- 
and echoes,  fills  the  canon. 

The  surrounding  desert  plains  extend  from  the  southern  extremity  of 
the  Bitter  Root  and  Salmon  River  Ranges  southward  to  the  Snake,  and 
from  Eastern  Idaho  nearly  to  its  western  boundary.  Their  surface  is 
"slightly  undulating,  broken  only  by  crevices,  and  covered  by  drifting 
sand,  or,  in  its  absence,  by  bare  rock  and  boulders.  The  sage  tree  is 
almost  its  sole  vegetable  product,  and  here  this  bush  attains  arborescent 
proportions,  growing  to  a  height  of  twelve  to  fifteen  feet,  with  trunks 
nearly  a  foot  in  diameter.  The  desert  has  little  water  upon  its  surface. 
The  streams  from  the  mountains  soon  disappear  in  crevices,  to  reappear 
and  disappear  perhaps  again,  meantime  flowing  beneath  the  basalt  floor 
in  subterranean  channels.  Near  the  middle  of  this  desert  are  three 
mountains,  standing  alone  and  detached  from  one  another,  the  "  Three 
Buttes."  Strange  objects  are  these  mountains,  rising  nearly  three 
thousand  feet  above  the  plain.  Of  their  structure  we  know  nothing,  as 
they  have  never  been  studied  by  the  geologist.  From  time  immemorial 
they  have  served  as  landmarks  to  the  traveler  on  these  pathless  wastes 
like  lighthouses  to  the  mariner,  placed  there  apparently  for  this  purpose. 
The  country  drained  by  the  Colorado  River  is  a  peculiar  region.  It 
is  a  country  of  plateaus  and  caiions,  the  plateaus  mainly  arid  and  sterile 
where  the  few  streams  flow  in  deep  gorges  far  below  the  surface. 

THE   WONDERFUL   CANONS    OF   THE   GREAT    WEST. 

Great  cliffs,  thousands  of  feet  in  height,  and  extending  like  huge  walls 
for  hundreds  of  miles,  change  the  level  of  the  country  at  a  single  step. 
Isolated  buttes  and  mesas  of  great  height  arc  scattered  over  the  plateaus, 
indicating  the  former  height  of  the  plain  of  which  they  formed  parts. 
The  landscape  everywhere,  away  from  the  river,  is  of  rock — cliffs  of 
rock,  tables  of  rock,  plateaus  of  rock,  terraces  of  rock,  crags  of  rock — 
ten  thousand  strangely  carved  forms.  Rocks  everywhere  and  no  \ege- 
tation  ;  no  soil ;  no  land.  When  speaking  of  these  rocks,  we  must  not 
conceive  of  piles  of  boulders,  or  heaps  of  fragments,  but  a  whole  land 
of  naked  rock,  with  giant  forms  carved  on  it ;  cathedral-shaped  buttes, 
towering  hundreds  or  thousands  of  feet;  cliffs  that  cannot  be  scaled, 
and  caiion  walls  that  shrink  the  river  into  insignificance,  with  vast, 
hollow  domes  and  tall  pinnacles,  and  shafts  set  on  the  verge  overhead, 
and  all  highly  colored — buff,  gray,  red,  brown  and  chocolate  ;  never 
lichened,  never  moss-covered,  but  bare  and  often  polished. 

Nearly  every  watercourse,  whether  perennial  or  not,  is  a  caiion  ;  a 
narrow  valley,  with  precipitous  walls,  often  of  enormous  height.  In 
many  cases  these  caiions  are  so  numerous  that  they  cut  the  plateau  into 
shreds — a  mere  skeleton  of  a  country.     The  extent  and  magnitude  of 


A    WONDERFUL   COUNTRY.  363 

the  system  of  canons  in  that  direction  is  astounding.  The  plateau  is 
cut  into  shreds  by  these  gigantic  chasms,  and  resembles  a  vast  ruin. 
Belts  of  country,  miles  in  width,  have  been  swept  away,  leaving  only 
isolated  mountains  standing  in  the  gap  ;  fissures  so  profound  that  the 
eye  cannot  penetrate  their  depths  are  separated  by  walls  whose  thick- 
ness one  can  almost  span  ;  and  slender  spires,  that  seem  tottering  on 
their  base,  shoot  up  a  thousand  feet  from  vaults  below.  But  few  of 
these  caiions  contain  water  throughout  the  year.  Most  of  them  are 
dry  at  all  times  excepting  for  a  few  days  in  the  early  spring,  or  for  a  few 
minutes  or  hours  at  most  after  a  heavy  shower.  It  is  a  characteristic 
of  western  North  America,  as  of  all  arid  countries,  that  the  streams, 
away  from  their  sources  in  the  mountains,  lose  water,  rather  than  gain 
it,  in  traversing  the  lower  country.  The  dry  atmosphere  and  the  thirsty 
soil  absorb  it,  and,  in  very  many  cases,  large  streams  entirely  disappear 
in  this  way.  This  is  the  case  to  a  great  extent  in  the  plateau  country, 
and  still  more  so  in  the  Great  Basin,  where  these  are  the  only  outlets  to 
the  drainage.     The  demand  is  more  than  equal  to  the  supply. 

HOW  THE  STRANGE  CHASMS  ARE  PRODUCED. 

A  few  words  will  suffice  to  sketch  the  manner  in  which  the  climate 
has  acted  in  producing  these  strange  and  unique  effects.  The  great  de- 
gree of  aridity  of  the  atmosphere,  and  the  slight  rainfall,  coupled  with 
its  sudden  explosive  character,  render  plant-life  very  limited  in  amount. 
The  soil,  having  little  or  no  protection  against  the  sudden  floods,  is 
washed  away  as  fast,  or  nearly  as  fast,  as  it  is  formed  ;  or,  in  other 
words,  transportation  nearly  or  quite  keeps  pace  with  disintegration. 
The  rains,  coming  as  they  always  do  in  floods,  run  immediately  off  the 
bare  rock,  or  over  and  through  the  thin  sandy  soil,  sweeping  it  with 
them,  and,  collecting  in  the  little  runs  with  incredible  rapidity,  rush 
down  them  in  great  body  and  with  great  velocity,  sweeping  everything 
before  them.  The  waters  are  turbid  and  thick  with  sediment,  coarse 
and  sharp-edged  from  the  rapid  cutting  of  the  rocks.  It  is  this  detritus 
which  Dame  Nature  uses  as  her  chisel  in  carving  caiions,  cliffs,  buttes, 
and  the  other  quaint  and  curious  forms  which  one  meets  in  this  strange 
land.  A  clear  stream,  whatever  may  be  its  velocity,  has  little  erosive 
power ;  but  put  these  tools'  in  its  possession,  give  it  the  quantity  of 
coarse  sand  and  gravel  which  the  Colorado  and  its  tributaries  always 
hold  in  suspension,  and  its  cutting  power  is  enormous.  The  difference 
in  climatic  conditions  between  the  district  under  discussion  and  the 
plains  is  one  of  degree  only,  but  it  is  sufficient  to  produce  very  marked 
differences  in  the  surface.  Wherever  the  climatic  conditions  are  such 
that  soil  can  be  formed  and  be  covered  with  vegetation,  there  cafions 
-cannot  be  produced,  other  than  as  gaps  for  the  passage  of  streams 


364  WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 

through  mountain  ranges ;  but,  in  proportion  as  the  climate  becomes 
more  arid,  so  will  the  country  approach,  in  its  physical  features,  a 
canon  land,  and  be  ripped  and  torn  by  deep  fissures. 

While  every  stream  in  this  region  flows  in  a  caiion — and  there  are 
thousands  of  canons  which  contain  no  water  whatever — the  most  re- 
markable succession  of  these  clefts  is  that  on  the  main  stream  of  the 
region,  the  Colorado,  and  its  main  branch  the  Green.  Here,  for  a 
thousand  miles,  the  river  is  almost  entirely  below  the  surface,  and  is  deep 
in  the  bowels  of  the  earth,  rolling  and  tumbling  alonj,-  underground. 

THE  GREAT  CANON.S  OF  THE  COLORADO  AND  GREEN. 

The  Green  River,  on  leaving  the  Wind  River  Mountains,  traverses 
southward  a  great  plain  or  valley,  known  as  the  Green  River  Basin,  at 
present  a  waste,  but  capable  of  being  reclaimed,  in  large  part,  by  irri- 
gation. At  the  foot  of  this  valley  it  meets  the  Uintah  range,  trending^ 
at  right  angles  to  it.  This  range  it  traverses  by  a  devious  course,  cut- 
ting gorges  of  enormous  depth.  On  emerging  from  these  caiions,  it 
enters  another  valley,  quite  similar  to  that  above,  but  smaller,  and 
known  as  the  Uintah  Basin.  Traversing  this,  it  gradually  enters  a 
canon  in  sedimentary  rocks.  These  beds,  and  the  surface  of  the  coun- 
try with  them,  inclines  at  a  very  low  angle  to  the  north,  so  that  the 
stream  in  its  southern  progress  is  constantly  getting  deeper  below  the 
surface,  until  the  walls  have  risen  to  a  height  of  more  than  three  thou- 
sand feet  above  the  river.  At  this  point  the  walls  break  off  abruptly, 
in  a  direction  transverse  to  that  of  the  river,  leaving  a  small  valley  at 
the  foot  of  the  cliff 

Lower  down  there  follow  two  similar  caiions,  but  less  in  height  and 
length.  These  inclined  plateaus,  sloping  to  the  north  and  breaking  off 
abruptly  on  the  south,  extend  east  and  west  to  the  bases  of  the  ranges 
which  border  this  region,  that  is,  across  the  plateau  country.  Conceive 
of  three  geographic  terraces,  many  hundred  feet  high,  and  many  miles 
in  width,  forming  a  great  stairway,  from  "the  laud  of  standing  rocks" 
below,  to  the  Uintah  Valley  above. 

Further  on,  the  river  runs  again  into  caiions,  as  if  afraid  of  the  sun- 
light. There  is  here  another  inclined  plateau,  sloping  toward  the  north, 
and  in  it  the  river  burrows  deeper  and  deeper,  until,  at  the  mouth  of 
the  Colorado  Chiquito,  it  is  three  thousand,  eight  hundred  feet  below 
the  surface.  This  is  Marble  Caiion.  The  river  has  turned,  and  at  the 
foot  of  this  caiion  or — for  this  is  continuous  with  the  Grand  Caiion — at 
the  foot  of  this  portion,  the  general  course  of  the  river  is  west.  At  this 
point  it  is  crossed  by  the  Paria  fold,  in  which  the  throw  is  to  the  west, 
thus  suddenly  increasing  the  depth  of  the  caiion  by  adding  to  the  ele- 
vation of  the  country.     Further  down  the  river  is  met  another  elevation: 


A    WONDERFUL    COUNTRY. 


3G5 


'^■^m 


s^ 


running  across  the  river's  course.  The  canon  here  attains  its  maximum 
depth,  whicl'i  is  nearly  seven  thousand  feet.  This  is  not  in  a  single 
slope  from  the  water ;  a  part  of  it  is  in  one  or  two  benches,  which 
stand  back  one,  two,  or  three  miles  from  the  edge  of  the  lower  cliffs. 
The  throw  of  the 
Paria  fold  has 
brought  to  the 
surface  the  un- 
derlying gran  - 
ite,  and  the  low 
er  cliffs  of  the 
Grand  Canon 
are  of  this  rock. 
The  walls 
now  are  mor'^ 
than  a  mile  i: 
height,  a  verti- 
cal distance  dif- 
ficult to  appre- 
ciate. A  thou- 
sand feet  of  thi'^ 
is  up  througli 
granite  crags, 
then  steep 
slopes  and  per- 
pendicular cliffs 
rise,  one  above 
another,  to  the 
summit.  The 
gorge  is  black 
and  narrow  be- 
low, red  and  ^ 
gray  and  flaring 
above,  with 
crags  and  angu 
lar  projection 
on  the  walls, 
which,  cut  in 
many  places  by  '"^  remarkable  scene  in  the  great  canon. 

side  caiions,  seem  to  be  a  \-ast  wilderness  of  rocks.  Down  in  these 
grand  gloomy  depths  we  glide,  ever  listening,  for  the  mad  waters 
keep  up  their  roar ;  ever  watching,  ever  peering  ahead,  for  the  narrow 


'4 


366 


WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 


canon  is  winding,  and  the  river  is  closed  in,  so  that  we  can  see  but  a 
few  hundred  yards,  and  what  there  may  be  below  we  know  not ;  but 
we  listen  for  falls,  and  watch  for  rocks,  or  stop  now  and  then,  in  the  bay 
of  a  recess,  to  admire  the  gigantic  scenery.  And  ever  as  we  go  there 
is  some  new  pinnacle  or  tower,  some  crag  or  peak,  some  distant  view  of 
the  upper  plateau,  some  strange-shaped  rock,  or  some  deep  narrow  side 

caiion.  Then  we  come  to 
another  broken  fall,  which 
appears  more  difficult  than 
the  one  we  ran  this  morning. 
Clouds  are  playing  in  the 
huge  chasms.  Sometimes 
they  roll  down  in  great  mass- 
es, filling  the  gorge  with 
gloom  ;  sometimes  they  hang 
above,  from  wall  to  wall,  and 
cover  the  caiion  with  a  roof 
of  impending  storm  ;  and  we 
can  peer  long  distances  up 
and  down  this  caiion  corridor, 
with  its  cloud-roof  overhead, 
its  walls  of  black  granite,  and 
its  river  bright  with  the  sheen 
of  broken  waters.  Then  a 
gust  of  wind  sweeps  down  a 
side  gulch,  and,  making  a  rift 
in  the  clouds,  reveals  the  blue 
heavens,  and  a  stream  of  sun- 
light pours  in.  Then  the 
clouds  drift  away  into  dis- 
tance, and  hang  around  crags 
and  peaks,  and  pinnacles  and 
towers  and  walls,  and  cover 
them  with  a  mantle  that  lifts 
from  time  to  time  and  sets 
them  all  in  sharp  relief.  Then  baby  clouds  creep  out  of  side  caiions, 
glide  around  points,  and  creep  back  again  into  more  distant  gorges. 
Then,  clouds  set  in  strata  cross  the  caiion,  with  intervening  vista-views 
to  cliffs  and  rocks  beyond.  The  clouds  are  children  of  the  heavens, 
and  when  they  play  among  the  rocks  they  lift  them  to  the  region 
above. 

The  dangers  of  the  navigation  in  rivers,  like  the  Colorado,  winding 


THE  MONUMENT  ROCK GRAND  CANON. 


A   WONDERFUL   COUNTRY. 


36T 


through  a  series  of  canons,  are  naturally  often  of  a  very  formidable 
character.     A  member  of  the  Government  Surveying  Expedition,  who 
ran  many  risks  in  his  exploration  of  these  regions,  had  on  one  occasion 
to  navigate  a  rapid  in  the  Grand  Caiion  at  the  imminent  peril  of  his  life. 
About  eleven  o'clock,  he  writes,  we  hear  a  great  roar  ahead,  and  approach 
it  very  cautiously.     The  sound  grows  louder  and  louder  as  we  run,  and 
at  last  we  find  ourselves  above  a  long,  broken  fall,  with  ledges  and  pin- 
nacles of  rock  obstructing  the  river.     There  is  a  steep  descent  and  the 
rushing  waters  break  into  great  waves  on  the  rocks,  and  lash  themselves 
into  a  mad,  white  foam.     We  can  land  just  above,  but  there  is  no  foot- 
hold on  either  side  by  which  we  can  make  a  portage.     It  is  nearly  one 
thousand  feet  to  the  top  of  the  granite,  so  it  will  be  impossible  to  carry 
our  boats  around,  though  we  can  climb  to     ^^^^sf        '  "     ^^^^5^ 
the  summit  up  a  side  gulch,  and,  passing 
along  a  mile   or  two,  can  descend  to  the 
river.     This  we  find  on   examination,  but 
such  a  portage  would  be  impracticable  for  g 
us,  and  we  must  run  the  rapid  or  abandon 
the  river.     There  is  no  hesitation.     We  step 
into  our  boats,  push  off,  and  away  we  go ; 
first  on  smooth  but  swift  water,  then  we 
strike  a  glassy  wave  and    ride  to  its  top, 
down  again  into  the  trough,  up  again  on 
a  higher  wave,  and  down  and  up  on  waves 
higher  and  still  higher,  until  we  strike  one 
just  as  it  curls  back,  and  a  breaker  rolls 
over  our  little    boat.     Still    on  we  speed; 
shooting  past  projecting  rocks,  till  the  little         ^^' 
boat  is  caught  in  a  whirlpool,  and   spun    pulpit  rock,  echo  canon. 
round  several  times.      At  last  we  pull  out  again  into  the  stream,  and 
now  the  other  boats  have  passed  us.     The  open  compartment  of  the 
"  Emma  Dean  "  is  filled  with  water,  and  every  breaker  rolls  over  us. 
Hurled  back  from  a  rock — now   on  this   side,    now  on  that — we  are 
carried  into  an  eddy,  in  which  we  struggle  for  a  few  minutes,  and  are 
then  out  again,  the  breakers  still  rolling  over  us.     Our  boat  is  unman- 
ageable, but  she  cannot  sink,  and  we  drift  down  another  hundred  yards 
through  breakers — how,  we  scarcely  know.     We  find  the  other  boats 
have  turned  into  an  eddy  at  the  foot  of  the   fall,  and  are  waiting  to 
catch  us  as  we  come,  for  the  men  have  seen  that  our  boat  is  swamped. 
They  push  out  as  we  come  near,  and  pull  us  in  against  the  wall.     We 
bail  our  boat,  and  on  we  go  again. 

This  region  is  not  all  a  desert.     The  high  plateaus  must  be  excepted 


368 


WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 


from  the  general  formation,  but  as  these  are  in  the  immediate  vicinity 
-of  the  mountains,  and  are  of  very  Hmited  extent,  they  can  scarcely  be 
considered  as  belonging  to  the  plateau  region.  On  these  the  fauna  and 
flora  of  the  mountain  region  are  found  in  abundance,  dependent  in 
large  measure  upon  the  elevation.  As  we  go  down  into  the  true  caiion 
country,  the  scene  changes.  Aspens  give  place  to  piiion  pine  and 
cedar ;  the  grasses,  fruits  and  flowers,  to  sage,  cactus  and  bare  rock ; 
the  streams  become  confined  in  rocky  caiions,  turn  muddy  and  warm, 
and  gradually  disappear.  The  game  changes — deer  and  elk  are  re- 
placed by  the  coyote,  while  rattlesnakes  and  centipedes  assert  their  pro- 
prietorship. Among  the  buttes 
on  the  lower  terraces,  rattle- 
snakes crawl,  lizards  glide  over 
the  rocks,  tarantulas  stagger 
about,  and  red  ants  build  their 
playhouse  mountains.  Some- 
times rabbits  are  seen,  and 
wolves  prowl  in  their  quest ; 
but  the  desert  has  no  bird  of 
sweet  song  and  no  beast  of 
noble  mien. 

What  is  known  as  the  Moun- 
tain Cross  is  one  of  the  most 
remarkable  objects  in  this  re- 
gion of  wonders.  The  cliffs 
are  very  rugged,  and  are  as 
barren  of  vegetation  as  if  they 
were  icebergs.  One  bold  peak 
rises  above  its  inferior  neigh- 
^^3^*;,?vV/^  bors,  shooting  aloft  toward 
the  sky.  By  some  strange 
action  of  forces  it  has  been 
marked  at  the  very  summit  with  the  exact  figure  of  a  cross.  There 
stands  the  rugged  peak,  cold  and  silent,  often  wreathed  in  its  far 
grandeur  with  drifting  clouds  and  mist,  and  through  the  rifts  made  by 
the  winds  that  sweep  these  stately  peaks  may  be  seen  the  striking 
figure  which  has  given  a  name  to  the  mountain,  and  made  it  the 
wonder  of  every  beholder. 

We  come  now  to  the  singular  depression  which  characterizes  Utah. 
Let  us  for  a  moment  take  a  bird's-eye  view  of  the  great  inland  basin 
of  which  Salt  Lake  Valley  forms  only  a  part.  We  shall  find  that  what 
is  termed  the  Great  Basin  of  the  West  comprises  the  vast  area  inclosed 


SINGULAR    PEAK    OF 


CONGLOMERATE. 


NATURE'S    WONDER THE    HOLY    CROSS    IN    COLORADO. 

24  nm 


370  WONDERS    OF    EXPLORATION    AND    ADVENTURE. 

by  the  Wahsatch  Mountains  on  the  east  and  the  Sierra  Nevada  on  the 
west ;  the  crest  or  water-divide  of  the  Columbia  on  the  north,  and  that 
of  the  Colorado  on  the  south.  We  shall  also  observe  that  this  great 
region  has  no  visible  outlet ;  that  it  is  composed  of  a  multitude  of 
smaller  basins  or  valleys,  each  of  which  has  its  little  lakes,  springs  and 
watercourses,  their  surplus  water  either  evaporating  or  sinking  beneath 
the  surface.  If  we  examine  the  elevations  in  this  region,  we  observe 
a  Avonderful  uniformity  in  the  surface  of  the  valleys,  and  find  that  none 
of  them  are  much  above  the  level  of  the  waters  of  Great  Salt  Lake. 
It  is  probable  that  a  fresh-water  lake  once  occupied  all  this  immense 
basin;  that  the  smaller  ranges  of  mountains  were •  scattered  over  it  as 
isolated  islands,  their  summits  projecting  above  the  surface ;  that  the 
waters  have  gradually  and  slowly  passed  away  by  evaporation,  and  the 
terraces  are  left  to  reveal  certain  oscillations  of  level  and  the  steps  of 
progress  towards  the  present  order  of  things ;  and  that  the  briny 
waters  have  concentrated  in  those  lake-basins  which  have  no  outlet. 

The  Great  Basin  is  a  collection  of  smaller  basins ;  each,  in  cases 
where  it  has  any  drainage  whatever,  with  its  own  stream  or  streams ; 
its  sink,  which,  in  cases  where  sufficient  water  is  brought  in,  develops 
into  lakes,  marshy  swamps,  and  the  like.  Those  lakes  which  have  no 
outlet  are  salt ;  those  which  communicate  with  others  lower  down  are, 
of  course,  fresh.  The  lakes  of  the  Basin  are  mainly  disposed  in  three 
groups :  one  on  the  east  and  west  sides  of  the  Basin  respectively,  under 
the  shadow  of  the  limiting  ranges,  and  one  in  the  northern  part.  The 
principal  member  of  the  eastern  group  is  the  Great  Salt  Lake,  which 
receives  most  of  the  drainage  from  the  Wahsatch  Mountains.  It  is 
almost  an  inland  sea,  having  an  area  at  present  of  two  thousand  three 
hundred  and  sixty  square  miles.  It  is  very  shallow,  having  a  mean 
depth  of  but  four  or  five  fathoms. 

There  are  within  the  Great  Basin  two  valleys  which  are  remarkable 
as  lying  below  the  level  of  the  sea.  One  of  these,  in  Eastern  California, 
is  known  as  Death  Valley,  from  the  number  of  persons  who  have 
miserably  perished  there  from  thirst.  Parts  of  this  valley  are  far  below 
the  sea-level.  It  is  a  desert  valley,  lying  between  two  of  the  charac- 
teristic ranges  of  the  Basin,  known  as  the  Amargoza  and  the  Panamint 
Ranges,  which  rise  a  quarter  of  a  mile  above  its  level.  There  is  no 
water  in  the  whole  extent  of  this  valley — nothing  but  bare  rock  and 
shifting  sand,  if  we  except  a  few  cacti  and  a  little  stunted  sage.  In  the 
summer,  the  sun's  rays,  pouring  down  on  the  bare  rocks,  make  the 
heat  intolerably  intense,  and  increase  the  pangs  of  thirst  to  the  unfort- 
unate traveler.  Few  persons  have  succeeded  in  crossing  this  terrible 
place,  though  many  have  attempted  it. 


A    WONDERFUL    COUNTRY. 


371 


The  sect  of  recent  origin  which  has  awakened  the  greatest  curiosity 
and  criticism  is  unquestionably  the  Mormons,  or  "  Latter-Day  Saints," 
settled  on  the  shores  of  the  Great  Salt  Lake  in  Utah,  where  they  have 
converted  the  wilderness  into  a  smiling  garden,  and  set  up  a  State 
within  the  State.  Fanatical  enthusiasm,  theocratic  combined  with 
democratic  institutions,  polygamy  not  merely  permitted  but  openly 
preached,  gross  materialism  side  by  side  with  belief  in  the  Bible,  very 
remarkable  successes  wherever  they  have  settled,  while  the  leaders 
themselves  are  animated  by  questionable  motives — all  these  circum- 
stances have  long  attracted  to  the  young  State  rising  by  the  Salt  Lake 
amidst  the  Cordilleras  the  earnest  attention  of  all  interested  in  the 
affairs  of  the  New  World,  and  have  been  the  occasion  of  legislation. 

Joseph  Smith,  founder  of 
Mormonism,  was  the  son  of 
a  farmer  of  Sharon,  Windsor 
County,  Vermont.  When 
a  comparatively  young  man, 
then  residing  in  western  New 
York,  he  began  to  surround 
himself  with  followers,  who 
gave  out  that  he  was  a  prophet 
sent  of  God,  or  rather  a  second 
Messiah.  In  order  to  support 
his  pretensions  with  the 
necessary  mystifications,  he 
produced  certain  golden  plates 
professing  to  contain  the  laws 
and  records  directly  dictated 
by  God  Himself  Six  bronze 
plates  were  found  in  the  State 

of  Illinois  in  1843,  which  are  curious  mormox  characters. 

said  by  old  Mormons  to  closely  reproduce  the  strange  characters  and 
resemble  the  original  plates  of  the  Book  of  Mormon.  He  further  pre- 
tended that  he  had  been  enabled  to  decipher  these  records  by  means 
of  an  instrument  revealed  to  him  in  a  vision.  The  plates  were  said  to 
have  been  written  soon  after  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  by  Mormon, 
a  Jewish  prophet,  and  by  him  brought  to  America,  where  they  were 
afterwards  buried.  Smith  selected  twelve  apostles,  and  by  means  of 
pretended  miracles  and  many  fresh  revelations  soon  attracted  a  large 
number  of  the  curious,  many  of  whom  became  believers. 

Thenceforward  he  was  on  very  familiar  terms  with  such  beings  as 
angels,  spirits  and  devils ;  but  can  only  relate  one  interview  with  Jesus 


,|^M 


372  WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 

Christ.  Being  at  work  among  the  neighboring  farmers  meanwhile,  and 
meeting  other  lads  in  a  social  way,  he  spoke  of  his  peculiar  privileges 
quite  often,  and  became  in  consequence  an  object  of  general  ridicule. 
Finally,  in  September,  1826,  the  angel  conducted  him  to  the  Hill 
Cumorah — known  to  the  citizens  of  Manchester,  Ontario  county,  New 
York,  as  the  Big  Hill — and- there  the  chest  and  the  plates  were  un- 
covered. Later  revelations  add  that  there  was  a  marvelous  display  of 
celestial  machinery,  devils  struggling  with  angels  to  prevent  the  work ; 
and  that  the  devils  were  captured  and  compelled  to  file  in  procession 
before  him  so  he  could  know  them  thereafter.  To  this  day,  the  common 
explanation  among  the  Mormons  of  any  opposition  to  the  priesthood 
is,  "  It's  the  work  of  the  devil." 

THE    ASTOUNDING    MORMON    REVELATION. 

The  plates  were  of  the  thickness  of  tin,  bound  together  like  a  book, 
fastened  at  one  side  by  three  rings  which  run  through  the  whole,  form- 
ing a  volume  about  six  inches  thick.  The  record  was  engraved  on  the 
plates  in  "  reformed  Egyptian  "  characters,  consisting  of  "  the  language 
of  the  Jews  and  the  writing  of  the  Egyptians."  In  the  same  box  with 
the  plates  were  found  two  stones,  "  transparent  and  clear  as  crystal,  the 
Urim  and  Thummim,  used  by  seers  in  ancient  times,  the  instruments 
of  revelations  of  things  distant,  past  and  future."  When  the  news  of 
this  discovery  spread  abroad,  the  Prophet  was  the  sport  of  lies,  slanders 
and  mobs,  and  vain  attempts  to  suppress  him,  but  many  were  credulous, 
became  his  followers,  and  emigrated  with  him  to  Ohio. 

Driven  from  the  State  of  Ohio,  the  Mormons  pitched  their  tents  in 
the,  at  that  time,  still  uncultivated  district  of  Nauvoo,  "  the  beautiful," 
on  the  banks  of  the  Mississippi,  in  Illinois.  Here  they  increased 
rapidly,  and  even  began  to  erect  a  vast  temple,  large  enough  to  contain 
the  whole  people.  Polygamy  was  already  laid  to  the  charge  of  Smith's 
adherents,  together  with  many  other  unpopular  in.stitutions,  exciting 
the  ill-feeling  and  antipathy  of  the  people  on  both  sides  of  the 
Mississippi.  Soon  another  emigration  took  place,  the  Mormons  this 
time  locating  in  Utah,  a  Territory  of  many  singular  advantages  and 
capable  of  vast  development  and  cultivation. 

Salt  Lake  City  has  grown  rapidly,  and  it  must  be  admitted  that 
Brigham  Young,  Joseph  Smith's  successor,  proved  himself  to  be  an 
able  administrator.  He  saw  the  possibility  of  interference  on  the  part 
of  the  Government  in  the  affairs  of  Utah,  and  had  not  been  long  in  the 
Territory  when,  learning  that  the  Pacific  Railroad  was  an  assured  fact, 
he  began  to  contemplate  another  removal  of  his  polygamous  com- 
munity. Meanwhile  the  city  at  Salt  Lake  grew  to  large  proportions. 
Wide    streets  intersect  the  town,   stores    and    various    manufacturing 


A    WONDERFUL    COUNTRY. 


373 


establishments  have  been  erected,  and  an  appearance  of  business 
characterizes  the  place.  A  principal  object  of  interest  is  the  great 
Morrnon  Tabernacle,  the  immense  building  capable  of  holding  ten 
thousand  people,  where  the  faithful,  led  by  their  prophet  and  elders, 


!J 


^llillililli 


assemble  for  worship.     Near  it  stands  the  Endowment  House,  which  is 
occupied  by  various  offices — a  plain  and  unpretentious  structure. 

The  surface  configuration  of  Utah  is  a  great  depression  in  a  mountain 
land,  a  trough,  so  to  speak,  elevated  above  sea-level ;  subtended  on  all 


874  WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 

sides  by  mountain  ranges,  and  subdivided  by  transverse  ranges  ;  in  the 
geologic  age,  an  inland  sea,  in  aboriginal  times  the  retreat  of  the  most 
abject  savages — long  a  region  of  misconception  and  fable — then  the 
chosen  home  of  a  strange  religion,  and  but  yesterday  found  to  be  of  use 
and  interest  to  the  civilized  world.  Leaving  the  mountain  ranges  which 
bound  the  Great  Basin,  there  is  a  general  breaking  down,  so  to  speak, 
towards  the  interior  ;  few  of  these  ridges  present  regular  slopes,  but  arc- 
formed  of  acute  and  angular  cappings,  superimposed  upon  flatter  prisons; 
and  frequently  after  ascending  two-thirds  from  the  base,  the  upper  part 
becomes  wall-like  and  insurmountable.  Of  these  peaks  or  terminal 
headlands,  the  most  noted  are  the  Twin  Peaks,  south-east  of  Salt  Lake 
City,  which  are  a  wonder  worth  a  journey  to  see. 

The  Salt  Lake  Basin,  including  man\' adjacent  and  connecting  valleys, 
was  evidently  an  inland  sea,  as  shown  by  the  "  bench  formation,"  a  sys- 
tem of  water-marks  along  the  mountains,  points  of  successive  subsidence 
of  the  waters  ;  while  many  of  the  detached  mountain  peaks  were  as 
evidently  islands,  similar  to  those  now  rising  above  the  surface  of  the 
lake.  According  to  some,  the  dry  land  was  formed  by  successive  up- 
heavals ;  according  to  others,  by  ages  of  evaporation. 

Here,  thousands  of  years  ago,  was  an  extraordinary  race  of  animals, 
as  evinced  by  the  geologic  discoveries  of  recent  date.  The  remains  of 
extinct  tribes  that  traveled  the  water  and  swept  on  strong  wing  through 
the  air,  are  among  the  most  remarkable  relics  ever  brought  to  light. 
From  these  we  can  form  some  idea  of  the  denizens  of  this  vast  and 
marvelous  region  ages  before  the  western  world  was  the  dream  of  the 
navigator.  Animal  life  took  on  the  most  extraordinary  shapes  and 
appearances,  and  if  it  could  be  reproduced  in  reality,  as  it  is  by  the 
pencil  of  the  geologist,  the  world  would  stand  in  profound  amazement 
at  the  spectacle,  and  the  great  changes  in  the  animal  kingdom. 

IMPOSING    MOUNTAINS    AND    RIVERS    OF    ICE. 

Turning  our  attention  now  to  the  Pacific  Ranges,  we  come  to  objects 
of  great  interest  and  scenes  of  remarkable  grandeur.  Mount  Baker 
rises  before  us,  ten  thousand  five  hundred  feet  above  the  sea-level,  and 
near  it  stands  Sherman  Peak,  about  the  same  height.  The  summit  of 
Sherman  Peak,  a  steep  icy  cone,  which  can  be  reached  only  by  hewing 
steps  in  the  ice,  presents  a  fllat  surface,  its  snowy  mantle  unruffled  by  a 
single  rocky  protuberance.  At  the  foot  of  Sherman  Peak,  .some  distance 
from  Mount  Baker,  lies  the  crater,  its  blackened  walls  here  and  there 
colored  by  sulphur.  Through  a  fissure  in  the  side  of  this  crater  pro- 
digious masses  of  lava  have  been  poured  forth,  the  sulphurous  odor, 
combined  with  the  smoke  and  absence  of  snow,  clearly  showing  that 
the  fires  still  slumber  in  the  bosom  of  the  mountain.     The  Lava  Beds, 


375 


376  WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 

renowned  as  the  locality  of  the  Modoc  troubles,  are  curious  formations 
of  volcanic  deposits,  rocky  in  appearance,  and  sometimes  highly  elevated, 
with  immense  arches  opening  through  them.  Mount  Rainier  is  four 
feet  higher  than  Mount  Shasta,  and  consequently  the  most  elevated 
point  in  the  Cascade  Range  of  the  States.  It  has  a  glacier  ten  miles  in 
length  by  five  broad,  many  others  of  a  like  character  being  elsewhere 
found  in  this  range.  That  glaciers  really  exist  in  the  giant  mountains 
of  the  Pacific  States  had  already  been  ascertained  by  the  late  Lieutenant 
A.  von  Kantz  some  twenty  years  ago,  when,  on  attempting  to  scale 
Mount  Rainier,  he  found  his  way  barred  by  large  glaciers.  The  land 
east  of  the  Scott  Mountains,  consequently  in  the  direction  of  the  northern 
spurs  of  the  Sierra  Nevada,  comprises  a  broad,  volcanic  plain,  here  and 
there  broken  by  considerable  mountain  chains.  Above  the  main  plain 
itself,  at  an  elevation  of  nearly  fifteen  thousand  feet  above  the  sea,  towers 
Mount  Shasta,  the  solitary  cone  of  an  enormous  extinct  volcano,  lying 
almost  exactly  in  the  line  of  the  axis  of  the  Sierra  Nevada.  At  its  foot 
are  grouped  hundreds  of  little  volcanic  hills,  which,  however,  pass  almost 
unnoticed  beneath  the  shadow  of  the  great  peak.  The  volcanic  plain 
is  partly  wooded  and  partly  overgrown  with  grass  and  wild  sage.  But 
in  whatever  direction  we  go,  the  one  central  point  in  the  landscape  is 
the  great  cone  of  Mount  Shasta.  Its  solid,  snow-capped  peak,  its  stu- 
pendous elevation,  the  pale  gray  or  rosy  tints  of  its  lava  fields,  and  the 
dark,  wooded  belt  encircling  it  far  above  the  numerous  satellites  at  its 
base,  impart  to  this  imposing  mountain  a  grandeur  scarcely  equaled  by 
any  other  elevation  in  the  New  World. 

THE    FAR-FAMED   YOSEMITE    VALLEY. 

The  Yosemite  Valley  is  nearly  in  the  centre  of  the  State  of  Cali- 
fornia north  and  south,  and  just  midway  between  the  east  and  west 
bases  of  the  Sierras,  here  a  little  over  seventy  miles  wide.  The  valley 
is  a  nearly  level  area  about  six  miles  in  length,  and  from  half  a  mile  to 
a  mile  in  width,  and  sunken  almost  a  mile  in  perpendicular  depth  below 
the  general  level  of  the  adjacent  region.  It  may  be  roughly  likened  to 
a  gigantic  trough  hollowed  in  the  mountains,  nearly  at  right  angles  to 
their  regular  trend.  This  trough  is  quite  irregular,  hax-ing  several 
re-entering  angles  and  square  recesses,  let  back,  as  it  were,  into  its 
sides ;  still  a  general  north-east  by  easterly  direction  is  maintained  in 
the  depression,  until  we  arrive  near  its  upper  end,  where  it  turns 
sharply,  at  right  angles  almost,  and  soon  divides  into  three  branches, 
through  either  of  which  we  may,  going  up  a  .series  of  gigantic  steps, 
as  it  were,  ascend  to  the  general  level  of  the  Sierra.  Down  each  of 
these  branches,  or  canons,  descend  streams,  forks  of  the  Merced,  com- 
ing down  the  steps  in  a  series  of  .stupendous  waterfalls.     At  its  lower 


377 


:378  WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 

end,  the  valley  contracts  into  a  narrow  gorge  or  canon,  with  steeply 
inclined  walls,  and  not  having  the  U-shape  of  the  Yosemite,  but  the 
usual  V-form  of  Californian  valleys. 

The  principal  features  of  the  Yosemite,  and  those  by  which  it  is 
distinguished  from  all  other  known  valleys,  are — first,  the  near  approach 
to  verticality  of  its  walls  ;  second,  their  great  height,  not  only  abso- 
lutely, but  as  compared  with  the  width  of  the  valley  itself;  and  finally, 
the  very  small  amount  of  talus  or  debris  at  the  base  of  these  gigantic 
cliffs.  These  are  the  great  characteristics  of  the  Yosemite  throughout 
its  whole  length,  but,  besides  these,  there  are  many  other  striking 
peculiarities  and  features  both  of  sublimity  and  beauty,  which  cannot 
be  surpassed,  if  equaled,  by  those  of  any  mountain  xalley  in  the  world. 
Either  the  domes  or  the  waterfalls  of  the  Yosemite,  or  any  single  one 
■of  them  even,  would  be  sufficient  in  any  European  country  to  attract 
travelers  from  far  and  wide  in  all  directions.  Waterfalls  in  the  \icinity 
of  the  Yosemite,  surpassing  in  beauty  many  of  those  best  known  and 
most  visited  in  Europe,  are  actually  left  entirely  unnoticed  by  travelers 
because  there  are  so  many  other  objects  of  interest. 

The  objects  of  interest  in  this  valley,  which  render  it  without  a  rival 
in  scenic  effects  in  the  known  world,  are — first,  the  great  cliffs  and  crags 
which  border  it ;  second,  the  wonderful  bas-relief  of  columns,  spires, 
.and  arches  upon  its  granite  walls  ;  and  third,  the  grand  and  beautiful 
waterfalls  by  which  the  many  tributaries  to  the  Merced  enter  the  valley, 
leaping  over  its  walls  from  great  heights. 

STUPENDOU.S    WATERFALLS    AND    ROCKY    PEAKS. 

A  close  observer  who  has  explored  this  whole  region  gives  us  a 
graphic  account  of  some  of  its  wonderful  features.  The  Sierras,  he 
says,  have  a  general  course  from  north  to  south,  and  a  height  of  from 
ten  to  fourteen  thousand  feet ;  and  from  them  a  succession  of  rivers 
put  out  westward,  each  marking  in  its  upper  part  the  course  of  a 
mountain  gorge  or  clear-cut  canon,  widening  westward  to  a  broad 
valley  bounded  by  slopes  and  foot-hills  of  genial  clime  and  rare  fertility. 
Between  this  and  the  ocean  is  the  Coast  Range,  nearly  half  the  height 
of  the  Sierras,  shutting  off  the  sea  breeze  and  accompanying  fog;  and 
between  these  lies  the  great  interior  valley,  which  is,  in  fact,  California, 
or  four-fifths  of  it. 

After  passing  Table  Mountain  we  came  upon  a  precipice  where  the 
eye,  glancing  downward  two  thousand  feet,  perceives  the  Stanislaus 
like  a  narrow  silvery  band  flowing  down  a  rocky  trough.  But  how 
shall  we  reach  it,  is  the  question  ;  for  the  sides  of  this  forbidding  gulch 
stand  at  a  threatening  angle  of  at  least  seventy  degrees,  and,  except  the 
sharp  turn  to  our  left,  where  the  road  seems  to  disappear  in  the  rock, 


380  WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 

there  is  no  trace  of  passage.     In  fact  the  stage  road  is  but  a  series  of 
grooves  cut  zigzag  into  the  soHd  rock  or  mixed  earth  and  boulders. 

We  have  four  of  the  stoutest  mountain  horses  kept  especially  for- 
this  stage.  A  few  scrub  oaks  of  a  foot  or  more  in  thickness  are  the 
only  common  timber  we  see,  and  \ast  forests  of  red-wood  and  sugar- 
pine,  from  two  to  eight  feet  in  thickness,  shade  the  way.  The  air  is 
delightful.  The  dust  and  heat  of  below  give  way  to  a  cool  breeze  from 
the  cliffs  ;  for  we  are  half  way  up  the  Sierras,  and  this  giant  vegetation 
wards  off  the  fervid  rays  of  a  Californian  sun.  At  every  pause  we  hear 
a  strange,  solemn,  murmur  from  far  above  our  heads,  a  gentle  swell 
and  rustle  as  the  mountain  breeze  thrills  the  tree-tops,  like  the  far  off 
diapason  of  a  monstrous  organ,  or  a  gentle  tremolo  stealing  upon  the 
senses  with  a  music  all  the  more  impressive  that  it  cannot  be  analyzed 
or  described.  Before  noon  we  are  in  the  edge  of  the  Tuolumne  Grove, 
and  the  driver  having  made  good  time,  gives  frequent  halts  for  us  to 
look  about  and  gather  curiosities,  of  which  there  are  many. 

A    TERRIBLE    DESCENT. 

We  turn  again  to  the  left  into  a  sort  of  stairway  in  the  mountain 
side,  and  cautiously  tread  the  stony  defile  downward ;  at  places  over 
loose  boulders,  at  others  around  or  over  the  points  of  shelving  rock, 
where  one  false  step  would  send  horse  and  rider  a  mangled  mass  two 
thousand  feet  below,  and  more  rarely  over  ground  covered  with  bushes 
and  grade  moderate  enough  to  afford  a  brief  rest.  It  is  impossible  to 
repress  fear.  Every  nerve  is  tense ;  the  muscles  involuntarily  make 
ready  for  a  spring,  and  even  the  bravest  lean  timorously  toward  the 
mountain  side  and  away  from  the  cliff,  with  foot  loose  in  stirrup  and 
eye  alert,  ready  for  a  spring  in  case  of  peril.  The  thought  is  vain : 
should  the  horse  go,  the  rider  would  infallibly  go  with  him.  And  the 
poor  brutes  seem  to  fully  realize  their  danger  and  ours,  as  with  wary 
steps  and  tremulous  ears,  emitting  almost  human  sighs,  with  more  than 
brute  caution  they  deliberately  place  one  foot  before  the  other,  calcu- 
lating seemingly  at  each  step  the  desperate  chances  and  intensely 
conscious  of  our  mutual  peril.  We  learn  with  wonder  that  of  all  the 
five  thousand  who  have  made  this  perilous  passage  not  one  has  been 
injured — if  injured  be  the  word,  for  the  only  injury  here  would  be 
certain  death.  One  false  step  and  we  are  gone  bounding  over  rocks, 
whirling  from  cliffs,  till  all  semblance  of  humanity  is  lost  upon  the 
flat  rock  below.  Such  a  route  would  be  impossible  to  any  but  those 
mountain-trained  mustangs,  to  which  a  broken  stone  staircase  seems  as 
safe  as  an  ordinary  macadamized  road.  At  last  comes  a  gentler  slope, 
then  a  crystal  spring,  dense  grove  and  grass-covered  plat,  and  we  are 
down  into  the  valley.     Gladly  we  take  the  stage,  and  are  whirled  along. 


A    WONDERFUL    COUNTRY.  ■  381 

in  the  gathering  twilight.  To  our  right  Bridal  Vail  Fall,  shedding  a 
brilliant  sheen  in  the  twilight;  further  up  In.spiration  Point,  and  to  the 
left  El  Capitan  rearing  his  bare,  bald  head  three  thousand  three  hundred 
feet  above  us,  beautifully,  purely  gray,  in  clear  outline  against  the  rosy 
sky,  form  the  stupendous  features  of  this  celebrated  scene. 

THE    MARVELOUS    YOSEMITE    FALLS. 

We  rise  to  view  a  new  creation — as  it  seems — a  wondrous  rift  in  the 
earth,  a  great  void  five  miles  long  and  one  and  a-half  wide  in  the  centre, 
walled  in  by  ever-enduring  granite  three  thousand  feet  high,  impassable 
but  at  a  few  points,  with  rocky,  narrow  outlet  westward  and  two  sharp 
inlets  from  the  eastward,  where  the  Merced  pours  down  from  snowy 
peaks  still  eight  thousand  feet  higher.  Here  is  a  minor  cosmos,  shut 
off  from  the  greater,  where  nature  seems  to  have  proceeded  on  a  more 
extensive  plan,  as  if  determined  to  outdo  all  in  the  outer  world  of 
common-place.  A  forenoon  we  give  to  rest  and  gazing,  for  there  is 
enough  to  be  seen  for  that  time  from  the  porch  of  the  hotel.  After 
noon  we  start  out  northward,  to  the  foot  of  the  truly  wonderful  Yosem- 
ite  Falls,  one  and  a  half  mile  from  us.  The  cliffs  in  front  rise  nearly 
three  thousand  feet  above  us,  and  all  along  the  perpendicular  wall  we 
see  the  marks  of  ancient  glaciers  and  waves  wearing  smooth  the  rocky 
face  ;  but  above,  where  first  the  peaks  rose  from  the  sea  of  primal  chaos, 
rough  and  frowning  battlements  attest  the  violence  of  the  rent  which 
divided  this  from  the  southern  side.  About  half  way  up  the  cliff  is  a 
small  offset,  where  grows  a  beautiful  pine,  with  branch  and  foliage 
forming  a  perfect  cone,  seeming  like  the  larger  growth  of  ornamental 
shrubbery.  Yet  that  shrub  is  a  monster  tree,  one  hundred  and  sixty 
feet  high,  and  above  it  the  perpendicular  cliff  is  just  eleven  times  its 
height.  Go  into  the  forests  of  Ohio  or  Indiana  and  select  the  tallest 
tree,  and  remember  that  the  upper  division  merely  of  Yosemite  Fall  is 
at  least  ten  times  that  height!  Or  imagine  ten  Niagaras  piled  one 
above  another. 

We  found  Mirror  Lake  simply  a  pretty  mountain  tarn  of  clear  water, 
to  my  mind  the  least  of  all  the  wonders  of  Yosemite,  though  greatly 
praised.  We  are  assured,  however,  that  we  saw  it  at  a  most  unpro- 
pitious  time.  The  day  was  not  clear  and  the  water  was  discolored — 
being  low — by  tamarack  trees  in  its  source  at  Lake  Tinayah  some  miles 
above  and  eastward,  in  the  very  midst  of  snow-peaks.  Standing  on  the 
northern  shore  we  viewed,  reflected  in  the  lake  from  right  to  left,  South 
Dome,  Old  Man  of  the  Mountains,  Clouds  Rest,  Mount  Watkins,  and 
the  Watch  Eye,  all  notable  and  noble  peaks  upon  the  south  side 
rising  from  two  thousand  to  four  thousand  feet  above  the  cliffs  that 
bound  the  valley.     Crossing  in  a  skiff  to  the  south  side  we  see  reflected 


382 


WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 


from  the  north,  Mount  Washington,  Mount  Calhoun,  and  the  far-reach- 
ing wall  of  the  lower  valley.  The  lake  is  a  great  crystal  map  of  all  the 
adjacent  hills  and  cliffs,  beautiful  only  because  of  beautiful  surroundings, 
not  remarkable  in  itself,  but  dazzling  by  reflection  of  greater  glories. 

From  Mirror  Lake  we  come  back  on  the  same  trail  a  little  way,  then 
straight  south  across  the  valley  till  we  are  directly  under  the  southern 
cliff  which,  instead  of  being  perpendicular,  here  overhangs  and  seems 
momentarily  to  threaten  destruction ;  then  eastward  up  what  may  be 
called  the  main  branch  of  the  Merced  to  the  head  of  the  valley.  The 
smaller  branch  comes  in  from  the  north-east  under  the  shadow  of  the 


THE  BEAUTIFUL  MIRROR  LAKE— A  GEM  OF  YOSEMITE. 

North  Dome  and  the  Cap  of  Liberty — the  last  a  wondrous  cone  rising 
directly  from  the  north  cliff,  one  thousand  feet.  Two  hours  of  toil  bring 
us  upon  the  level  above  the  Vernal,  and  turning  a  sharp,  rocky  point, 
we  come  in  sight  of  Nevada  Falls,  and  in  a  few  moments  are  directly  at 
its  foot — for  here  the  approach  is  easy.  All  that  we  have  seen  seems 
as  nothing  to  this,  the  largest  and  highest  fall  in  one  body.  Rushing 
down  a  rocky  flume  from  heights  four  thousand  feet  above  and  miles 
away,  the  Merced  comes  clear  as  alcohol  to  the  edge  and  takes  the  first 
plunge,  four  hundred  feet  clear ;  then  dashes  against  the  rocks,  and  re- 
bounding in  comminuted  foam  of  dazzling  white,  then  collecting  again 


A   WONDERFUL    COUNTRY. 


383 


to  a  hundred  tiny  streams,  it  is  off  at  last  from  the  rocky  face  in  filmy, 
slanting  lines  of  cloud  and  foam,  trans- 
parent mists,  so  delicately  flowing  down- 
ward that  one  can  scarcely  say  they  mo\'e. 
The  silvery  sheen  like  a  hanging  crystal 
web,  is  lifted  by  the  wind,  sw^iying  now 
against  the  rocks  and  now  far  out  over 
the  valley ;  then  in  a  momentary  calm 
falls  back  to  break  into  a  thousand  trans- 
parent, fluted  sections,  creeping,  gliding 
downward  over  the  rocks  in  ever-unfold- 
ing, ever-renewing  liquid  lawn,  in  distant 
seeming  like  the  mimic  \'ails  of  the  spec- 
tacular drama.  The  height  of  this  won- 
derful fall  is  seven  hundred  feet,  and,  once 
looked  upon,  can  never  be  forgotten. 

Leaving  the  beauties  of  the  Golden 
Gate,  and  the  picturesque  chasms  of  the 
Coast  Ranges,  and  turning  our  faces  east- 
ward, we  cross  at  first  the  broad,  yellow, 
naked  plains  of  the  Sacramento,  baking  in 
the  intense  heat  of  a  midsummer  sun.  The 
harvests  are  all  gathered,  and  the  stacks  of 
grain  in  the  fields  everywhere,  and  the 
loaded  grain-cars  at  every  station,  attest 
the  abundance  of  the  harvest.  Here  and 
there  the  monotony  of  the  plain  is  broken 
by  a  patch  of  the  evergreen  ^r--~, 

oak,  but  it  is  not  until  we  reach  t^,: 
the  slopes  of  the  Sierras  that  '"^t 


true  tree  vegetation  is  met  with.  -^ 

On  the  foothills  of  the  rang 

are  found  in  scattered  grou]> 

the  digger  pine  and  the  blacl 

oak.     The  pale-bluish  tint  (A  _i^ 

the  pine  contrasts  finely  with  -^v 

the  dark  green  of  the  oak,  and  ~": 

both   stand   out  in   fine  relief IC" 

against  the  yellow  background 

of  the  soil.     Further  up  the 

mountain-side   we    reach    a        ^  monster  tree  of  the  sierras. 

moister  region,  where  trees  grow  more  densely,  and  are   more  finely 


384 


WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 


developed.  Here  abound  the  pitch  pine,  the  sugar  pine,  the  white  cedar 
and  the  Douglas  spruce.  This  is  the  true  forest  belt  of  the  Sierras,  and 
it  is  in  this  belt  that  the  "  Big  Trees  "  are  found. 

Next  in  our  ascent  we  reach  the  region  of  the  firs,  and  the  tamarack 
pine,  in  the  middle  of  the  State  ;  and  above  this  belt  we  find  yet 
another  growth  struggling  with  the  winds  and  frosts  for  an  existence 
on  these  mountain  heights.  The  groves  of  the  Big  Trees  are  limited 
in  geographical  range,  both  horizontally  and  vertically.  There  are 
eight  distinct  groves  known  to  exist,  and  they  are  all  at  a  high  elevation. 

The  Calaveras  Grove  is  the  one  most  visited  and  best  known.  It  is 
^n  the  western  slope  of  the  Sierras,  in  Calaveras  County.     There  are 


A   WONDERFUL   STL^MP. 

between  ninety  and  one  hundred  trees  of  large  size  in  the  grove, 
besides  many  smaller  ones.  One  of  the  largest  and  finest  has  been  cut 
down  by  vandals ;  its  greatest  rival  has  had  the  bark  peeled  from  it  so 
as  to  destroy  it.  Thirty-one  of  the  trees  in  this  grove  have  been 
measured.  The  highest  is  fifteen  feet  in  diameter  at  six  feet  from  the 
ground,  and  three  hundred  and  twenty-five  feet  in  height.  Others, 
though  not  as  high,  exceed  this  in  diameter ;  the  "  Mother  of  the  Forest " 
being,  without  the  bark,  twenty  feet  thnnigh.  The  smallest  of  the 
thirty-one  trees  measured  is  ten  feet  in  diameter  and  two  hundred  and 
thirty-one  feet  in  height. 

There  they  stand,  the  vegetable  wonders  of  the  world,  in  the  gather- 
ing twilight,  some  in  clusters,  joining  their  branches  like  the  columns  of 


A   WONDERFUL   COUNTRY. 


385 


great  gothic  arches  reaching  away  to  prop  the  firmament,  or  now  and 
then  one  isolated  and  stretching  out  gaunt  arms  and  opening  boughs 
as  if  it  would  drink  the  clouds.  The  majority  appear  stumpy  and 
truncated,  too  thick  for  their  length ;  but  others  stretch  away  in  long, 
graceful  columns  of  arborescent  proportions,  height,  thickness  and 
branches  all  in  such  perfect  correspondence,  that  half  the  effect  of  their 
size  is  lost.  Indeed,  they  do  not  look  at  first  sight  nearly  as  large  as 
they  are  ;  there  is  such  harmony  in  adjacent  trees,  and  between  different 
parts  of  the  same  tree,  that  the  sense  of  size  is  lessened  by  that  of 
elegant  uniformity.  But  many  of  the  trees  of  two  or  three  hundred 
feet  in  height,  have  a  decidedly  stumpy  appearance,  looking  like 
gigantic  stubs. 

"  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin  "  is  a  hollow  stump  in  which  twenty-five  persons 
can  be  comfortably  seated ;  while  near  by  the  "  Three  Sisters  "  stand 
side  by  side  in  graceful  amplitude,  each  twenty  feet  thick  and  two  hun- 


A.    COTILLON    PARi\    DANCING    ON    THE    MAMMOTH    TREE. 

dred  feet  high,  of  exact  proportions  and  equidistant  from  base  to  crown. 
One  of  the  gigantic  monarchs  of  the  forest  was  cut  near  the  ground, 
and  the  diameter  of  the  stump  was  such  that  a  dancing  party  occupied 
it  on  one  occasion,  and  there  found  ample  room  for  a  cotillon  set,  with 
numerous  spectators. 

The  region  of  the  Cordilleras  produces  nearly  all  the  metals  known 
to  commerce,  and  its  mineral  resources  are  as  varied  as  those  of  any 
part  of  the  world.  Gold  and  silver  are  found  in  greater  or  less  abund- 
ance in  nearly  every  State  and  Territory  in  the  mountain  region  and 
along  the  coast.  California  and  Nevada  stand  at  the  head  of  the  gold- 
producing  States,  the  latter  also  rivaling  Mexico  in  its  silver  yield.  In 
addition  to  gold,  California  yields  copper,  mercury,  tin,  iron,  salt  and 
petroleum.  Mercury  is  found  at  a  number  of  localities  in  the  Coast 
Range,  especially  -at  New  Almaden  and  New  Idria,  two  places  named 
after  the  two  most  productive  European  localities.  Colorado  is  rich, 
not  only  in  gold  and  silver,  but  in  her  coal-fields,  which  is  also  the  case 
25 


386  WONDERS    OF   EXPLORATION   AND    ADVENTURE. 

with  Wyoming  and  Utah.  The  coal  is  known  as  bituminous  Hgnite^ 
and  is  found  widely  distributed  and  in  great  quantity.  No  anthracite 
is  found  except  in  small  deposits,  where  it  has  been  metamorphosed  by 
local  volcanic  action. 

Gold  is  found  widely  distributed  throughout  the  Cordilleran  region. 
The  placers,  which  contain  it  in  its  native  state,  disseminated  in  sand  and 
gravel,  are  the  richest  and  most  profitable  sources  of  the  metal.  Placers 
have  been  found  of  greater  or  less  extent  in  every  State  and  Territory 
of  the  mountain  region.  Silver  is  as  widely  distributed  through  the 
Cordilleran  region  as  gold.  Nevada,  Colorado  and  Utah  are  at  present 
the  principal  silver  producing  States.  Nevada  yields  more  than  one- 
half  of  the  silver  product  of  the  United  States.  The  Comstock  Lode 
at  Virginia  City,  Nevada,  is  probably  the  richest  deposit  of  silver  in  the 
world.  The  estimated  product  of  the  lode  during  the  thirteen  years 
immediately  following  its  discovery  was  more  than  one  hundred  and 
sixty-nine  million,  or  about  the  .same  as  that  of  the  score  of  veins  at 
Potosi,  Mexico,  for  the  first  fifteen  years  after  their  discover)''  in  1545. 

There  is  no  other  authentic  record  of  the  extraction  in  one  year  of 
nearly  twenty-three  millions  in  gold  and  silver  from  one  lode,  which 
was  the  product  of  the  Comstock  in  1874.  The  bullion  has  one-third 
of  its  value  in  gold  and  two-thirds  in  silver. 

THE    INDIAN    TRIBES    OF   THE    GREAT    WEST. 

The  red  man  must  fairly  be  classed  as  one  of  the  wonders  of  our 
American  frontier  and  undeveloped  territory.  The  Indian  is  a  savage, 
with  all  that  the  name  implies.  He  is  cruel  and  treacherous  in  the 
extreme,  and  naturally  so,  as  war  and  hunting  are  almost  his  sole  occu- 
pations. He  has  the  reputation  of  being  extremely  taciturn  and 
reserved,  and  so  he  is  when  among  the  whites,  but  when  at  home  he  is 
quite  the  reverse.  He  is  possessed  of  immense  power  of  enduring 
fatigue  and  exposure,  and  no  amount  of  physical  pain  will  draw  from 
him  a  groan.  He  has  the  utmost  cunning  and  perseverance,  qualities 
which  his  occupations  develop  to  a  remarkable  degree.  Possessed  of 
much  animal  courage,  so  as  to  love  war  for  its  own  sake,  he  has  little 
of  that  higher  mental  courage  which  is  governed  by  the  will,  and  which 
enables  a  man  to  brave  death  without  flinching.  In  war  he  seldom 
engages  in  a  pitched  battle ;  ambuscades  and  surprises,  where  he  takes 
little  or  no  risk,  are  his  methods  of  waging  war.  He  fights  behind  trees 
and  rocks  ;  he  creeps  up,  and  stabs  you  in  the  back,  or  "jumps"  your 
camp  at  midnight,  when  all  are  asleep.  He  is  a  capital  horseman  ;  not 
unfrequently  one  sees  boys  of  eight  or  ten  riding,  without  saddle  or 
bridle,  save  a  bit  of  raw  hide,  their  half-broken  ponies  on  the  race- 
course.    Horses  are  his  wealth,  and  many  Indians  are  very  wealthy. 


A   WONDERFUL   COUNTRY. 


387 


They  are  used  in  war,  in  hunting,  and  in  traveling,  to  carry  not  only  the 
Indian  and  his  family,  but  all  his  househood  goods,  and  a  moving  Indian 
village  makes  a  large  cavalcade.  The  Crow  tribe  is  remarkable  for  fine 
horsemanship,  and  few  objects  are  more  striking  and  picturesque  than 
one  of  their  chiefs  mounted  on  his  steed  and  dashing  over  the  plain. 
On  his  left  arm  he  carries  his  bow,  which  he  knows  how  to  use  with 
wonderful  precision  ;  his  right  hand  grasps  a  spear,  with  long  and 


A    CROW    CHIEF    DASHING    TO    THE    FRONT. 

deadly  point ;  his  head  is  fantastically  decorated,  and  streamers  fly  out 
far  behind,  and  his  horse  is  gorgeously  arrayed. 

At  home,  the  Indian  stoops  to  none  of  the  menial  duties  connected 
with  housekeeping.  His  squaw  must  take  the  loads  off  the  pack 
ponies,  put  up  the  lodge,  bring  wood  and  water,  and  cook,  while  her 
lord  and  master  reclines  on  the  ground  and  smokes.  The  squaws  are, 
like  women  in  most  barbarous  tribes,  little  better  than  slaves.  The 
practice  of  scalping,  which  is  almost  peculiar  to  Indians,  is  not,  as 


388 


WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 


some  suppose,  a  method  of  torturing  their  victims,  as  is  shown  at  once 
by  the  fact  that  it  is  performed  only  on  those  supposed  to  be  dead. 
The  scalp — that  is,  the  skin  of  the  top  of  the  head,  with  the  hair — is 
taken  simpK^  to  prove  the  killing,  as  the  hunter  is  required  to  show  the 
ears  of  the  wolf  in  order  to  claim  the  bounty. 

The  sole  end  and  object  of  his  existence,  the  point  on  which  all  his 
thoughts  and  energies  are  concentrated,  is  to  appear  formidable  to  his 
enemies,  and  attractive  to  the  women.  If  he  can  scare  his  foes  by  the 
hideousness  of  his  war-paint  and  the  ferocity  of  his  appearance,  he  is 
delighted,  btc  lusc  he  ma\  ,  p     '  li  )ut   lisk  to  himself  shoot  one 


LIFE    IN    THE    NORTH-WEST    FORESTS. 

of  them  in  the  back  while  running  away  ;  and  having  done  so,  he  and 
his  friends  would  scalp  the  body,  and  kick  it,  and  dance  around  it,  and 
stamp  upon  it,  and  abuse  it,  and  stick  it  full  of  knives  and  arrows,  and 
have  a  "  gay  old  time  generally,"  and  then  go^  home  and  be  afraid  of 
the  dead  man's  ghost.  At  any  rate,  he  would  argue  that,  even  if  he 
killed  no  one,  he  would  not  be  killed  himself,  which  would  be  a  highly 
satisfactoiy  reflection  to  his  selfish  mind.  And  if  he  sees  that  the 
bright  vermilion  partings  of  his  hair,  and  the  carefully  designed  and 
artfully  painted  stripes  and  patches  on  his  face  and  chest,  are  making 
an  impression  ;  if  shy  glances  of  approval  note  the  swing  of  his  ga)- 


A    WONDERFUL   COUNTRY.  389 

blanket  and  the  style  of  his  leggings,  and  if  soft  eyes  brighten  at  the 
sight  of  his  shell  earrings,  and  the  silver  plates  in  his  back  hair,  he  is 
also  deliglited,  because — well,  for  the  same  reason  anybody  else  would 
be.     Then  he  considers  himself  a  person  of  the  utmost  consequence. 

In  short,  he  is  the  greatest  coxcomb  on  the  face  of  the  earth,  not  to 
be  surpassed  even  in  an  eastern  city  for  inordinate  vanity,  stupendous 
egotism,  and  love  of  self  His  features  may  not  be  strictly  classical, 
according  to  our  standard  of  beauty.  His  cheek-bones  might  be  con- 
sidered somewhat  too  prominent,  and  his  paint  certainly  is  inadmissible 
with  us ;  but,  to  do  him  justice,  we  must  allow  that  he  is  not  a  bad- 
looking  fellow  in  his  way.  Take,  as  an  example,  a  young  warrior  of 
the  Bannacks  riding  through  a  street  in  Virginia  City  from  their  camp 
in  the  neighborhood.  Smooth  and  easy  as  a  hawk's  flight  he  sweeps 
along,  sitting  his  foam-flecked  mustang  with  the  yielding  gracefulness 
of  a  willow  bending  to  the  breeze ,  swaying  his  lithe  body  with  every 
bound  of  the  animal  beneath  him.  Before  him,  across  the  pommel  of 
his  saddle,  he  bears  his  rifle  in  embroidered  elk-skin  cover,  adorned  with 
long  fringes,  which,  mingling  with  the  horse's  mane,  and  the  tags  and 
tassels  of  his  gay  leggings,  spread  out  behind  him  on  each  side.  His 
long,  black  hair,  plaited  and  tied  with  knots  of  scarlet  ribbon,  streams 
out  in  the  wind,  and,  uniting  with  the  horse's  tail,  seems  almost  to  touch 
the  dust.     He  is  evidently  quite  at  home  in  the  saddle. 

Slung  across  his  back  are  the  lion-skin  quiver  and  bow ;  by  his  side 
hangs  a  revolver,  silver-mounted,  and  shining  in  the  sun.  With  the 
toes  of  his  beaded  moccasins  he  touches  the  loops  that  serve  him  for 
stirrups  ;  his  left  hand  lightly  holds  the  bridle  ;  and  from  his  right  wrist 
hangs  by  a  thong  his  buckhorn-handled  quirt  or  whip.  As  he  gallops 
down  the  street,  all  his  gay  trappings  fly  out  in  disorder  behind  him  ; 
and  when,  with  a  pull  at  the  cruel  Spanish  bit,  he  steadies  into  a  walk, 
the  folds  of  his  scarlet  blanket  settle  down,  and  hang  gracefully  from 
his  shoulders,  and  he  passes,  an  embodiment  of  savage  life,  full  of  wild 
beauty  and  bright  color,  and  no  doubt  attractive  to  the  female  eye ; 
glancing  with  supreme  and  undisguised  contempt  upon  the  plug  hat, 
black  store  coat  and  pants  of  some  newly  arrived  representative  of  civil- 
ization.    Altogether  he  forms  a  very  striking  figure. 

THE  INDIAN    TRIBES    NOT    DYING    OUT. 

It  has  long  been  accepted  as  a  self-evident  proposition  that  the  red 
race  was  rapidly  disappearing  before  the  advancing  strides  of  civiliza- 
tion ;  that,  in  the  struggle  for  existence  on  this  continent,  barbarism  is 
giving  way,  not  so  much  by  the  advance  of  culture  as  by  want  of  vitality 
of  the  lower  race  ;  and  this  example  has  been  used  to  point  many  a 
sermon  on  the  influence  of  civilization  on  barbaric  races.     But  lately  it 


.^59n 


A    WONDERFUL    COUNTRY.  391 

has  been  boldly  stated — and  the  idea  has  found  many  and  able  support- 
ers— that  the  Indians  are  not  dying  out,  but  that  they  are  holding  their 
own — yes,  even  increasing  in  number. 

In  Indian  Territory,  where  many  of  the  tribes  have  been  congregated 
on  reservations,  there  has  been  considerable  advance  towards  civilization. 
The  Cherokee,  Choctaw,  Seminole,  Creek  and  Chickasaw  tribes,  num- 
bering altogether  about  fifty-six  thousand,  have  adopted  civilized  dress, 
live  in  houses,  cultivate  the  land,  and  support  large  schools.  The  Paw- 
nees, Pottawotamies,  and  other  tribes,  contain  a  large  percentage  who 
have  adopted  civilization.  The  Omahas,  on  a  reservation  in  Nebraska, 
have  of  late  made  rapid  strides  in  the  same  direction.  In  Arizona,  the 
Pimo,  Mojave  and  Maricopa  Indians  are  all  engaged  in  the  cultivation 
of  the  soil.  The  Sioux  of  Dakota,  heretofore  regarded  as  one  of  the 
most  untamable  of  tribes,  are  beginning  their  career  as  farmers  and 
stock-raisers.  The  Navajoes  of  New  Mexico  have  long  cultivated  the 
-soil,  having  learned  this  art  from  their  semi-civilized  neighbors,  the 
Moquis.  Many  other  tribes,  not  mentioned  here,  have  made  more  or 
less  advance  towards  self-support,  so  that  it  can  no  longer  be  said  that 
the  Indian  is  untamable. 

There  are,  however,  several  tribes  which  as  yet  have  not  shown  the 
influence  of  civilization.  Among  them  may  be  mentioned  prominently 
the  Apaches,  of  Arizona,  the  Utes,  of  Colorado,  the  Bannacks,  of  Idaho, 
the  Crows  and  Blackfeet,  of  Montana,  and  several  bands  of  the  great 
Sioux  nation,  with  their  allies,  the  Cheyennes  and  Arapahoes.  The 
Comanches,  of  Texas,  too,  continue  to  be  the  same  lawless,  plundering, 
wild  tribe  that  they  have  ever  been,  the  untamed  sons  of  the  forest. 

THE   PREDATORY    TRIBES    OF   THE    WEST. 

A  few  little  forts  occupied  by  slight  garrisons  in  those  immense  plains 
rolling  from  the  Missouri  westward  to  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  be- 
yond them  to  the  snowy  Sierras,  are  totally  insufficient  to  keep  the  red- 
skin in  check,  and  protect  the  main  highways  of  traffic  leading  to  the 
Pacific  sea-board.  On  these  highways,  stretching  right  across  the  con- 
tinent, there  occur  those  repeated  acts  of  violence  which  so  greatly 
impede  the  safe  transit  of  goods  and  passengers  bound  westward.  The 
Indians  roaming  over  these  regions  are  amply  furnished  with  provisions, 
ponies,  buffalo  meat  and  furs.  They  follow  the  herds  of  bisons  grazing 
on  the  prairies  in  summer  northward  to  the  lands  between  the  White 
River  and  Ydlowstone,  in  winter  southward  to  the  Republican  Fork 
and  Ai'kansas  Rivers,  thus  crossing  the  vast  uplands  and  the  great  over- 
land routes.  It  is  when  they  come  upon  these  post-roads  that  they  fall 
upon  emigrants,  traders,  trappers  and  squatters,  firing  the  ranches,  steal- 
ing cattle,  mules  and  horses,  and  even  laying  waste  the  stage  stations. 


H02 


A    WONDERFUL   COUNTRY.  393 

These  Indians  belong  mostl}'  to  the  united  liordes  of  the  Sioux,  Kiowas, 
Cheyennes,  Arapahoes,  Crows  and  Comanches — cruel,  treacherous  and 
savage  marauders,  that  have  ever  been  hostile  to  the  pale-faces,  and 
may  continue  to  be  so  till  the  last  of  their  race  has  disappeared. 

Since  the  conclusion  of  the  Civil  War,  these  red-skins  have  become 
more  formidable  than  ever,  and  especially  when  some  few  years  ago  they 
went  on  the  war-path  and  committed  many  nameless  horrors  without 
any  provocation  on  the  part  of  the  whites,  brutally  murdering  whole 
families,  falling  upon  emigrant  parties,  and  repeatedly  plundering  and 
destroying  the  United  States  mails. 

INDIANS    WHO    RIVAL    WHITE    MEN. 

One  of  the  dominant  races  are  the  Navajoes,  who  roam  over  a 
country  three  hundred  miles  from  east  to  west,  and  nearly  two  hundred 
from  north  to  south.  They  are  a  most  interesting  race  of  barbarians, 
though  savage  in  war  and  somewhat  inclined  to  thieving.  They  and 
the  Apaches  have  been  at  war  from  time  immemorial.  The  Navajoes 
are  splendid  specimens  of  physical  humanity — the  finest  race  of 
Indians  except,  perhaps,  the  Chippcwas,  of  Northern  Minnesota. 
These  are  the  only  Indians  who  have  not  the  stereotyped  "  Indian 
face  " — the  face  we  have  heard  described  so  often,  either  overcast  with 
a  stern  and  melancholy  gravity,  or  lively  only  with  an  uncertain  mix- 
ture of  cunning  and  ferocity.  Their  countenances  are  generally 
pleasing,  even  mild  and  benevolent.  They  have  many  young  fellows 
whose  faces  show  the  born  humorist.  Wit,  merriment  and  practical 
jokes  enliven  all  their  gatherings,  and,  quite  contrary  to  our  ideas  of 
Indian  character,  they  laugh  loud  and  heartily  at  eveiything  amusing. 
They  are  quite  inquisitive,  too,  and  seem  vastly  pleased  to  either  see  or 
hear  something  new.  Both  men  and  women  work,  and  are  quite  indus- 
trious until  they  hav^e  accumulated  a  fair  share  of  property ;  then  they 
seem  content  to  take  things  easy.  In  short,  they  are  as  much  unlike 
the  "stage  Indian,"  and  as  much  like  a  tribe  of  dark  Caucasians  as  it  is 
possible  to  conceive. 

Their  handiwork  is  very  ingenious.  They  make  pottery  like  that  of 
the  Pueblos,  from  whom  it  is  supposed  they  learned  the  art.  Their 
blankets  are  the  wonder  of  all  who  see  them.  They  are  woven  by  the 
squaws  in  a  rude  frame,  and  are  so  compact  that  water  can  be  carried 
in  them  four  or  five  hours  before  it  begins  to  leak  through.  A  traveler 
noticed  one  woman  who  was  engaged  in  weaving  an  unusually  fine 
blanket.  A  large  stout  beam  is  fastened  firmly  to  the  joists  of  the  hut, 
or  to  the  limbs  of  a  tree,  as  they  often  do  all  the  weaving  out  doors. 
From  this,  by  a  leathern  loop  at  each  end,  is  suspended  a  "  turn-stick," 
about  the  size  of  one's  wrist.     A  similar  beam  below  is  fastened  in  the 


394  WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 

ground  or  floor,  and  from  it  another  "  turn-stick"  is  suspended  by  loops. 
On  the  two  sticks  the  warp,  or  "  chain,"  is  stretched  very  tight,  the  two 
sets  of  strands  crossing  in  the  middle.  This,  with  two  loose  sticks, 
dividing  the  "chain,"  and  a  curved  board,  looking  like  a  barrel  stave 
with  the  edges  rounded,  constitute  the  entire  loom.  The  squaw  sits 
before  this  with  her  balls  of  yarn  for  "  filling"  conveniently  arranged, 
works  them  through  the  strands,  and  beats  them  firmly  together  with 
the  loose  board,  running  it  in  between  the  strands  with  singular 
dexterity.  The  woolen  yarn  for  "filling"  is  made  from  their  own 
sheep,  generally,  and  is  of  three  colors,  black,  white  and  red,  from  native 
coloring.  Running  these  together  by  turns,  with  nimble  fingers  the 
squaw  brings  out  on  the  blanket  squares,  diamonds,  circles  and  fanciful 
•curves,  and  flowers  of  three  colors,  with  a  skill  which  is  simply  amazing. 
Two  months  are  required  to  complete  an  ordinary  blanket,  five  feet 
wide  and  eight  long,  which  sells  from  fifteen  to  fifty  dollars,  according 
to  the  style  of  materials. 

The  Indians  are  capable  of  civilization,  if  a  proper  course  were 
adopted.  But  there  are  exceptional  branches  among  them,  just  as 
there  are  among  white,  black  or  brown  races  ;  certain  tribes  are  doomed 
to  extinction,  and  chief  among  these  are  the  Apaches.  They  have 
no  idea  of  quiet  industry;  the  conception  of  civilization  does  not  enter 
their  minds.  Every  Apache  is  a  born  robber  and  murderer.  Exter- 
mination, whether  in  war  or  under  the  form  of  reservations  and  legal 
justice,  is  their  certain  fate  ;  and  the  quickest  way  is,  perhaps,  the  most 
merciful.  It  is  directly  the  opposite  with  the  Navajoes.  They  acquired 
considerable  civilization  befbre  they  met  the  whites  ;  they  will  work 
readily  at  any  productive  employment,  and  learn  the  use  of  tools  very 
readily. 

The  so-called  Mound-Builders  formerly  occupied  the  whole  of  the 
Mississippi  Valley,  the  coa.st  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  the  region  of 
the  Great  Lakes.  Their  works  consist  mainly  of  tumuli  symmetrically 
raised,  and  often  inclosed  in  mathematical  figures,  such  as  the  square, 
the  octagon  or  circle  ;  of  pits  in  the  solid  rock,  and  of  a  variety  of  tools 
and  utensils,  wrought  in  stone  or  copper,  or  moulded  in  clay.  AVhile 
the  character  of  these  structures,  as  traced  over  wide  areas,  differs  in 
minor  particulars,  still  there  is  a  general  uniformity  which  shows  them 
all  to  be  the  work  of  a  single  people.  They  arc  usually  found  over- 
grown by  forests,  and  in  the  living  and  decaying  vegetation  is  found 
the  record  of  their  disuse  for  at  least  a  thousand  years.  The  people 
who  built  them  were  evidently  a  settled  people,  very  different  from  the 
wild  tribes  who  inhabited  the  country  when  the  whites  made  their 
appearance. 


CHAPTER  XII. 


WONDERS  OF  THE  POLAR  WORLD. 

Daring  Attempts  to  Reach  the  North  Pole — Early  Explorations— Sir  John  Ross— Captain 
Pariy — Sir  John  Franklin — Snow-Bound  Heroes — A  Famous  Journey — The  Grinnell 
Expedition — Search  for  Franklin — Startling  Tale  of  Discovered  Relics — Doctor  Kane 
— Dogs  and  Sledges— Terrible  Cold— Bears  and  Their  Young— Incredible  Hardships 
and  Perils — Homeward  Start — Scientific  Results — Wonderful  Frozen  Sea — The  Whale 
and  his  Capture — Adventures  of  an  Austrian  Hero — Crystal  Mountains— Diamonds  in 
Ice — A  Remarkable  Exploration— Captain  Nares — Hall  and  his  Comrades — The  Vega 
— Cutting  Through  the  Ice — The  Hut  of  Barentz — De  Long  and  His  Celebrated  Ad- 
ventures—Polar Night,  Misery,  and  Death — The  Lost  "  Jeannette" — Dividing  the  Last 
Scrap — The  Walrus — A  Fierce  Attack — Esquimaux— StrangeVillages 
— Brilliant  Auroral  Splendors — Greely  and  Cannibalism. 

ISTORY  presents  no  record  of  human  achievement 
more  daring  and  marvelous  than  that  of  the  bold 
Arctic  navigators  who,  from  time  to  time,  have  ex- 
plored this  unknown  world  of  icy  desolation.  If  you 
examine  a  map  of  the  Arctic  regions,  showing  what 
was  known  of  the  countries  around  the  North  Pole 
in  the  commencement  of  the  present  century,  you 
will  find  that  nearly  all  within  the  Arctic  Circle  was 
a  blank.  The  Icelanders  and  Northmen  were  the 
first  Arctic  explorers,  but  nothing  is  known  of  their  discoveries  except 
that  they  had  found  a  land  which  they  called  Greenland.  About  the 
middle  of  the  sixteenth  century,  several  learned  men,  including  Sii 
Humphrey  Gilbert,  employed  their  pens  in  arguing  the  practicability 
of  a  North-western  Passage.  In  his  defence  of  such  an  attempt  he 
spoke  of  a  friar  of  Mexico  who  had  actually  performed  the  journey,  but 
who,  on  telling  it  to  the  king  of  Portugal,  had  been  forbidden  to  make 
it  known  lest  it  should  reach  the  world.  Whatever  the  facts  of  this  case, 
some  enthusiasm  on  the  subject  was  the  result,  and  Martin  Frobisher 
spoke  of  it  as  the  one  thing  "  left  undone."  But  although  he  also  per- 
sisted in  his  advocacy,  it  took  fifteen  years  of  perseverance  and  constant 
effort  before  he  could  find  any  one  who  would  give  him  the  assistance  he 
needed.  At  last,  when  hope  was  nearly  dead  within  him,  Dudley,  Earl 
•of  Warwick,  came  to  the  rescue,  and  aided  him  to  fit  out  two  small 
barques,  thirty-five  and  thirty  tons  burden  respectively.  With  these 
small  craft,  for  such  a  voyage,  he  left  the  Thames.  As  he  passed  Green- 
wich Palace,  on  the  8th  of  June,  1576,  Queen  Elizabeth  waved  her  fare- 

(395) 


396 


WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE, 


well  from  a  window.  Briefly,  they  reached  what  is  believed  to  have 
been  the  southern  part  of  Greenland  and  Labrador,  where  they  could 
not  land  because  of  the  icy  field  surrounding  the  coast.  Sailing  to  the 
north,  Frobisher  met  with  a  gigantic  iceberg,  which  fell  in  pieces  within 
their  sight,  making  as  much  noise  as  though  a  high  cliff  had  fallen  into 
the  sea.     The  explorers  gave  up  their  undertaking  and  returned. 

In  the  year  1 594  the  United  Provinces  determined  to  send  out  an 


NOVA    ZEMBLA THE    WONDERFUL    VOYAGE    OF    BARENTZ. 

expedition  in  the  hopes  of  finding  a  northern  route  to  China  and  India. 
Willam  Barentz,  "a  notable,  skillful,  and  wise  pilot,"  went  from  Am- 
sterdam with  two  vessels.  He  crossed  the  White  Sea,  and  eventually 
made  the  west  coast  of  Nova  Zembla ;  proceeding  thence  northwards, 
naming  several  headlands  and  islands.  They  encountered  an  immense 
field  of  ice,  of  which  they  could  see  no  end  from  the  mast-head,  and 
they  had  to  turn  back.  After  becoming  entangled  in  drift-ice,  and  ex- 
periencing misty,  cold  and  tempestuous  weather,  the  crew  began  to 


WONDERS    OF    THE    POLAR    WORLD.  397 

-murmur,  and  then  refused  positively  to  proceed.  Again,  in  May,  1596, 
Barentz  sailed  from  Amsterdam,  and  arrived  home  in  the  following  year, 
after  a  voyage  of  many  hardships  and  trials. 

Subsequently  numerous  attempts  were  made  to  reach  the  Pole,  all 
of  which  were  fruitless,  some  being  attended  with  disaster.  At  length, 
in  the  year  1818,  two  vessels  were  fitted  out  by  the  British  government 
to  proceed  toward  the  North  Pole.  Captain  Sir  John  Ross  and 
Lieutenant  Parry  were  appointed  commanders.  No  former  expedition 
had  been  fitted  out  on  so  extensive  a  scale,  or  so  completely  equipped 
in  every  respect  as  this  one.  The  circumstance  which  stimulated  the 
sending  out  of  these  vessels  was  the  open  character  of  the  bays  and 
seas  in  those  regions,  very  large  quantities  of  the  polar  ice  having 
floated  down  into  the  Atlantic  for  the  previous  three  years.  This 
expedition  had  instructions  to  discover  the  north-west  passage. 
Another,  under  Captain  Beechey  and  LJeutenant  Franklin,  afterward 
Sir  John  Franklin,  was  to  penetrate  to  the  North  Pole.  The  objects 
of  the  latter  expedition  were  entirely  scientific.  It  passed  north 
between  Greenland  and  Spitzbergen,  but  did  not  go  much  further. 
Captain  Ross  sailed  about  sixty  miles  up  Lancaster  Sound,  and  returned 
with  the  report  that  it  was  a  bay,  through  which  there  was  no  outlet  to 
the  ocean  beyond.  From  York  Factory  an  overland  expedition  under 
Lieutenant  Franklin  was  sent  out  with  instructions  to  explore  the 
north  coast  of  America,  from  the  mouth  of  the  Coppermine  River 
eastward.  He  proceeded  five  hundred  and  fifty  miles  east  of  the 
Coppermine  to  Point  Turn-again,  and  then,  having  suffered  great  hard- 
ships, returned  to  York  Factory  without  accomplishing  the  object. 

A    BAND    OF    HEROES. 

Franklin,  in  descending  the  Coppermine  River,  was  accompanied  by 
a  set  of  officers  and  men  as  heroic  as  ever  trod  a  deck ;  among  the 
former  were  Dr.  Richardson,  Lieutenant  Back  and  Lieutenant  Hood, 
and  among  the  latter  a  faithful  seaman  named  Hepburn.  The  Copper- 
mine River  had  never  been  thoroughly  explored,  and  the  enterprise 
was  one  of  great  danger.  Ascending  the  Hayes  River  on  their  inland 
route  to  the  Coppermine,  they  accomplished  seven  hundred  miles  of 
river  journey,  over  rapids  and  falls  and  obstacles  and  difficulties 
innumerable,  from  which  ordinary  men  would  have  turned  back. 

The  setting  in  of  the  ice  compelled  them  to  relinquish  their  labors 
in  that  direction  for  the  present.  Franklin,  however,  was  not  idle — it 
was  not  in  the  nature  of  the  man  to  be  so — and  therefore  he,  Back  and 
Hepburn  started  off  in  January  westward,  working  up  eight  hundred  and 
fifty  miles,  until  in  March  they  reached  Fort  Chipewyan,  where  many 
important  observations  were  made.  In  July  he  was  joined  by  Richardson 


398  WONDERS    OF    EXPLORATION   AND    ADVENTURE. 

and  Hood,  and  hoped  to  winter  that  year  at  the  mouth  of  the  Copper- 
mine. A  large  party  was  made  up,  consisting  of  FrankHn  and  his  friends, 
seventeen  French-Canadian  travelers,  three  interpreters,  and  a  consider- 
able number  of  Indians  who  were  to  act  as  guides  and  hunters  under  the 
leadership  of  one  Akaitcho.  The  start  was  all  that  could  be  desired, 
game  plentiful,  and  everything  promised  well.  But  as  they  advanced  to 
the  north  a  change  came  over  the  spirit  of  their  dream ;  food  grew  scarce, 
the  difficulty  of  transit  increased,  and  at  last  Akaitcho  declared  that  to 
advance  further  meant  for  the  whole  party  to  perish  miserably. 
Franklin  persisted,  however,  and  would  have  braved  all  the  prophesied 
risks,  till  Akaitcho  said  :  "  I  will  send  some  of  my  young  men  with 
you  if  you  persist  in  going  forward,  but  from  the  moment  they  set  foot 
in  your  canoes  I  and  my  relatives  shall  mourn  for  them  as  dead." 
Discretion  being  the  better  part  of  valor,  Franklin  reluctantly  deter- 
mined to  settle  in  winter  quaters  and  continue  the  exploration  in  the 
summer.  The  place  chosen  for  wintering  was  at  Fort  Enterprise,  near 
the  head  of  the  Coppermine. 

During  the  winter  food  grew  scarcer  and  scarcer,  until  at  last  starva- 
tion was  threatened.  In  addition  to  their  own  party,  the  Indians  had 
to  be  provided  for,  and  this  greatly  impoverished  their  resources.  The 
Indians  knew  this,  and,  with  a  generosity  which  Christian  men  might 
sometimes  imitate,  gave  their  own  food  to  the  strangers  who  seemed  more 
to  need  it.  "  We  are  used  to  starvation,  you  are  not ;"  they  said.  By- 
and-by  a  time  came  when  the  situation  was  gloomy  in  the  extreme ; 
ammunition,  and  other  articles  indispensable  to  the  progress  of  the 
expedition,  and  food  were  fast  failing.  What  was  to  be  done  ?  There 
was  only  one  course  open,  and  that  was  to  journey  on  foot  a  distance 
of  over  five  hundred  miles  to  Fort  Chipewyan,  in  the  depth  of  an 
Arctic  winter,  for  supplies.  A  volunteer  was  soon  found.  Lieutenant 
Back  was  not  a  man  to  allow  his  comrades  to  perish  while  he  had 
strength  and  vigor  to  save  them,  and  he  undertook  to  perform  the 
journey  and  obtain  the  needful  supplies.  Day  after  day  he  and  his 
companions  toiled  on  over  ice  and  snow,  and  night  after  night  braved 
the  inclemency  of  the  weather  by  camping  out  of  doors.  With  snow- 
shoes  galling  their  feet  and  ankles  till  they  bled  profusely  ;  with  only 
sufficient  food  to  keep  them  from  starving,  and,  therefore,  rendering 
them  all  the  more  susceptible  to  cold ;  with  weather  unusual  in  the 
severe  region  for  its  severity,  on  they  went,  until  at  last  they  reached 
the  station,  procured  four  sledges,  laden  to  the  full  with  needful  things, 
and  the  promise  of  more  to  follow,  and  then,  after  a  brief  rest,  set  off 
again  for  Fort  Enterprise. 

During  the  journey  Back  traveled  eleven  hundred  and  four  miles, 


WONDERS    OF    THE    POLAR    WORLD. 


399 


and  when  he  rejoined  his  companions  it  was  to  find  that  his  unprece- 
dented journey  was  a  success  in  every  respect,  for  they  had  arrived  at 
a  stage  m  their  experience  when  the  aid  he  brou^rht  was  indispensable 


In  1850  an  expedition  was  sent  out  by  Mr.  iicnry  Cirinnell  a  mer- 
chant of  New  York,  in  search  of  Sir  John  FrankHn  and  his  companions. 
Mr.  Gnnnell's  expedition  consisted  of  only  two  small  brigs,  the  "Advance" 
of  one  hundred  and  forty  tons,  the  "  Rescue  "  of  only  ninety  tons.     The 


400 


WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 


command  was  given  to  Lieutenant  E.  De  Haven,  a  young  naval  officer, 
who  accompanied  the  United  States  exploring  expedition.  Doctor  E. 
K.  Kane,  surgeon  and  naturalist,  was  one  of  the  officers.  The  expedi- 
tion was  absent  a  little  more  than  sixteen  months.  Off  the  coast  of 
Labrador  they  met  an  iceberg  making  its  way  toward  the  tropics.  The 
night  was  very  dark,  and  as  the  huge  voyager  had  no  "  light  out,"  the 
"Advance"  could  not  be  censured  for  running  foul.  She  was  punished, 
however,  by  the  loss  of  her  jib-boom,  as  she  ran  against  the  iceberg. 

When  the  expedition  reached  Melville  Bay,  which,  on  account  of  its 
fearful  character,  is  also  called  the  Devil's  Nip,  the  voyagers  began  to 
witness  more  of  the  grandeur  and  perils  of  Arctic  scenes.  Icebergs  of 
all  dimensions  came  bearing  down   from  the  polar  seas.     Tliey  also 


A  DANGEROUS  ADVENTURE  WITH  POLAR  BEARS. 

encountered  immense  floes,  with  only  narrow  channels  between,  and  at 
times  their  situation  was  exceedingly  perilous.  On  one  occasion,  after 
heaving  through  fields  of  ice  for  five  consecutive  weeks,  two  immen.se 
floes,  between  which  they  were  making  their  way,  gradually  approached 
each  other,  and  for  several  hours  they  expected  their  ves.sels  would  be 
crushed.  An  immense  cake  of  ice,  six  or  eight  feet  thick,  slid  under 
the  "  Rescue,"  lifting  her  almost  "  high  and  dry,"  and  careening  her 
partially  upon  her  beam  ends.  By  means  of  ice  anchors  (large  iron 
hooks)  they  kept  her  from  capsizing.  In  this  position  they  remained 
about  sixty  hours,  when,  with  saws  and  axes,  they  succeeded  in  reliev- 
ing her.  The  ice  now  opened  a  little,  and  they  finally  warped  through 
into  clear  water.  While  they  were  thus  confined,  polar  bears  came 
around  them  in  abundance,  greedy  for  prey,  and  the  seamen  indulged 
a  little  in  the  perilous  sports  of  the  chase. 


WONDERS   OF   THE    POLAR    WORLD.  401 

The  navigators  explored  the  coast  at  and  near  Cape  Riley,  and  there 
found  in  a  cove  on  the  shore  of  Beechey  Island,  or  Beechey  Cape,  on 
the  east  side  of  the  entrance  to  Wellington  Channel,  unmistakable  evi- 
dence that  Sir  John  Franklin  and  his  companions  were  there  in  April, 
1846.  There  they  discovered  many  articles  known  to  belong  to  the 
British  Navy,  and  some  that  were  the  property  of  the  "Erebus"  and 
"Terror,"  the  ships  under  the  command  of  Sir  John.  There  lay, 
bleached  to  the  whiteness  of  the  surrounding  snow,  a  piece  of  canvas, 
with  the  name  of  the  "  Terror "  marked  upon  it  with  indestructible 
charcoal.  It  was  very  faint,  yet  perfectly  legible.  Near  it  was  a  guide- 
board  lying  flat  upon  its  face,  having  been  prostrated  by  the  wind.  It 
had  evidently  been  used  to  direct  exploring  parties  to  the  vessels,  or, 
rather,  to  the  encampment  on  shore.  The  board  was  pine,  thirteen 
inches  in  length,  and  six  and  a  half  in  breadth,  and  nailed  to  a  boarding 
pike  eight  feet  in  length.  It  is  supposed  that  the  sudden  opening  of 
the  ice  caused  Sir  John  to  depart  hastily,  and  in  so  doing  this  pike  and 
its  board  were  left  behind.  They  also  found  a  large  number  of  tin 
canisters,  such  as  are  used  for  packing  meats  for  a  sea-voyage  ;  an  anvil 
block ;  remnants  of  clothing,  which  evinced  by  numerous  patches  and 
their  threadbare  character  that  they  had  been  worn  as  long  as  the  owners 
could  keep  them  on ;  the  remains  of  an  India-rubber  glove,  lined  with 
wool ;  some  old  sacks  ;  a  cask,  or  tub,  partly  filled  with  charcoal,  and 
an  unfinished  rope-mat,  which,  like  other  fibrous  fabrics,  was  bleached 
white.  But  the  most  melancholy  traces  of  the  navigators  were  three 
graves  in  a  little,  sheltered  cove,  each  with  a  board  at  the  head  bearing 
the  name  of  the  sleeper  below.  These  inscriptions  testify  positively 
when  Sir  John  and  his  companions  were  there. 

Three  expeditions  were  sent  out  in  1848  to  search  for  Franklin,  and 
later  these  were  followed  by  several  others,  under  the  patronage  of  the 
British  government  and  Lady  Franklin.  Traces  of  the  Franklin  expe- 
dition were  found  in  1850  at  Cape  Riley  and  Beechey  Island,  and  arti- 
cles belonging  to  Sir  John  Franklin's  officers  were  seen  in  possession 
of  the  Esquimaux  at  Selby  Bay  in  1854  by  Dr.  Rae,  but  authentic 
information  concerning  the  fate  of  Franklin  was  only  obtained  in  1859. 
An  expedition  sent  out  by  Lady  Franklin  under  Captain  Francis 
McClintock,  passed  in  1857  through  Baffin's  Bay,  Lancaster  Sound,  and 
Prince  Regent  Inlet  to  Bellot  Strait,  whence  sledge  expeditions  were 
made  to  King  William  Land.  Here,  in  1859,  were  found  relics  of  Sir 
John  Franklin's  expedition.  At  Point  Victory  was  found  a  tin  case 
containing  a  brief  record  dated  May  28th,  1847,  to  the  effect  that  the 
expedition  had  passed  the  previous  winter  at  Beechey  Island,  after 
ascending  the  Wellington  Channel,  and  returning  by  the  west  side  of 
26 


:^ 


^j-JuiuiiitiiAuJittiiiiiiniui/iii 

A  WONDERFUI    PASSAGE  BY  FRANKLIN'S  SHIPS. 
402 


WONDERS    OF    THE    POLAR    WORLD.  403 

Cornwallis  Island.  All  the  party  were  then  well.  On  the  margin  was 
another  record,  dated  y\pril,  1848,  to  the  effect  that  one  hundred  and  five 
men  under  Captain  Crosier  had  abandoned  the  two  vessels,  that  Sir 
John  Franklin  had  died  June  nth,  1847,  and  that  the  total  deaths  were 
nine  officers  and  fifteen  men.  Quantities  of  clothing  were  found,  but 
no  trace  of  the  vessels.  It  was  evident  that  the  whole  expedition  had 
perished.  It  seems  that  Sir  John  Franklin  passed  up  Lancaster  Sound, 
explored  Wellington  Channel  to  a  point  further  north  than  was  reached 
by  those  who  were  sent  out  to  search  for  his  party,  and  wintered  on 
Beechey  Island.  In  the  spring  and  summer  of  1846  he  either  navigated 
Bellot  Strait,  or  more  probably  pushed  through  Peel  Sound,  and  finally 
reached  Victoria  Strait,  and  thus  supplied  the  only  link  wanting  to  com- 
plete a  chain  of  water  communication  between  the  two  oceans.  Thus 
Sir  John  Franklin  is  the  discoverer  of  the  North-western  Passage. 

Doctor  E.  K.  Kane  conducted  the  second  Grinnell  expedition,  George 
Peabody,  of  London,  and  others  uniting  with  Mr.  Grinnell  in  bearing 
the  expense.  Doctor  Kane  received  his  orders  from  the  Navy  Depart- 
ment at  Washington  to  conduct  an  expedition  into  the  Arctic  regions 
in  search  of  the  great  English  navigator.  The  ship  "Advance,"  in 
which  he  had  formerly  sailed,  was  placed  under  his  command.  Hir, 
party  numbered  seventeen  picked  men.  The  brig  sailed  from  the  port 
of  New  York  in  May,  1853,  and  in  eighteen  days  arrived  at  St.  John's, 
Newfoundland.  After  providing  themselves  at  this  place  with  an  addi- 
tional stock  of  fresh  meat,  and  a  valuable  team  of  Esquimau  dogs, 
they  steered  for  the  coast  of  Greenland.  From  his  researches  in  this 
region,  Doctor  Kane  came  to  the  conclusion  that  this  coast  of  Green- 
land faced  to  the  north.  After  sixteen  miles  of  foot  journey  the 
company  reached  a  great  headland,  to  which  they  give  the  name  of 
Thackeray.  Eight  miles  further  on  a  similar  eminence  attracted  their 
attention,  to  which  they  applied  the  epithet  of  Hawkes.  The  table- 
lands here  were  twelve  hundred  feet  high.  The  party  continued  their 
difficult  and  dangerous  journey  until  they  reached  some  lofty  head- 
lands, where  they  determined  to  terminate  their  excursion.  These  had 
an  altitude  of  eleven  hundred  feet,  and  overlooked  an  expanse  extending 
beyond  the  eightieth  parallel  of  latitude.  The  view  from  this  elevation 
was  marked  by  every  element  of  gloomy  and  cheerless  magnificence. 
Winter  was  now  rapidly  approaching,  and  it  was  necessary  to  select 
some  appropriate  spot  in  which  the  crew  and  the  vessel  might  pass  its 
long,  gloomy  and  dangerous  interval.  For  various  reasons.  Doctor 
Kane  resolved  to  remain  where  he  then  was.  He  had  arrived  at  the 
conclusion  that  Rensselaer  Harbor  would  be  the  most  desirable  v.-inter- 
quarters,  and  on  the   lOth  of  September  they  commenced  the  labors 


404 


WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 


necessary  to  render  their  position  tenable  and  safe.  They  removed  the 
contents  of  the  hold  of  the  vessel  to  a  store-house  which  they  prepared 
on  Butter  Island.  A  deck-house  was  built  on  the  vessel,  in  which  the 
different  qualities  of  ventilation,  warmth,  dryness,  room  and  comfort 


were  sought  to  the  utmost  possible  extent.  A  site  for  the  observatory 
was  selected.  Stones  were  hauled  over  the  ice  on  sledges  for  its 
erection.  Its  location  was  on  a  rocky  inlet  about  a  hundred  yards 
from  the  vessel,  which  they  named  Fern  Rock.     Preparations  were  also 


WONDERS    OF    THE    POLAR    WORLD.  405 

made  preparatory  to  the  work  of  establishing  provision  depots  on  the 
coast  of  Greenland.  The  advantage  of  these  provision  depots  will 
appear  from  the  fact  that  by  their  assistance  expeditions  of  search 
could  afterward  be  conducted  with  the  use  of  sledges  and  dogs.  The 
provisions  for  the  latter,  if  taken  on  the  journeys  themselves,  form  so 
heavy  a  load  as  seriously  to  embarrass  the  movements  of  the 
travelers.  But  when  they  were  released  from  this  labor  these  dogs 
conveyed  the  sledges  and  their  occupants  on  long  journeys  success- 
fully, and  with  great  rapidity,  on  their  tours  of  examination. 

In  September  the  first  party  organized  to  establish  provision  depots 
was  sent  out.  It  consisted  of  seven  men.  A  sledge  thirteen  feet  in 
length,  called  the  Faith,  was  filled  with  pemmican,  and  was  drawn  by 
those  attached  to  it  by  means  of  track-ropes,  termed  rue-raddies,  which 
were  passed  around  the  shoulder  and  under  the  arms.  The  intended 
location  of  this  depot  was  sixty  miles  from  the  brig,  on  the  Greenland 
coast.  The  life  of  the  party  which  remained  in  the  vessel  was  not 
devoid  of  incident  and  interest.  By  the  tenth  of  October  the  party 
which  had  been  sent  to  establish  the  first  depot  of  provisions  had  been 
absent  twenty  days,  and  their  return  was  anxiously  expected.  Doctor 
Kane  at  length  determined  to  start  out  in  search  of  them.  He  traveled 
with  one  companion  on  a  sledge  drawn  by  four  Esquimau  dogs.  He 
averaged  twenty  miles  per  day  with  this  singular  team. 

One  morning,  several  hours  before  sunrise,  he  perceived  on  the 
distant  and  snowy  waste  a  dark  object  which  seemed  to  move.  It 
proved  to  be  the  returning  depot  party.  They  had  traveled  at  the  rate 
of  eighteen  miles  per  day,  and  had  been  twenty-eight  days  engaged  in 
their  laborious  expedition.  Some  of  their  limbs  had  been  frozen,  and 
they  had  met  with  other  mishaps,  though  none  were  of  a  very  serious 
nature,  and  they  had  accomplished  the  purpose  for  -which  they  had 
been  sent  out.  The  greeting  which  ensued  on  their  return  to  the  ship 
was  hearty  on  both  sides.  They  had  made  the  first  deposit  of  provision 
at  Cape  Russell.  Thirty  miles  further  on  they  left  about  a  hundred 
and  ten  pounds  of  pemmican  and  beef,  about  thirty  pounds  of  a  mix- 
ture of  pemmican  and  meal,  and  a  bag  of  bread.  They  made  their 
third  and  last  deposit  on  an  island  called  James  IMcGary,  after  the 
second  officer  of  the  expedition.  Here  they  erected  a  cairn  and  buried 
six  hundred  and  seventy  pounds  of  pemmican  and  forty  of  meat, 
biscuit,  with  other  items,  making  in  all  eight  hundred  pounds. 

By  the  seventh  of  November  the  darkness  of  an  Arctic  winter  began 
to  settle  down  upon  them.  It  was  necessary  to  keep  the  lamps  lit 
constantly.  In  spite  of  the  intense  cold,  Doctor  Kane  continued  to 
make    his    magnetic    observations    in   the    observatory.       When    the 


406 


WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 


thermometer  stood  at  forty-nine  degrees  below  zero,  and  even  at  sixty- 
four  degrees  below  zero,  he  still  effected  his  astronomical  investigations 
and  calculations.  On  the  twenty-first  of  January,  the  first  traces  of 
the  returning  light  became  visible.  Its  approach  was  indicated  by  a 
beauteous  orange  tint,  which  flushed  the  distant  southern   horizon. 


But  still  the  darkness  seemed  to  be  external  and  un\cU-)ing.  The 
continued  absence  of  light  appeared  to  affect  the  health  of  the  party  as 
much  as  the  excessive  rigor  of  the  cold.  By  the  twenty-first  of 
Februaiy  the  sun's  rays  became  clearly  visible,  and,  when  March 
arrived,  it  brought  with  it  the  almost  perpetual  day  which  alternately 
takes  the  place  in  the  Arctic  realms  of  almost  perpetual  night. 


WONDERS    OF    THE    POLAR    WORLD.  407 

By  the  middle  of  March  the  spring  tides  began  to  break  and  move 
the  massive  ice  whicli  still  bound  the  Arctic  Sea.  The  ice  commenced 
to  grind  and  crush,  the  water  to  dash  to  and  fro,  and  the  vessel  to  rise 
and  descend  in  a  range  of  seventeen  feet  per  day.  Soon  a  depot  party 
was  sent  out  preparatory  to  the  commencement  of  the  operations  of 
the  summer.  The  necessary  preparations  for  inland  trips  and  researches 
were  made,  sledges  and  accoutrements  were  contrived,  and  moccasins 
were  fabricated.  While  these  labors  occupied  their  attention,  a  portion 
of  the  depot  party  suddenly  reappeared  at  the  vessel.  They  brought 
back  a  terrible  report.  They  had  left  four  of  their  number  lying  on  the 
ice  frozen  and  disabled,  and  they  had  returned  to  obtain  instant  relief 

SNOW    THAT    BURNS    AND    DRAWS    BLOOD. 

Not  a  moment  was  to  be  lost.  Ohlsen,  the  only  one  of  the  returned 
party  who  seemed  able  to  give  any  information,  was  wrapped  up  in 
buffalo  robes  and  placed  upon  a  sledge.  Nine  men  started  out  to  the 
rescue.  The  cold  was  intense,  ranging  seventy-eight  degrees  below  the 
freezing-point.  The  instant  the  party  ceased  to  move  they  would  have 
been  frozen  to  death.  Violent  exercise  alone  kept  them  alive.  When 
they  ventured  to  apply  snow  to  their  lips  to  slake  their  thirst,  it  burnt 
like  caustic,  and  blood  immediately  followed.  Some  of  the  men  were 
seized  with  trembling  fits  and  some  with  attacks  of  short  breath. 
Doctor  Kane  himself  fainted  twice  upon  the  snow  under  the  intense  cold. 

After  a  laborious  and  dangerous  journey  of  twenty-one  hours,  the 
lost  party  were  discovered.  They  were  nearly  forty  miles  distant  from 
the  brig.  Their  condition  was  perilous  in  the  extreme,  and  the  succor 
did  not  come  a  moment  too  soon.  But  the  rescuers  were  scarcely  better 
off  than  the  rescued.  They  were  compelled  to  drag  a  load  of  nine 
hundred  pounds  upon  the  sledge,  and  during  their  return  trip  the  whole 
party  were  in  imminent  danger  of  being  frozen  to  death.  They  could 
with  the  utmost  difficulty  resist  the  disposition  to  sleep,  which  would 
have  immediately  sealed  their  fate.  After  a  fearful  journey  of  several 
days,  the  party  regained  the  brig ;  but  the  sufferings  of  that  terrible 
occasion  were  almost  beyond  the  power  of  imagination.  They  had 
traveled  about  ninety  miles,  and  most  of  the  men  had  become  tempor- 
arily delirious,  nearly  all  were  frozen  in  some  portions  of  their  bodies, 
and  two  of  them  ultimately  died  in  consequence  of  their  exposure. 

In  April,  the  time  having  arrived  to  continue  his  researches  in  Arctic 
discovery.  Doctor  Kane  determined  to  resume  his  expedition.  He 
resolved  now  to  follow  the  ice-belt  to  the  Great  Glacier  of  Humboldt, 
and  thence  to  stretch  along  the  glacier  toward  the  west  of  north  and  make 
an  attempt  to  cross  the  ice  to  the  American  side  of  the  channel.  The 
object  of  this  bold  venture  was  to  attain  the  utmost   limit  of  the  shore 


408 


WONDERS  OI-  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 


of  Greenland,  to  measure  the  waste  which  extended  between  it  and  the 
unknown  west,  and  thus  to  reveal,  if  possible,  some  of  the  mysteries 
which   surrounded  the  North  Pole.     The    journey  was   immediately 


.i 


mmiiimmmntjiHiHiMMBniuumi 

inrjs,  the  Great  (Jlacier 


commenced.     After  many  adventures  a; 

of  Humboldt  was  reached,  named  after  the  renowned  German  explorer. 

In  the  latter  part  of  June  one  of  the  two  exploring  parties  returned 


WONDERS    OF    THE    POLAR    WORLD.  409' 

to  the  brig.  Several  of  them  had  become  nearly  blind.  After  twelve 
days'  travel  they  had  reached  the  Great  Glacier.  They  found  the  depot 
of  provisions,  which  had  been  deposited  the  previous  season,  destroyed 
by  the  bears.  An  alcohol  cask  strongly  bound  in  iron  was  dashed  into 
fragments,  and  a  tin  liquor  can  was  mashed  and  twisted  into  a  ball. 
This  party  of  explorers  had  found  it  impossible  to  scale  tlie  Great 
Glacier,  and  returned  to  the  brig  without  having  effected  any  results  of 
importance.      They  were  obliged  to  relinquish  their  fruitless  endeavors. 

THRILLING    ADVENTURES    AMONG    ICEBERGS. 

The  other  party  reached  the  foot  of  the  Great  Glacier.  They  steered 
northward,  keeping  parallel  with  the  glacier,  and  from  five  to  seven 
miles  distant  from  it.  The  thickness  of  the  ice  over  which  they  jour- 
neyed was  found  to  be  seven  feet  five  inches.  They  traveled  frequently 
with  the  snow  up  to  their  knees.  When  they  had  reached  Peabody 
Bay  they  encountered  the  bergs,  whose  surface  was  fresh  and  glassy. 
Some  of  these  were  rectangular  in  shape,  and  some  were  square,  and 
their  length  varied  from  a  quarter  of  a  mile  to  a  mile.  The  task  of 
traveling  over  these  bergs  was  full  of  difficulty  and  danger.  At  length 
they  made  their  way  to  the  ice  beyond.  From  this  point  the  advance 
of  the  party  was  perilous.  They  were  frequently  arrested  by  wide  and 
deep  fissures  in  the  ice.  Some  of  these  chasms  were  four  feet  wide,  and 
contained  water  at  the  bottom.  From  this  point  they  beheld  the  distant 
northern  shore,  termed  the  "West  Land." 

At  length  the  party  reached  a  point  opposite  the  termination  of  the 
Great  Glacier.  It  appeared  to  be  mixed  with  earth  and  rocks.  Travel- 
ing on  they  reached  the  head  of  Kennedy  Channel,  and  saw  beyond 
the  open  water.  Passing  in  their  route  a  cape,  they  called  it  Cape 
Andrew  Jackson.  Here  they  found  good,  smooth  ice  ;  for  during  the 
last  few  days  they  had  passed  over  rotten  ice,  which  not  unfrequently 
threatened  to  break  beneath  them.  Having  entered  the  curve  of  a  bay, 
they  named  it  after  Robert  Morris,  the  great  financier  of  the  Revolution. 
Kennedy  Channel  here  grew  narrower,  but  afterward  it  widened  again. 
Broken  ice  in  large  masses  was  floating  in  it :  but  there  were  passages 
fifteen  miles  in  width  which  remained  perfectly  clear.  Six  miles  inward 
from  the  channel  mountains  rose  to  the  view.  Here  they  encamped, 
after  having  traveled  forty-eight  miles  in  a  direct  line.  They  could 
plainly  see  the  opposite  shore,  which  appeared  precipitous  and  sur- 
mounted with  sugar-loaf-shaped  mountains.  At  this  part  of  their  jour- 
ney they  encountered  a  polar  bear  with  her  cubs.  A  desperate  fight 
ensued,  in  which  the  singular  instincts  of  nature  were  strikingly  illus- 
trated by  the  desperate  efforts  made  by  the  poor  brute  to  protect  her 
helpless  offspring.     A  shallow  bay  covered  with  ice  was  then  crossed. 


WONDERS    OF    THE    POLAR   WORLD.  411 

They  passed  several  islands  which  lay  in  the  channel,  which  they  named 
after  Sir  John  Franklin  and  Captain  Crozier.  The  cliffs  which  here 
constituted  the  shore  of  the  channel  were  very  high,  towering  at  least 
two  thousand  feet  above  its  surface.  The  party  attempted  to  ascend 
these  cliffs,  but  found  it  impossible  to  mount  more  than  a  few  hundred 
feet.  They  here  encountered  a  cape,  and  the  party  desired  to  pass 
around  it  in  order  to  ascertain  whether  there  lay  any  unknown  land 
beyond  it.  But  they  found  it  impossible  to  advance.  This  then  was 
the  utmost  limit  and  termination  of  their  journey  toward  the  Pole. 
One  of  the  party  ascended  an  eminence  here,  and  carefully  scrutinized 
the  aspects  of  nature  all  around  him.  Six  degrees  toward  the  west  of 
north  he  observed  a  lofty  peak,  truncated  in  its  form,  and  about  three 
thousand  feet  in  height.  This  elevation  is  named  Mount  Edward  Parry, 
after  the  great  pioneer  of  Arctic  adventure,  and  is  the  most  extreme 
northern  point  of  land  known  to  exist  upon  the  globe.  There  was 
beheld  toward  the  north,  from  an  elevation  of  four  hundred  feet,  a 
boundless  waste  of  waters  stretching  away  toward  the  Pole.  Not  a 
particle  of  ice  encumbered  its  surface.  Here  was  a  fluid  sea,  in  the 
"midst  of  whole  continents  of  ice,  and  that  sea  seemed  to  wash  the  Pole 
itself.  The  eye  of  the  explorer  surveyed  at  least  forty  miles  of  uninter- 
rupted water  in  a  northern  direction.  The  point  thus  reached  in  this 
exploring  expedition  was  about  five  hundred  miles  distant  from  the  Pole. 
Had  the  party  been  able  to  convey  thither  a  boat,  they  might  have 
-embarked  upon  the  bright  and  placid  waters  of  that  lonely  ocean.  But 
having  been  able  to  make  this  journey  only  with  the  sledge,  further 
explorations  were  of  course  impossible.  The  most  remarkable  develop- 
ment connected  with  these  discoveries  was,  that  the  temperature  was 
here  found  to  be  much  more  moderate  than  it  was  further  south.  Marine 
birds  sailed  through  the  heavens.  Rippling  waves  followed  each  other 
on  the  surface  of  the  deep.  A  few  stunted  flowers  grew  over  the  barren 
and  rocky  shore.  The  inference  which  may  be  drawn  from  these  and 
other  facts  is,  that  this  open  sea,  termed  the  Polar  Basin,  stretches  to 
the  Pole  itself,  or  at  least  continues  a  great  distance  until  its  course  is 
interrupted  by  other  projections  of  the  earth. 

The  prospect  of  a  second  winter  amid  the  eternal  snows  and  ice  of 
the  Polar  Circle  was  not  inviting  to  the  adventurers.  A  portion  of 
them  felt  convinced  of  the  practicability  of  an  immediate  escape  to  the 
south.  Doctor  Kane  summoned  all  hands  together  and  clearly  .stated 
to  them  the  aspects  of  the  case.  He  advised  that  all  should  remain 
by  the  brig  till  the  next  spring,  although  he  declared  that  those  who 
wished  to  return  could  make  the  attempt.  Eight  men  concluded  to 
remain,  and  nine  of  them  resolved  that,  rather  than  endure  the  miseries 


412  WONDERS    OF   EXPLORATION    AND    ADVENTURE. 

of  a  second  winter  near  the  Pole,  they  would  run  the  risks  of  an 
instant  attempt  to  escape.  This  resolution  they  made  immediate 
preparation  to  execute.  A  full  share  of  the  remaining  provisions  was 
measured  out  to  them  :  they  were  assured  of  a  welcome  reception  if 
they  chose  to  return,  and  they  started  forth  from  the  brig.  One  of 
this  party  returned  to  the  vessel  in  a  few  days;  the  rest  wandered  for 
many  months  and  endured  much  misery  and  exposure  before  they 
rejoined  their  wiser  comrades  in  the  brig,  thankful  to  get  back. 

DOCTOR    KANE's    NARROW    ESCAPE    FROM    DROWNING. 

Doctor  Kane  and  the  eight  men  who  remained  with  him  immediately 
began  to  prepare  for  the  horrors  of  the  ensuing  winter.  They  gathered 
a  large  amount  of  moss,  with  which  they  lined  and  padded  the  quarter- 
deck. This  expedient  rendered  their  cabin  impervious  to  the  changes 
and  the  extreme  severity  of  the  atmosphere.  They  stripped  off  the 
outer-deck  planking  of  the  brig  for  the  purpose  of  firewood.  The 
chief  necessity  of  the  explorers  was  fresh  meat,  to  guard  them  against 
the  scurvy.  To  obtain  this  food,  frequent  excursions  were  made  for 
the  purpose  of  capturing  seals.  On  one  of  these  occasions  Doctor 
Kane  narrowly  escaped  a  watery  grave.  He  was  twelve  miles'  distance 
from  the  brig  with  a  single  attendant.  The  ice  broke  beneath  their 
sledge  and  they  were  precipitated  into  the  water.  After  great  exertions 
and  amid  extreme  danger  they  succeeded  in  regaining  ice  sufficiently 
strong  to  bear  their  weight.     They  lost  their  sledge,  tent  and  guns. 

They  waited  patiently  for  the  time  to  arrive  when  they  could 
commence  the  necessary  preparations  for  the  journey  of  thirteen 
hundred  miles  which  they  would  undertake  in  the  spring.  The  vessel 
would  evidently  remain  so  firmly  fixed  in  an  ocean  of  ice  that  its 
removal  would  be  utterly  impossible.  Their  return  mu.st  be  effected 
with  the  combined  use  of  sledges  and  boats. 

The  means  of  conveyance  which  were  to  carry  the  company  on  this 
long  and  weary  journey  homeward,  and  which  were  to  be  carried  by 
them  in  a  great  measure,  consisted  of  three  boats.  These  had  all 
suffered  very  materially  from  exposure  to  the  ice  and  the  Arctic  storms, 
and  were  scarcely  seaworthy.  They  were  strengthened  and  tinkered 
in  every  possible  way  by  oak  bottom  pieces  and  by  wash-boards,  which 
protected  the  gunwales  and  gave  them  greater  depth.  The  provisions 
were  stored  carefully  under  the  thwarts.  The  boats  were  to  be  drawn 
by.  the  men  with  rue-raddies,  or  straps,  which  passed  over  the 
shoulder.  Having  made  all  the  preparations  which  were  possible 
under  the  circumstances  of  the  case.  Doctor  Kane  announced  to  his 
crew  their  final  departure  from  the  brig.  Each  man  was  allowed  to 
select  and   retain  eight  pounds  of   personal   effects.      He  was  deter- 


WONDERS    OF   THE    POLAR   WORLD. 


413 


mined  to  commence  this  memorable  journey  on  the  day  appointed,  at 
all  hazards.  At  length  the  day  preceding  that  of  departure  arrived. 
The  boats  were  removed  from  the  brig  and  placed  upon  the  ice.  This 
process  seemed  to  revive  to  some  degree  the  desponding  spirits  of  the 
men.  The  provisions  were  then  conveyed  into  them,  and  other  neces- 
sary transfers  were  made.  After  some  hours  of  active  operations,  the 
whole  of  their  task  was  completed,  and  the  men  returned  on  board  the 
brig  in  order  to  spend  their  last  night  in  that  familiar  shelter.  At 
length  the  v/'^h'^d  for  momort-  n-n-rr^  ivi-,-n   the  weary  adventurers 


START    FOR    THE    PERILOUS    JOURNEY    HOMEWARD. 

were  to  take  their  last  farewell  of  the  vessel  which  had  been  associated 
with  them  in  so  many  vicissitudes  and  dangers.  Thirteen  hundred 
miles  of  ice  and  water  lay  between  their  present  position  and  the  shores 
of  North  Greenland. 

They  continued  to  toil  onward  from  day  to  day.  Their  progress 
was  satisfactory,  though  their  labor  was  exhausting.  Doctor  Rane 
sometimes  continued  sixteen  hours  in  succession  at  the  post  of  duty. 
But  now  their  allowance  of  food  began  to  grow  scanty.  It  was 
reduced  to  six  ounces  of  bread-dust  per  day,  and  a  lump  of  tallow 
about  the  size  of  a  walnut.     An  occasional  cup  of  tea  was  their  only 


414  WONDERS    OF   EXPLORATION    AND    ADVENTURE. 

consolation.  From  this  stage  in  their  journey  Dairy mple  Rock 
became  perceptible  in  the  distance.  But  the  physical  strength  of  the 
men  began  to  give  way  beneath  their  labors  and  their  insufficient  diet. 
At  this  crisis  a  gale  struck  them  from  the  north-west,  and  a  floe,  one 
end  of  which  having  grounded  on  a  tongue  of  ice  about  a  mile  to  the 
northward  of  them,  began  to  swing  round  toward  the  boats,  and 
threaten  to  inclose  and  crush  them.  Soon  the  destruction  of  the 
surrounding  ice  threatened  their  own.  For  hundreds  of  yards  on 
every  side  around  them  the  ice  was  crumbled,  crushed,  and  piled  in 
irregular  and  fragmentary  masses.  The  thunder  of  the  confused  ocean 
of  frozen  wrecks  was  overpowering.  Suddenly  the  ice  seemed  to 
separate  and  form  a  channel ;  and  in  that  channel,  so  unexpectedly 
opened  before  them,  the  men  rowed  the  boats  with  the  aid  of  their 
boat  hooks,  and  escaped  a  danger  which  a  moment  before  seemed 
inevitable  and  ruinous. 

Finally  they  came  within  sight  of  the  Devil's  Thumb,  and  were  no 
longer  wanderers  in  unknown  regions  ;  but  were  within  the  limits  of 
the  district  frequented  by  the  whalers.  Soon  they  reached  the  Duck 
Islands.  At  length  they  passed  Cape  Shackleton,  and  then  steered  for 
the  shore  of  Greenland.  They  rowed  on.  Soon  Kasarsoak,  the  snow- 
capped summit  of  Sanderson's  Hope,  appeared  to  them,  towering  above 
the  mists ;  and  as  they  approached  the  welcome  harbor  of  Upernavik, 
from  which  they  had  issued  several  years  before  in  the  gallant  vessel 
they  had  now  left  behind  them,  they  felt  as  only  such  men  under  such 
circumstances  could  feel.  During  eighty-four  days  they  had  lived  in 
the  open  air,  tossing  in  frail  boats  on  the  bosom  of  the  angry,  half- 
frozen  deep.  They  were  delivered  from  a  thousand  deaths,  and  arrived 
at  last  safely  at  Upernavik,  where  they  were  received  with  hospitality. 

The  results  of  his  expedition  comprise  the  survey  and  delineation  of 
the  north  coast  of  Greenland  to  its  termination  by  a  great  glacier ;  the 
survey  of  this  glacier  and  its  extension  northward  into  the  new  land 
named  Washington  ;  the  discovery  and  delineation  of  a  large  tract  of 
land,  forming  the  extension  northward  of  the  American  continent,  and 
a  survey  of  the  American  coast,  all  results  of  great  value. 

THE    WONDERFUL    FROZEN  SEA. 

Whatever  opinions  may  be  entertained  as  to  the  existence  of  an  open 
sea  around  the  North  Pole,  it  is  agreed  on  all  hands  that  there  is  a 
Polar  Frozen  Sea.  In  both  the  northern  and  southern  high  latitudes 
it  has  been  found  that  there  is  a  certain  limit  beyond  which  the  pro- 
gress of  ships  is  barred  by  an  impenetrable  fence  of  ice.  What  is 
beyond  it  is  more  or  less  matter  of  speculation.  Concerning  the 
Frozen  Sea  of  the  Arctic  regions,  much  more  is  known  than  has  been 


WONDERS    OF   THE    POLAR    WORLD.  415 

ascertained  about  the  Frozen  Sea  in  the  Antarctic  Circle ;  many  more 
expeditions  have  been  sent  out  to  examine  the  nature  of  the  sea  around 
the  North  Pole  than  have  ventured  to  the  South ;  but  it  would  appear 
that  the  latter  is,  of  the  two,  the  more  impervious.  Ocean  surveyors, 
from  the  time  of  Cook  to  the  time  of  Ross  and  Penny,  have  been 
unanimous  in  reporting  that  there  is  no  indication  of  a  break  anywhere 
along  the  southern  barrier.  Their  ships  sailed  for  many  degrees  along 
the  outer  face  of  an  icy  wall,  of  which  the  first  shelf  was  as  high  as 
their  mainyard.  Above  and  beyond  that  shelf,  as  far  as  the  assisted 
sight  could  reach,  there  was  nothing  but  solid  ice,  save  in  some  few 
places,  where  what  looked  like  land  was  joined  on  to  and  backed  the 
frozen  fringe.  Mile  after  mile,  day  after  day,  the  ships  sailed  on  coast- 
wise, keeping  a  pretty  straight  line  of  latitude,  watching  narrowly  for 
an  opening  in  the  hard  ice  cliff  Not  an  opening  presented  itself,  and 
the  results  of  discovery  in  the  Antarctic  regions  have  been  to  show 
that  land,  probably  in  large  proportions,  does  exist  beyond  the  ice. 

SWEPT    ONWARD    A    THOUSAND    MILES. 

The  frozen  condition  of  the  Arctic  Ocean  is  a  fact  within  the 
experience  of  every  whaler,  though  the  question  of  the  extent  to  which 
the  sea  is  frozen  remains  unsettled.  At  a  degree  of  latitude  which 
varies  with  the  season  of  the  year,  the  progress  of  ships  northward  is 
barred  by  a  barrier  of  frozen  water.  During  the  summer  months,  when 
occasionally  the  thermometer  will  register  a  heat  equal  to  the  mean 
temperature  of  the  tropics,  and  such  life  as  there  is  in  the  Arctic  Circle 
wakes  up  and  renews  its  lease,  the  zone  of  the  north  is  loosened,  the 
outer  edge  of  the  belt  cracks  and  splits  into  vast  mountains  of  ice 
which,  becoming  detached,  get  under  way  and  start  for  the  south. 
From  the  end  of  May  they  are  to  be  met  with  in  the  North  Atlantic, 
sailing  majestically  and  dangerously  towards  those  warmer  regions  of 
which  the  temperature  is  reduced  and  invigorated  by  their  icy  presence. 
The  question  is  whether  there  is  any  general  break  up  of  the  Frozen 
Sea,  whether  in  the  more  northerly  parts  the  pack  ice  ever  becomes 
loose  ice,  and  again  whether,  supposing  it  does  not  become  loose,  the 
pack  ice  drifts  bodily  southward  as  it  has  been  suggested  it  does.  Ships 
that  have  been  nipped  by  the  ice  and  have  been  surprised  by  winter  in 
the  north,  report  that  during  their  captivity  they  have  been  carried 
many  degrees  to  the  southward  by  the  drift  of  the  pack  in  which  they 
were  inclosed.  Lieutenant  De  Haven,  of  the  American  navy,  when  in 
command  of  the  United  States  expedition  after  Sir  John  Franklin,  was 
frozen  up  for  nine  months,  at  the  beginning  of  which  time  he  was  in 
mid-channel  in  Wellington  Straits,  and  at  the  end  he  found  himself  one 
thousand  miles  to  the  southward.     Her  Majesty's  ship  "  Resolute,"  which 


416 


WONDERS    OF    THE    POLAR    WORLD.  417 

was  abandoned  by  Captain  Kellet  in  the  ice,  remained  in  the  cold 
embrace  of  the  ice  nip  for  several  years,  but  in  the  end  was  borne 
south  till  the  temperature  burst  her  bonds  and  she  was  recaptured  and 
sent  home  unharmed.  These  instances  only  prove  that  the  particular 
portion  of  the  Frozen  Sea  in  which  the  ships  were  bound  became  loose, 
though  there  is  good  reason  to  think  that  the  entire  belt  of  ice  about 
the  North  Pole  does  in  ordinarily  warm  summers  become  detached,  new 
.  ice  being  formed  on  the  extreme  northerly  limit  of  the  sea  as  soon  as 
winter  returns,  in  order  to  replace  that  pushed  away  in  summer. 

THE  OPEN  SEA  AROUND  THE  POLE. 

If  we  may  credit  the  great  amount  of  evidence  which  has  been 
adduced,  we  should  adopt  the  general  belief  of  Arctic  explorers,  that 
beyond  the  Frozen  Sea  there  is  a  large  open  sea,  free  from  ice,  which 
extends  for  several  degrees  all  round  the  Pole.  Dr.  Kane  crossed  a 
barrier  of  ice  a  hundred  miles  broad,  of  which  the  northern  boundary 
was  reached  in  the  eighty-third  degree  of  north  latitude.  There,  as 
already  mentioned,  he  found  an  open  sea  extending  in  an  unbroken 
sheet  of  water  as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach  towards  the  Pole,  the  waves 
broke  upon  the  shore,  and  there  was  a  tidal  variation  in  the  height  of 
the  water,  the  temperature  of  which  was  four  degrees  above  freezing. 
Whether  this  sea  was  only  temporarily  free  from  ice  or  whether  it  is 
always  open,  is  a  question  yet  to  be  solved.  Explorers  who  have 
penetrated  far  to  the  northward  of  Doctor  Kane's  position  have 
reported  the  whole  place  ice-bound,  with  apparently  an  unmo\'ing,  fast- 
anchored  ice-pack  stretching  away  to  the  north. 

There  is  one  huge  animal  in  the  Arctic  Seas  that  draws  numbers  of 
ships  thither  in  search  of  him.  There  are  several  kinds  of  whales,  and 
some  are  found  in  the  southern  as  well  as  in  the  northern  seas.  But 
the  most  remarkable  is  the  Greenland  whale,  which  lives  up  in  the  cold 
and  ice  of  the  Frozen  Zone.  His  body  is  of  value  because  of  the 
quantity  of  oil  which  can  be  obtained  from  it.  And  though  the  whale- 
fishery  is  a  most  dangerous  undertaking,  many  persons  are  found  willing 
to  engage  in  it.  The  whale  lives  in  the  sea,  and  to  all  appearance  has 
the  habits  of  a  fish.  He  has  warm  blood  and  breathes  the  air.  He 
can  keep  under  water  for  an  hour  at  a  time,  or  even  two  hours ;  but 
this  is  not  his  usual  practice.  Every  ten  minutes,  or  quarter  of  an  hour, 
he  comes  up  to  breathe.  He  has  a  reservoir  of  blood  which  has  had 
its  share  of  oxygen,  and  is  kept  ready  for  use.  This  reservoir  consists 
of  a  number  of  arteries,  or  vessels,  which  contain  the  blood  that  has 
been  mixed  with  oxygen.  They  spread  over  the  inside  of  the  chest, 
and  also  of  the  ribs  and  the  spine.  They  are  found  even  within  the 
skull.  When  the  whale  is  a  long  time  under  water,  and  cannot  get  any 
27 


418  WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 

oxygen  from  the  atmosphere,  he  falls  back  on  this  store  within.  The 
blood  can  thus  continue  its  course  without  becoming  exhausted.  When 
he  does  rise  to  the  surface,  which  he  is  obliged  to  do  at  last,  then  the 
whole  of  the  blood  receives  a  supply.  Part  goes  its  way  through  the 
body,  and  the  rest  is  received  into  the  reservoir  to  be  ready  for  use. 
The  tube  called  the  windpipe  is  not  placed  as  our  windpipe  is.  It  does 
not  open  into  the  mouth,  but  at  the  top  of  the  head.  There  is  a  lump 
where  it  opens,  and  the  whale  can  keep  his  whole  body  under  water 
except  just  this  lump.  And  there  is  a  kind  of  valve  or  stopper  to  the 
opening  of  the  windpipe  which  exactly  fits  it,  and  can  keep  out  the 
water,  and  also  resist  the  greatest  pressure.  Indeed,  the  more  pressure 
there  is  upon  it,  the  tighter  it  fits.  The  whale  begins  to  breathe  before 
he  quite  reaches  the  surface  of  the  water.  The  air  rushing  from  the 
windpipe,  and  the  water  together,  then  the  whale  is  said  to  "  spout." 

WONDERFUL    CONSTRUCTION    AND    HABITS    OF   THE   WHALE. 

When  the  whale  is  struck  by  the  harpoon,  he  is  in  a  great  hurry  and 
fright.  He  dives  down  to  the  bottom  of  the  sea  with  the  utmost  speed, 
and  even  strikes  the  ground  with  his  head.  Indeed,  it  is  no  uncommon 
thing  for  him  to  fracture  his  skull.  He  lives  among  the  ice  and  cold 
of  the  north,  and  is  quite  protected  from  the  cold  by  his  skin.  This 
skin  is  really  a  thick  layer  of  fat,  which  the  sailors  call  blubber.  It  has 
a  dark,  motley  color  to  look  at,  and  is  full  of  fibres,  as  our  skin  is.  The 
whole  skin  is  full  of  oil,  and  this  is  the  true  riches  of  the  whale,  and  the 
reason  why  he  is  hunted.  As  far  as  the  whale  himself  is  concerned, 
the  oily  skin  is  useful  for  two  reasons.  It  is  very  warm,  and  keeps  up 
the  heat  of  the  body.  And  the  oil,  being  lighter  than  the  water,  helps 
him  to  swim.  The  whale,  large  as  he  is,  does  not  feed  on  creatures  of 
any  size.  His  throat  is  so  narrow  that  a  herring  could  not  get  down  it. 
He  lives  on  jelly-fishes  and  minute  animals.  He  has  no  teeth,  and  is  a 
very  harmless  creature,  in  spite  of  his  size.  His  mouth  is  the  most  curi- 
ous part  of  him.  From  the  upper  jaw  there  are  a  number  of  plates  of  a 
horny  substance.  They  stand  side  by  side,  and  the  edges  have  a  fringe 
of  hair.  The  middle  plate  is  the  largest,  and  the  plates  keep  getting 
smaller  on  each  side,  the  last  being  the  smallest.  The  lower  jaw  has 
no  plates  ;  but  it  is  in  the  shape  of  a  great  spoon,  so  that  the  plates  can 
go  into  it  when  the  mouth  is  shut.  Now,  when  the  great  mouthful  of 
water  is  taken  in  by  the  whale,  it  runs  out  again  through  the  plates. 
But  the  fringes  of  hair  keep  in  the  tiny,  living  creatures  which  are  to 
serve  as  food.  They  are,  in  fact,  a  kind  of  filter,  for  they  reject  the  bad, 
and  only  receive  the  good.  The  plates  are  the  true  whalebone,  and  as 
valuable  in  their  way  as  the  oil  is  in  its  way. 

Whaling  vessels  set  out  in  the  spring,  as  the  summer  is  the  only 


WONDERS    OF   THE    POLAR    WORLD.  419 

season  when  there  is  a  chance  of  saihng  in  the  Arctic  seas.  When  they 
reach  the  spot  where  whales  are  Hkely  to  be  found,  a  man  keeps  on  the 
watch,  to  spy  one  out.  The  moment  he  sees  one  he  calls  out,  "  There 
she  spouts  !  "  Then  the  boats  are  let  down  in  pursuit.  This  is  done 
directly,  for  the  boats  are  kept  ready  to  start.  The  harpoon  is  made 
of  iron,  and  is  a  little  in  the  shape  of  an  anchor,  but  with  a  sharp  point 
to  it.  Very  swiftly,  and  without  making  any  noise,  the  boat  glides 
along,  and  when  the  harpoon  strikes,  the  whale  dives  into  the  very  depths 
of  the  ocean.  As  soon  as  he  appears  the  boats  are  ready  with  fresh 
harpoons  and  lances.  He  will  dive  again,  but  this  time  he  cannot  stay 
under  water  so  long.  He  gets  exhausted  by  repeated  wounds,  and  after 
a  great  many  struggles  he  dies.  The  vast  body  of  the  whale  is  brought 
near  the  vessel,  and  the  men  get  upon  it.  They  have  iron  spikes  in 
their  shoes,  or  else  they  could  not  help  slipping.  When  the  whalebone 
has  been  taken  out  of  the  mouth,  the  huge  mass  is  turned  adrift. 

If  the  whale  knew  his  own  power,  he  would  easily  destroy  all  the 
machinery  which  the  art  of  man  could  devise  for  catching  him  ;  it  would 
be  only  necessary  for  him  to  swim  on  the  surface  in  a  straight  line,  in 
order  to  break  the  thickest  rope,  but,  instead,  on  being  struck  by  the 
harpoon,  he  obeys  a  natural  instinct,  which,  in  this  instance,  betrays 
him  to  his  death.  Sir  Humphrey  Davy  observes  that  the  whale,  not 
having  an  air-bladder,  can  sink  to  the  lowest  depths  of  the  ocean,  and 
mistaking  the  harpoon  for  the  teeth  of  a  sword-fish  or  a  shark,  he  in- 
stantly descends,  this  being  his  manner  of  freeing  himself  from  these 
enemies,  who  cannot  bear  the  pressure  of  a  deep  ocean  ;  and  from 
ascending  and  descending  in  small  space,  he  thus  puts  himself  in  the 
power  of  the  whaler.  If  we  include  the  pressure  of  the  atmosphere,  a 
body  at  the  depth  of  one  hundred  feet  would  sustain  that  of  sixty  pounds 
on  the  square  inch  ;  while  one  at  four  thousand  feet,  a  depth  by  no 
means  considerable,  would  be  exposed  to  a  pressure  of  one  thousand 
eight  hundred  and  thirty  pounds.  W^e  need  not,  therefore,  feel  surprised 
that  on  the  foundering  of  a  ship  at  sea,  though  its  timbers  part,  not  a 
spar  floats  to  the  surface  ;  for  if  the  hull  has  sunk  to  a  great  depth,  all 
that  is  porous  is  penetrated  with  water,  or  is  greatly  compressed.  One 
navigator  states  that  when  by  entangling  the  line  of  the  harpoon,  a  boat 
was  carried  down  with  the  whale,  it  required  after  it  was  recovered,  two 
boats  to  keep  it  at  the  surface.  As  soon  as  the  whale  dives  after  having 
been  wounded,  it  draws  out  the  line  or  cord  of  the  harpoon,  which  is 
coiled  up  in  the  boat,  with  very  considerable  velocity.  In  order,  there- 
fore, to  prevent  any  accident  from  the  violence  of  this  motion,  which 
might  set  the  side  of  the  boat  on  fire,  one  man  is  stationed  with  an  axe 
to  cut  the  rope  asunder  if  it  should  become  entangled,  while  another. 


420  WONDERS    OF    EXPLORATION   AND    ADVENTURE. 

furnished  with  a  mop,  is  constantly  cooHng  with  water  the  channel 
through  which  it  passes,  as  the  monster  plunges  into  the  depths. 

It  was  on  a  whaling  vessel,  the  "Arctic,"  that  our  American  adven- 
turer, Captain  Hall,  returned  to  Dundee,  after  his  celebrated  expedition 
in  the  Polar  region,  where  he  met  with  many  losses  and  misfortunes. 

AN    AUSTRIAN    HERO    AND    HIS    ADVENTURES. 

As  Austria  had  been  prevented  from  taking  any  active  part  in  the 
great  geographical  problems  of  the  times,  an  interest  in  polar  researches 
gradually  developed  into  a  determination  to  send  her  flag  upon  the 
peaceful  quest  of  new  discoveries  in  the  frozen  north.  Lieutenant 
Payer,  having  been  previously  employed  in  the  survey  of  the  peaks  and 
glaciers  of  the  Alps,  was  prepared  to  enter  upon  a  life  of  active  service 
in  the  snows  and  hummocks  of  Nova  Zembla,  and  was  duly  commis- 
sioned. The  ship  chosen  for  the  voyage  was  the  "Tegetthoff "  It  was 
fitted  with  provisions  and  fuel  for  two  years  and  a  half,  and  sailed  in 
June,  1872.     The  objects  of  the  expedition  were  mainly  scientific. 

After  a  stop  of  some  days  on  the  Norway  coast  and  the  Loffodon 
Islands,  the  "  Tegetthoff "  was  at  last  fairly  on  her  way  to  her  long 
abode  among  the  icebergs  of  Nova  Zembla.  The  vessel  soon  came 
upon  scenes  strange  and  unfamiliar  to  most  of  the  crew  on  board.  As 
they  came  into  the  region  of  ice  the  temperature  rapidly  lowered. 
Fogs  arose  in  the  distance  from  the  leads  in  the  ice-field,  and  snow- 
storms alternated  with  cloudless  skies  and  genial  sun.  Far  to  the  north 
was  observed  the  "ice-blink" — ^a  shining  band  of  light  in  the  horizon 
— always  a  faithful  monitor  of  solid  ice,  of  whose  radiating  power  it  is 
a  portrayal.  There  is  said  to  be  no  more  solemn  sound  than  that  made 
by  the  action  upon  the  ice  of  the  elements  of  thaw  and  frost,  and  no 
pictures  more  sad  and  ghostly  than  the  procession  of  icebergs  floating 
like  huge  white  biers  toward  the  south.  Great  falls  of  thaw-water 
flowed  down  the  sides  of  the  icebergs,  sometimes  rending  them  w^ith  a 
noise  as  of  thunder  by  their  constant  wearing  and  frightful  grinding. 

MOUNTAINS    OF    SPLENDID    CRYSTALS. 

But  when  the  sun  came  out  the  fogs  disappeared  toward  the  horizon, 
and  the  whole  scene  was  bathed  in  rosy  and  golden  splendor,  the  ice- 
crystals  flashing  like  diamonds  in  the  flood  of  light.  Occasionally  a 
whale  would  rise  out  of  the  water  like  a  great  black  mountain,  and  then 
diving  deep  beneath  the  surface  make  the  ocean  tumultuous  with  his 
awkward  gambols.  The  icebergs  presented  some  curious  shapes. 
Some  were  chiseled  as  if  by  a  trained  sculptor  into  fantastic  forms  of 
Gothic  architecture,  with  quaint  little  peaks  and  towers,  and  grotesque 
gables.  Others  represented  mammoth  structures  supported  by  regular 
columns,  apparently  of  solid  glass.     Rarely  were  the  regular  prisms,  .so 


421 


422  WONDERS    OF    EXPLORATION    AND    ADVENTURE. 

common  in  the  North  Atlantic,  observed  in  these  Arctic  Seas.  Such 
were  some  of  the  sights  which  greeted  our  voyagers  as  they  entered 
the  Polar  Ocean.     They  were  in  a  world  of  frozen  wonders. 

At  length  the  expedition  encountered  immense  masses  of  ice.  The 
long  night  and  its  fearful  cold  were  before  them,  and  they  were  drifting 
they  knew  not  whither.  Daily,  for  one  hundred  and  thirty  days,  they 
were  destined  to  experience  those  terrible  oncomings  of  the  ice.  They 
kept  everything  in  readiness  for  retreat  from  the  ship  in  case  the  worse 
came  to  the  worst.  Their  sledges  were  loaded,  their' boats  were 
manned,  and  their  clothing  and  provisions  were  distributed.  They  slept 
in  their  wet,  frozen  garments,  expecting  to  be  called  up  at  any  time  and 
driven  forth  on  the  ice.  But  whither  should  they  go  ?  The  sea  about 
them  was  lifting  and  grinding  far  beyond  the  view.  Great  hummocks 
danced  and  whirled,  overturning  at  times  with  tremendous  force,  while 
chasms  opened  on  every  hand,  threatening  to  swallow  up  any  sledge,  or 
boat,  or  person,  venturing  on  tlie  uncertain  surface.  It  was  fortunate 
that  these  first  encounters  with  the  ice  occurred  while  it  was  yet  light. 
Had  these  assaults  surprised  them  amid  the  polar  darkness,  confusion 
and  disorder  would  have  taken  the  place  of  the  calm  preparations  they 
were  now  able  to  make. 

The  pressure  meanwhile  continuing,  it  was  thought  best  to  make 
some  kind  of  a  habitation  upon  a  firmer  floe,  to  which  they  might 
betake  themselves  in  an  emergency.  Armed  and  provided  with  lanterns 
they  removed  two  boats,  one  hundred  and  fifty  logs  of  wood,  fifty 
planks,  and  a  supply  of  coal,  to  the  port  side  of  the  vessel,  and  there 
built  their  house  of  refuge.  But  even  this  hope  might  fail  them.  A 
storm  might  carry  away  the  planks  which  formed  its  roof,  fire  might 
consume  the  combustible  substance  of  its  walls,  and  at  any  time  a 
fissure  might  open  from  beneath  and  swallow  up  the  whole  community. 

The  winter  of  1872-73  slowly  crept  away,  and  the  sun,  by  ^ts 
reappearance,  gave  promise  of  summer.  Summer  came,  but  the  months 
of  May  and  June,  in  temperate  climates  the  glad  harbingers  of  growth 
and  life,  brought  no  relief  to  the  waiting  travelers.  "  Nothing  but  ice" 
was  the  oft-repeated  answer  of  those  who  eagerly  scanned  the  horizon 
in  every  direction.  The  second  summer  of  the  voyage  had  come  and 
nearly  gone.  It  had  begun  with  promise  of  liberation,  but  the  time  of 
greatest  heat  had  gone  by,  and  no  sign  of  the  predicted  release  had 
come.  The  idea  of  discoveries  had  utterly  passed  out  of  the  minds  of 
the  explorers,  and  yet  discoveries  beyond  their  utmost  expectations 
were  awaiting  them. 

August  thirtieth  brought  them  a  joyous  surprise.  At  mid-day,  says 
Payer,  as  we  were  leaning  on  the  bulwarks  of  the  ship,  and  scanning 


WONDERS    OF    THE    POLAR    WORLD.  423 

the  gliding  mists,  through  which  the  rays  of  the  sun  broke  ever  and 
anon,  a  wall  of  mist,  lifting  itself  up  suddenly,  revealed  to  us  afar  off 
in  the  north-west  the  outlines  of  bold  rocks,  which  in  a  few  minutes 
seemed  to  grow  into  a  radiant  Alpine  land.  At  first  we  all  stood 
transfixed,  and  hardly  believed  what  we  saw.  Then,  carried  away  by 
the  reality  of  our  good  fortune,  we  burst  forth  into  shouts  of  joy — 
"  Land,  land,  land  at  last !  "  For  thousands  of  years  this  land  had 
lain  buried  from  the  knowledge  of  men  and  now  its  discovery  had 
fallen  into  the  lap  of  a  small  band,  themselves  almost  lost  to  the 
world,  who,  far  from  their  home,  remembered  the  homage  due  to  their 
sovereign,  and  gave  to  the  newly  discovered  territory  the  name,  Kaiser 
Franz-Joseph's  land. 

The  fall  and  winter  of  the  present  year  were  occupied  in  determining 
more  fully  the  extent  and  configuration  of  the  island  or  Arctic  con- 
tinent just  found.  This  work  was  conducted  chiefly  by  means  of 
sledge  journeys  to  and  over  the  rough  surface  of  the  country  which 
they  had  dignified  with  the  name  of  their  emperor.  One  experience 
in  the  fissures  of  a  glacier  is  especially  worthy  of  being  narrated. 

PLUNGED    HEADLONG    INTO    AN    ICE    GULF. 

The  party,  after  a  brief  halt,  were  just  setting  out  again,  when  the 
snow  gave  way  beneath  the  sledge-runners,  and  driver,  dogs,  and  vehicle 
were  precipitated  into  some  unknown  depth  below.  Payer  first  heard 
the  confused  shouting  of  the  man,  mingled  with  the  barking  and 
howling  of  the  dogs  from  the  bottom  of  the  crevasse,  many  feet  below. 
All  this,  says  he,  was  the  impression  of  a  moment,  while  I  felt  myself 
dragged  backward  by  the  rope.  Staggering  back,  and  seeing  the  dark 
abyss  beneath  me,  I  could  not  doubt  that  I  should  be  precipitated  into 
it  the  next  instant.  A  wonderful  providence  arrested  the  fall  of  the 
sledge  ;  at  a  depth  of  about  thirty  feet  it  struck  just  between  the  sides 
of  the  crevasse,  just  as  I  was  being  dragged  to  the  abyss  by  the 
weight.  The  sledge  having  jammed  itself  in,  I  lay  on  my  stomach 
close  to  the  awful  brink  :  the  rope  which  attached  me  to  the  sledge 
tightly  strained,  and  cutting  deeply  into  the  snow. 

By  incredible  tact  and  perseverance  Payer  at  last  freed  himself  from 
the  sledge,  and  set  about  recovering  the  store  of  lost  provisions,  the 
manuscripts,  which  could  never  be  replaced,  and  above  all,  about  the 
rescue  of  the  fallen  comrade  who  was  the  "  pride  and  gem  of  the 
party."  Being  the  only  one  of  the  party  accustomed  to  glaciers,  Payer 
was  of  necessity  almost  alone  in  his  exertions.  Rushing  back  to  the  tent 
where  most  of  the  men  had  remained,  he  hurriedly  explained  what  had 
happened,  and  all  hastened  to  the  spot  of  the  disaster,  leaving  the  tent 
and  stores  unwatched.     They  found  their  poor  comrade  nearly  dead 


424  WONDERS    OF    EXPLORATION    AND   ADVENTURE. 

from  the  cold,  but  sufficiently  conscious  to  be  pulled  to  the  top  of  the 
ice-cliff  over  which  he  had  fallen.  The  dogs  were  found  uninjured  and 
quietly  sleeping  near  him. 

Franz-Joseph's  Land  was  found  to  be  almost  as  large  as  Spitzbergen, 
and  to  consist  of  two  main  masses  between  which  runs  a  broad  stretch 
of  sea  and  ice,  called  Austria  Sound.  At  the  time  of  this  exploration 
the  sound  was  covered  with  ice  for  the  most  part  not  more  than  a  year 
in  growth,  crossed  in  many  places  by  fissures,  and  piled  up  with  huge 
hummocks.  The  fact  that  here  many  icebergs  were  seen,  which  had 
not  been  the  case  in  the  Nova  Zembla  seas,  warranted  the  supposition 
that  they  floated  away  from  the  ice-packs  in  a  northerly  direction.  The 
experience  of  two  winters  in  the  ice  had  forced  the  party  to  the  conclu- 
sion that  the  liberation  of  the  "Tegetthoff  "  was  too  remote  for  them  to 
save  themselves  by  navigating  the  path  over  which  they  had  come  by 
its  aid.  Her  abandonment  was  therefore  universally  agreed  on,  and  the 
very  day  on  which,  in  1854,  Kane  had  left  the  "Advance"  on  the  coast 
of  Greenland,  was  chosen  for  the  first  steps  of  their  journey  home 
which  they  finally  succeeded  in  reaching  after  their  long  absence. 

A    REMARKABLE    EXPLORING   FEAT. 

Another  Arctic  expedition,  consisting  of  the  ships  "Alert "  and 
"Discovery,"  under  Captain  Sir  George  Nares,  Commander  A.  H. 
Markham,  and  Captain  H.  F.  Stephenson,  was  sent  out  by  the  British 
Geographical  Society  in  the  year  1875.  The  officers  and  men  of  both 
vessels  numbered  one  hundred  and  twenty,  many  of  whom  had  seen 
Arctic  service  as  whalers  or  explorers.  On  the  voyage  to  Disco  they 
had  encountered  much  loose  ice  off  Cape  Farewell,  and  many  heavy 
gales,  in  which  they  lost  two  of  their  whale-boats.  Leaving  Disco,  the 
"Alert"  and  "Discovery"  steamed  across  Baffin's  Bay  to  the  north-west, 
instead  of  hugging  the  Greenland  shore,  through  Melville  Bay,  and 
struck  the  great  central  ice-pack.  In  thirty-four  hours  they  succeeded 
in  boring  through  the  pack  into  open  water — a  feat  never  before  per- 
formed, and  which  the  Greenland  masters  declared  "  would  ne'er  be 
credited  at  Peterhead."  It  helped  to  prove  the  superiority  of  steam- 
power  for  Arctic  navigation.  Reaching  the  vicinity  of  Cape  York, 
many  icebergs  were  seen  aground  and  closely  crowded,  indicating  that 
they  would  perhaps  not  have  fared  so  well  had  they  taken  the  old  route 
through  Melville  Bay,  and  around  that  cape.  Pushing  north  they  soon 
arrived  at  Carey  Islands,  where  they  landed  and  established  a  depot  of 
supplies,  depositing  the  usual  record  under  a  cairn. 

The  great  exploring  feat  of  the  expedition  was  performed  by  Com- 
mander Markham's  party.  Accompanied  by  Lieutenant  Parr,  Dr. 
Moss  and  Mr.  White,  one  of  the  engineers,  and  twenty-eight  men,  he 


WONDERS    OF    THE    POLAR    WORLD.  425 

set  out  for  the  north  from  Polaris  Bay.  The  equipment  consisted  of 
four  eight-men  sledges — so  called  because  each  was  manned  by  seven 
men  and  an  officer  ;  two  boats  for  possible  navigation  in  northern  waters ; 
four  tents,  eleven  feet  long,  and  about  seven  feet  wide ;  and  an  ample 
stock  of  provisions  to  each  sledge.  The  sledges  were  named  Marco 
Polo,  Victoria,  Bulldog  and  Alexandra.  The  costume  of  the  men  was 
composed  of  a  thick,  woolen,  blanket-like  material,  under  a  suit  of  duck 
to  repel  external  moisture.  On  their  feet,  besides  thick  woolen  hose, 
were  worn  blanket-wrappers  and  moccasins  ;  and  all  wore  spectacles  as 
a  protection  against  snow-blindness.  Each  slept  in  a  separate  bag  of 
the  same  heavy  woolen  material  as  the  day  clothing,  and  the  eight,  in 
the  compass  of  the  eleven  feet  of  tent,  which  was  of  the  same  warm 
material.  Breakfast  was  taken  before  quitting  the  bags,  and  consisted 
of  a  pannikin  of  cocoa,  some  pemmican  and  biscuit.  After  five  hours' 
travel  a  lunch  of  biscuit,  with  four  ounces  of  bacon  and  a  pannikin  of 
hot  tea,  was  taken  ;  and  at  the  close  of  the  day's  journey,  varying  from 
ten  to  twelve  hours,  when  the  tents  were  pitched,  and  all,  except  the 
acting  cooks,  snugly  ensconced  in  their  bags,  a  supper  of  pemmican  and 
tea  was  served.  With  the  pemmican  was  always  mixed  a  certain  pro- 
portion of  preserved  potatoes. 

With  the  hummocks  recurring  every  hundred  yards  or  so,  varying 
only  in  height,  and  the  intermediate  spaces  covered  with  drifted  snow- 
ridges,  and  the  temperature  almost  constantly  below  zero,  their  progress 
was  necessarily  slow — very  slow,  snail-like  and  tortuous.  The  journey, 
says  Nares,  was  consequently  an  incessant  battle  to  overcome  ever- 
recurring  obstacles,  each  hard-worn  success  stimulating  them  for  the 
next  struggle.  A  passage-way  had  always  to  be  cut  through  the 
squeezed-up  ice  with  pickaxes,  an  extra  one  being  carried  for  the  pur- 
pose, and  an  incline  picked  out  of  the  perpendicular  side  of  the  high 
floes,  or  roadway  built  up,  before  the  sledges — generally  one  at  a  time 
— could  be  brought  on.  Instead  of  advancing  with  a  steady  walk,  the 
usual  means  of  progression,  more  than  half  of  each  day  was  expended 
by  the  whole  party  facing  the  sledge  and  pulling  it  forward  a  few  feet 
at  a  time.  Finally  they  were  compelled  to  halt  in  the  presence  of  a 
new  enemy,  the  fog,  which  endangered  their  becoming  entangled  in  a 
labyrinth  of  hummocks.  This  weary  work  was  continued,  with  a  con- 
stant increase  in  the  number  of  the  sick,  when  it  was  decided  to  leave 
them  behind,  while  the  stronger  ones  were  to  make  a  final  push  for  the 
highest  point  attainable.  A  camp  was  established  for  the  invalids,  pro- 
visions and  supplies,  and  left  in  charge  of  the  cooks.  Markham  and 
Parr,  with  such  of  the  men  as  were  still  in  a  condition  to  venture  for- 
ward, set  out,  encumbered  only  with  a  few  instruments  and  the  national 


420 


WONDERS    OF   THE    POLAR    WORLD.  427 

colors.  Markham  thus  relates  the  last  advance :  We  had  some  very- 
severe  walking,  through  which  the  labor  of  dragging  a  sledge  would  be 
interminable,  and  occasionally  almost  disappearing  through  cracks  and 
fissures,  until  twenty  minutes  to  noon,  when  a  halt  was  called.  The 
artificial  horizon  was  then  set  up,  and  the  flags  and  banners  displayed, 
these  fluttering  out  bravely  before  a  south-Avest  wind,  which  latter,  how- 
ever, was  decidedly  cold  and  unpleasant.  At  noon  we  obtained  a  good 
altitude,  and  proclaimed  our  latitude  to  be  exactly  three  hundred  and 
ninety-nine  and  one-half  miles  from  the  North  Pole.  The  leaders, 
Markham  and  Parr,  though  they  had  reached  the  highest  point  ever 
attained,  were  no  more  than  half  content  at  the  meagre  result  of  so 
many  hardships.  But  they  were  destined  soon  to  find  that  the  decision 
to  return  was  the  salvation  of  the  party,  as  almost  all  the  men  were 
stricken  down  with  scurvy  before  reaching  Depot  Point,  near  Cape 
Joseph  Henry.  By  forced  marches  and  indomitable  energy  they  suc- 
ceeded in  getting  the  men  to  camp  ;  and  while  Markham  watched  and 
labored  for  their  comfort,  Parr  set  out  for  the  "Alert,"  thirty  miles  away. 
Equipped  with  only  a  walking-stick  and  a  couple  of  light  rations,  he 
trudged  off  alone  to  hurry  up  a  relief  party,  stimulated  by  the  conscious- 
ness that  on  his  exertions  depended  the  life-chances  of  those  he  had  left 
behind.  Fortunately  he  proved  equal  to  the  Emergency,  and  in  twenty- 
four  hours  reached  the  ship.  Before  midnight  Captain  Nares  was  on 
the  way  to  Depot  Point  at  the  head  of  a  relieving  party.  Lieutenant 
May,  Dr.  Moss  and  a  seaman,  with  a  light  dog-sledge,  were  sent  forward 
as  a  lightly  equipped  advance  party,  and  reached  the  camp  in  fifty  hours 
from  Parr's  departure.  Short  as  had  been  the  interval,  one  of  the  sick 
had  died,  and  was  already  buried  in  the  snow ;  but  no  other  life  was 
lost.  Of  the  fifteen  men  who  left  Depot  Point  two  months  before  with 
Markham  and  Parr,  only  three  were  able  to  assist  in  dragging  the 
sledges  back  ;  three  others  struggled  along  behind,  often  falling  and 
sometimes  fainting ;  while  nine  had  been  utterly  prostrated  and  had  to 
be  carried  on  the  sledges.  They  had  reached  seventy  miles  north  of 
Grant  Land,  but  at  the  risk  of  losing  their  lives  by  exposure. 

THE    DARING    VOYAGE    OF    NORDENSKJOLD. 

In  June,  1 878,  the  steamer  "Vega,"  purchased  at  Bremerhaven,for  the 
seventh  and  most  celebrated  Arctic  voyage  of  Professor  Nordenskjbld, 
left  the  harbor  of  Karlskrona.  Besides  the  "Vega,"  with  her  company 
of  thirty  persons,  of  whom  only  four  were  seamen,  the  others  being 
officers,  engineers  and  scientists,  four  other  vessels  which  belonged  to 
a  wealthy  merchant,  were  at  the  disposal  of  the  commander  of  the 
expedition,  consisting  of  quite  a  little  fleet,  with  the  "Vega"  as  a  sort  of 
flag-ship. 


428  WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 

The  "Vega"  reached  Tromsoe,  where  she  was  to  take  aboard  the 
commander.  Here  they  shipped  three  walrus-hunters,  and  such  special 
Arctic  equipments  as  reindeer  skins,  besides  coal  and  water.  About 
fifteen  days  later  than  intended,  they  set  out  on  the  regular  voyage, 
making  for  Maossoe,  a  small  island  of  the  Northern  Archipelago, 
where  they  were  to  have  their  last  mail  facilities.  Here  they  were 
detained  three  days  by  adverse  winds,  instead  of  that  many  hours,  as 
anticipated.  The  Matotschin  Sound  divides  Nova  Zembla  into  two 
large  islands  of  unequal  size,  the  larger  terminating  at  Barentz  Land 
away  to  the  north,  the  chief  interest  in  which  is  connected  with  the 
fate  of  the  early  navigator,  thus  commemorated.  A  fresh  interest  has 
been  awakened  by  the  recent  discovery  of  the  winter-house  erected  by 
him  and  his  companions  at  Ice  Haven,  in  Barentz  Bay,  on  the  east 
coast  of  Barentz  Land.  In  1871,  Captain  Carlsen,  a  Norwegian,  while 
circumnavigating  Nova  Zembla,  discovered  the  house,  with  many 
interesting  relics  in  a  remarkable  state  of  preservation,  and  brought 
them  home,  whence  they  found  their  way,  through  the  zeal  of  Barentz's 
countrymen,  to  the  Hague,  where  they  are  carefully  preserved.  No 
man  has  entered  the  lonely  dwelling  where  the  famous  discoverer  so- 
journed during  the  long  winter  of  1596,  for  nearly  three  centuries. 
There  stood  the  cooking-pans  over  the  fireplace,  the  old  clock  against 
the  wall,  the  arms,  the  tools,  the  drinking-vessels,  the  instruments,  and 
the  books  that  beguiled  the  weary  hours  of  that  long  night  two 
hundred  and  seventy-five  years  before.  Perhaps  the  most  touching 
relic  is  the  pair  of  small  shoes.  There  was  a  little  cabin-boy  among 
the  crew,  who  died,  as  Gerrit  de  Vere  tells  us,  during  the  winter.  This 
accounts  for  the  shoes  having  been  left  behind.  There  was  a  flute,  too, 
once  played  by  that  poor  boy,  which  still  gives  out  a  few  notes. 

The  more  southern  of  the  twin  islands  of  Nova  Zembla  is  separated 
fi-om  Vaigats  Island  to  the  south  by  the  Kara  Part,  or  passage  to  the 
Kara  Sea.  A  part  of  this  island  is  known  as  Gooscland,  because  of 
the  great  numbers  of  geese  and  swans  which  breed  there.  By  the 
end  of  June,  or  early  in  July,  the  greater  part  of  Gooseland  is  free  of 
snow,  and  soon  the  Arctic  flora  discloses  all  its  splendor  for  a  few 
weeks.  Giving  themselves  plenty  of  sea-room,  but  in  the  main  follow- 
ing the  trend  of  the  land,  they  proceeded.  From  the  Murman  Sea  to 
the  west  the  land  seemed  a  level,  grassy  plain,  but  on  approaching  the 
sound,  low  ridges  were  seen  on  the  east  side,  which  were  regarded  by 
Nordenskjold  as  the  last  spurs  of  the  great  Ural  range. 

The  expedition  passed  into  the  Kara  Sea,  which  extends  from  Nova 
Zembla  to  Taimur  Peninsula,  receiving  the  waters  of  the  Kara,  Obi, 
Taz  and  Yenisei,  through  the  gulfs  bearing  the  same  names.      It  was 


WONDERS    OF    THE    POLAR    WORLD. 


429 


found  that  no  notable  portion  of  the  mass  of  fresh  water  which  these 
great  rivers  pour  into  the  Kara  Sea  flows  through  Vaigats  Sound  into 
the  Atlantic  Ocean  ;  and  that,  during  autumn,  this  sea  is  quite  available 


for  navigation.  At  length  they  began  to  encounter  ice,  which  finally 
so  obstructed  their  progress  that  they  were  compelled  to  rally  all  hands 
and  cut  their  way  through.  This  is  an  experience  not  uncommon 
among  Arctic  navigators.     After  anchoring  awhile  in  Port  Dickson,  on 


430  WONDERS   OF    EXPLORATION    AND    ADVENTURE. 

Dickson  Island,  they  reached  Taimur  Sound,  and  sailed  by  a  large, 
high,  unbroken  field  of  ice,  extending  from  a  small  bay  on  the  west 
side  of  the  peninsula.  A  little  further  on,  they  had  the  good  fortune  to 
find,  just  west  of  the  low-jutting  promontory — or  rather  in  the  fork  of 
it — an  open  bay  which  they  named  King  Oscar,  and  in  which  they  came 
safely  to  anchor  in  the  evening.  They  had  nowhere  met  such  old  drift- 
ice  as  is  encountered  north  of  Spitzbergen.  We  had  now  reached  a 
goal,  says  Nordenskjold,  which  for  centuries  had  been  the  object  of 
unsuccessful  struggles.  For  the  first  time  a  vessel  lay  at  anchor  off 
the  northernmost  cape  of  the  Old  World.  No  wonder,  then,  that  the 
occurrence  was  celebrated  by  a  display  of  flags,  and  the  firing  of 
salutes,  and  when  we  returned  from  our  excursion  on  land,  by  festiv- 
ities on  board,  by  wine  and  toasts.  The  north  point  of  Asia  forms  a 
low  promontory,  which  a  bay  divides  into  two,  the  eastern  arm 
projecting  a  little  further  to  the  north  than  the  western. 

While  they  followed  the  coast  they  found  open  water,  always  at  a 
safe  distance  from  the  land  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  ice-pack  on  the 
other.  It  was  therefore  demonstrated  that,  at  least  in  seasons  as  favor- 
able as  1878,  the  whole  voyage  may  be  made  without  meeting  any 
serious  obstruction  from  ice.  One  vessel  of  the  fleet  reached  Lakoutsk 
in  September  amid  great  rejoicings,  being  the  first  ship  that  had 
ever  reached  that  city,  about  eight  hundred  miles  from  the  sea. 

THE   SHIP   LOCKED    IN    THE    ICE. 

The  "Vega"  kept  on  to  the  east,  and  on  the  first  of  September  they 
were  near  the  mouth  of  the  Indigirka.  Here  the  temperature  fell  to 
one  degree  below  zero.  On  the  third  snow  began  to  fall,  and  when 
they  arrived  off  Bear  Islands,  north  of  the  mouth  of  Kolyma,  both 
vessel  and  land  were  lightly  covered  with  it.  The  channel  west  and 
south  of  the  islands,  through  which  they  passed,  w^as  almost  free  of 
ice,  but  a  little  further  out  ice  was  abundant,  and  east  of  the  islands, 
heavy  masses  were  found  to  have  drifted  south.  Indeed,  ever  since 
doubling  Sviatoi  Noss,  the  ice  seen  was  more  like  that  to  be  met  off 
Spitzbergen,  than  any  they  had  hitherto  encountered  on  this  voyage ; 
but  no  icebergs  or  larger  glacier  blocks  had  been  met  or  sighted. 
Beyond  Cape  North,  the  "Vega"  at  last  found  her  way  blocked  by  the 
ice-pack,  and  turning  back,  found  temporary  refuge  near  the  cape,  where 
they  were  detained.  Finding  no  lane,  lead,  or  outlet  through  the  pack, 
the  "Vega"  was  moored  to  a  mass  of  ground-ice,  which  afforded  a  fair 
shelter,  but  no  proper  haven.  This,  however,  proved  to  be  the  winter- 
quarters,  except  that  later  on  ship  and  shelter  were  pushed  by  the  outer 
ice  to  within  seven-eighths  of  a  mile  of  the  coast.  Soon  the  ice-belt  which 
had  obstructed  their  advance  grew  from  six  or  seven  to  eighteen  or 


WONDERS    OF   THE    POLAR    WORLD.  431 

twenty  miles  wide,  and  there  was  no  longer  any  hope  of  getting  away 
until  the  ensuing  summer.     They  learned  the  grace  of  waiting. 

During  the  winter  months  many  excursions  to  interesting  points  were 
made  by  members  of  the  expedition,  by  which  valuable  information  was 
obtained  about  the  country  and  its  inhabitants,  the  Tschuktchi.  At 
length  the  moment  of  release  approached.  The  temperature  had  re- 
mained below  freezing  point  to  the  middle  of  June.  Then  there  was  a 
sudden  change  to  milder  weather.  A  heavy  thaw  set  in,  and  the  coast 
land  was  so  covered  with  mud  and  slush  that  all  excursions  had  to  be 
discontinued.  But  the  ice  which  bound  the  ship  was  still  so  strong  that 
the  explorers  did  not  expect  to  be  able  to  leave  before  August.  Through- 
out their  stay  there  had  been  open  water  seaward,  but  usually  at  a  great 
distance  from  the  ship.  The  detention  in  winter-quarters  had  lasted 
two  hundred  and  ninety-three  days.  They  passed  Serdze  Kamen,  and 
steering  thence  south-east,  they  arrived  off  Cape  East  in  Behring  Strait, 
and  being  about  midway  between  the  Arctic  and  Pacific  Oceans,  the 
"  Vega  "  greeted  the  Old  and  New  Worlds  by  a  display  of  flags,  and  the 
firing  of  a  Swedish  salute.  Thus  finally  was  reached  the  goal  toward 
which  so  many  nations  had  struggled,  all  along  from  the  time  when  Sir 
Hugh  Willoughby,  with  the  firing  of  salutes  from  cannon,  and  with 
hurrahs  from  the  festive-clad  seamen,  in  the  presence  of  an  innumerable 
crowd  of  jubilant  men,  certain  of  success,  ushered  in  the  long  series  of 
north-east  voyages  three  hundred  and  twenty-six  years  before. 

LIEUTENANT    DE  LONG's   WONDERFUL    ADVENTURES. 

The  American  Arctic  Expedition,  commanded  by  Lieutenant  George 
W.  DeLong,  of  the  United  States  Navy,  which  left  San  Francisco  in 
July,  1879,  was  projected  by  James  Gordon  Bennett,  proprietor  of  the 
New  York  Herald.  After  the  return  of  the  last  of  the  two  successful 
expeditions  which  he  had  sent  to  Africa  under  Henry  M.  Stanley,  Mr. 
Bennett  decided  to  send  out,  at  his  own  expense,  an  expedition  to  attempt 
to  reach  the  North  Pole  by  way  of  Behring  Strait.  Lieutenant  De- 
Long  became  interested  in  the  undertaking,  and  was  made  first  officer. 
The  "  Jeannette  "  was  the  ship  chartered  for  the  expedition.  The  vessel 
sailed,  and  spent  the  first  winter  in  an  ice-pack. 

On  the  sixteenth  of  May,  1881,  there  was  great  excitement  on  board 
on  account  of  having  sighted  land — the  first  land  to  greet  the  eye  since 
March,  1880,  fourteen  months  before.  What  it  had  to  do  in  the  economy 
of  nature,  standing  desolate  among  the  icy  wastes,  was  not  the  question ; 
it  might  be  the  spot  to  which  the  ducks  and  geese  had  been  flying,  and 
if  the  ship  could  get  some  of  them  for  a  change,  what  a  treat !  De- 
Long  wrote  :  Fourteen  months  without  anything  to  look  at  but  ice  and 
sky,  and  twenty  months  drifting  in  the  pack  will  make  a  little  mass  of 


432  WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 

volcanic  rock  like  our  island  as  pleasing  to  the  eye  as  an  oasis  in  the 
desert.  The  rocky  cliffs  of  the  island  appeared  with  a  snow-covered 
slope,  the  highest  and  further  corner  seeming  to  be  a  volcano  top.  The 
"  Jeannette  "  drifted  past  on  the  north  side  ;  the  ice  was  so  broken,  and 
the  pack  running  so  rapidly  that  DeLong  did  not  think  it  prudent  to 
make  an  attempt  to  land.  A  few  days  later  the  pleasing  sight  was 
renewed,  more  land  was  ahead,  and  the  ice  very  slack,  with  many  large 
lanes  of  water  varying  in  length  from  an  eighth  of  a  mile  to  three  miles, 
and  in  width  from  twenty  to  one  hundred  feet.  The  lanes  were  very 
tantalizing ;  they  seemed  to  be  within  a  radius  of  five  miles,  but  the 
islands  were  from  thirty  to  forty  miles  off,  and  from  that  five  miles  radius 
to  them,  tlie  ice  was  as  close  and  compact  as  ever.  On  the  thirty-first, 
estimating  the  distance  to  be  but  fifteen  or  twenty  miles.  Engineer  Mel- 
ville, in  company  with  Dunbar  and  Nindemann,  and  three  other  seamen, 
set  out  from  the  ship  with  a  fifteen-dog  team  to  visit  this  second  island. 
They  landed  on  it,  and  took  possession  for  the  United  States,  naming  it 
Henrietta — the  name  of  a  sister  of  Mr.  Bennett ;  a  cairn  was  built  and 
a  record  was  placed  within  it,  and  a  limited  examination  made  of  twelve 
hours.  It  was  found  to  be  a  desolate  rock,  surrounded  by  a  snow  cap 
which  feeds  several  glaciers  on  its  east  face.  Within  the  inaccessible 
cliffs,  nesting  dovekies  were  the  only  signs  of  life.  To  reach  the  land, 
the  party  left  their  boat  and  supplies,  and  carrying  only  one  day's  pro- 
visions and  their  instruments,  went  through  the  frightful  ice  mass  at  the 
risk  of  life,  dragging  the  dogs,  which,  through  fear,  refused  to  follow. 

A    SUDDEN    SHIPWRECK. 

On  the  very  day  last  named,  the  ice  around  the  ship  was  broken  down 
in  immense  masses,  the  whole  pack  being  alive,  and  had  the  ship  been 
within  one  of  the  fast-closing  leads  she  would  have  been  ground  to 
powder.  Embedded  in  a  small  island  of  ice,  she  was  as  yet  protected 
from  the  direct  crushing  on  her  sides,  but  felt  a  continual  hammering 
and  thumping  of  the  ice  under  her  bottom.  On  the  twelfth  of  June,  at 
midnight,  in  a  few  moments'  time,  she  was  set  free  by  the  split  of  the 
floe  on  a  line  with  her  keel,  and  suddenly  righting,  started  all  hands 
from  their  beds  to  the  deck.  By  morning  the  ice  had  commenced 
coming  in  on  her  side  ;  a  heavy  floe  was  hauled  ahead  into  a  hole  where 
it  was  supposed  the  ice  coming  together  would  impinge  on  itself  instead 
of  on  the  ship.  The  pressure  was  very  heavy,  and  gave  forth  a  hissing, 
crunching  sound,  and  in  the  afternoon  the  ice  was  reported  coming 
through  the  starboard  coal  bunkers.  Melville  went  on  the  floe  to  take 
her  photograph,  but  on  returning  to  the  ship  heard  the  order  to  prepare 
to  leave  the  \'essel  by  gettting  out  the  chronometers,  rifles,  ammunition, 
and  other  articles  to  the  floe.     When  the  order  was  given  for  all  hands 


WONDERS   OF   THE   POLAR   WORLD.  433 

to  leave  the  ship  at  about  eleven  at  night,  her  water-ways  had  been 
broken  in,  the  iron-work  around  the  smoke-pipe  buckled  up,  the  rivets 
sheared  off,  and  the  smoke-stack  left  supported  only  by  the  guys.  Three 
boats  were  lowered,  the  first  and  the  second  cutter,  and  the  first  whale- 
boat  ;  and  the  ship's  party  of  thirty-three  made  their  camp  on  the  floe 
in  six  tents,  but  within  an  hour  were  compelled  to  move  still  further 
from  its  edge  by  the  breaking  up  of  the  floe  in  their  camp. 

At  four  o'clock  in  the  morning  the  cry  of  the  watch  was  heard. 
"  There  she  goes  ;  hurry  up  and  look,  the  last  sight  you  will  have  of  the 
old  '  Jeannette  ! '  "  While  the  ice  had  held  together,  it  had  held  her 
broken  timbers.  When  it  opened — with  her  colors  flying  at  the  mast- 
head— she  sank  in  thirty-eight  fathoms  of  water,  stripping  her  yards 
upwards  as  she  passed  through  the  floe.  Daylight  found  the  party 
encamped  on  the  ice,  about  four  hundred  yards  from  where  the  ship 
went  down.  There  were  three  ship-made  sleds,  each  of  which  consisted 
of  two  oak  runners,  shod  with  whalebone.  The  grand  total  weight  of 
sleds  and  provisions  was  about  fifteen  thousand  pounds.  To  draw  these 
the  party  had  a  working  force,  when  the  retreat  commenced,  of  twenty- 
four  men  ;  and  the  dogs  were  employed,  with  two  light  sleds,  to  drag  a 
large  amount  of  stores,  that  the  party  had  in  excess  to  those  perma- 
nently stowed  upon  the  larger  sleds.  Each  man  had  a  knapsack  ;  each 
knapsack  contained  one  change  of  underclothing,  one  package  of 
matches,  one  plug  of  tobacco,  one  spare  pair  of  snow-goggles,  and  one 
spare  pair  of  moccasins.  The  progress  of  the  party  toward  the  land 
was  very  slow,  but  finally  glaciers  and  water-courses  became  visible. 
The  party  at  length  reached  a  point  not  more  than  two  miles  distant 
from  the  land,  but  the  men  were  so  exhausted  that  they  had  to  camp. 
Next  day  Captain  DeLong  mustered  everybody  on  the  island,  unfurled 
a  silk  flag,  took  possession  of  the  island  in  the  name  of  the  President 
of  the  United  States,  and  called  it  Bennett  Island.  The  south  cape  was 
named  Cape  Emma,  after  the  captain's  wife. 

In  September  the  three  sledges  or  boats  left  Semenovski  Island  on 
which  the  party  had  camped.  A  gale  was  commencing  from  the  north- 
east. Captain  DeLong  was  about  five  hundred  yards  distant  from 
Melville,  and  Chipp  seven  hundred  from  DeLong.  The  gale  increasing, 
both  of  these  last  were  lost  sight  of  by  the  whale-boat ;  the  first  cutter 
destined  to  land  her  party  and  make  the  sad  experience  of  their  intense 
suffering  to  death  by  cold  and  starvation  ;  the  second  cutter  to  leave  no 
record,  but  the  blank  to  be  filled  by  the  reasonable  supposition  of  her 
being  swamped  by  the  sea  ;  and  the  whale-boat  to  be  saved  only  by  the 
successful  use  of  a  drag  or  sea-anchor,  and  the  incessant  baling  by 
almost  exhausted  men.  Engineer  Melville  was  in  command  of  the 
28 


WONDERS    OF   THE    POLAR    WORLD.  435 

first  party,  but  relied  on  the  professional  ability  of  Lieutenant  Danen- 
hower,  still  on  the  sick-list.  The  pocket  prismatic  compass,  useful  on 
shore,  where  it  could  be  leveled  and  the  needle  come  to  rest,  was  now 
unavailable.  Steering  was  by  the  sun  or  the  moon.  Lieutenant 
Danenhower  carried  the  watch  and  chart,  and  could  shape  the  course  of 
the  boat  by  the  bearings  of  the  sun  at  this  equinoctial  period. 
September  fifteenth,  one  of  the  eastern  mouths  of  the  Lena  was  entered, 
and,  by  the  assistance  of  a  Tungus  pilot,  the  party  pushed  up  the  river, 
and  reached  a  small  village,  in  which  lived  a  Siberian  exile,  Kopelloff, 
who  proved  very  useful  in  opening  the  way  to  intercourse  by  teaching 
the  Lieutenant  Russian  phrases.  They  were  detained  at  this  place 
waiting  for  the  growth  of  the  ice  for  sledding,  and  while  another  Russian 
■exile,  with  the  chief  of  the  village,  went  forward  to  Bulun  to  inform  the 
Russian  authorities  of  their  arrival.  On  the  seventeenth  of  October, 
Danenhower  began  his  search  with  a  dog-team,  to  explore  the  coasts 
for  the  missing  boats,  but  was  unable,  from  the  condition  of  the  ice,  to 
proceed  far  in  any  direction,  and  returned  without  results. 

The  foUoAving  sad  history  is  derived  from  the  records  of  Commander 
DeLong,  showing  the  fate  of  the  party  that  accompanied  him.  After 
various  entries  which  give  a  pitiful  picture  of  the  sufferings  endured  in 
this  desperate  attempt  to  make  their  way  homeward,  the  narrative  con- 
tinues :  September  twenty-fourth,  late  in  the  evening,  made  a  rough  bed 
of  a  few  logs  !  wrapped  our  blankets  around  us,  and  sought  a  sleep  that 
did  not  come.  On  the  twenty-seventh  five  men  arrived  in  camp,  bringing 
a  fine  buck.  Saved  again !  September  thirtieth,  one  hundredth  and  tenth 
day  from  leaving  the  ship,  Erickson  is  no  better,  and  it  is  a  foregone 
conclusion  that  he  must  lose  four  of  the  toes  of  his  right  foot,  and  one 
of  his  left.  The  doctor  commenced  slicing  away  the  flesh  after  break- 
fast, fortunately  without  pain  to  the  patient,  for  the  forward  part  of  the 
foot  is  dead  ;  but  it  was  a  heart-rending  sight  to  me,  the  cutting  away 
of  bones  and  flesh  of  a  man  whom  I  hoped  to  return  sound  and  whole 
to  his  friends.  October  first,  and  where  are  we  ?  I  think  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  Lena  River  at  last.  My  chart  is  simply  useless.  Left  a 
record  in  the  hut  that  we  are  proceeding  to  cross  to  the  west  side,  to 
reach  some  settlement  on  the  Lena  River.  October  third,  nothing 
remains  but  the  dog.  I  therefore  ordered  him  killed  and  dressed  by 
Iverson,  and  soon  after  a  kind  of  stew  made  of  such  parts  as  could  not 
be  carried,  of  which  everybody,  except  the  doctor  and  myself,  eagerly 
partook ;  to  us  it  was  a  nauseating  mess.  Erickson  soon  became 
delirious,  and  his  talking  was  a  horrible  accompaniment  to  the  wretched- 
ness of  our  surroundings.  During  the  night  got  his  gloves  off;  his 
hands  were  frozen.     In  the  morning  got  Erickson  (quite  unconsciou.s), 


436  WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 

and  lashed  on  the  sled  under  the  cover  of  a  hut,  made  a  fire  and  got 
warm.  Half  a  pound  of  dog  was  fried  for  each  one,  and  a  cup  of  tea 
given,  and  that  constituted  our  day's  food.  Soon  our  messmate, 
Erickson,  departed  this  life.  October  sixth,  as  to  burying  him  I  cannot 
dig  a  grave,  the  ground  is  frozen,  and  I  have  nothing  to  dig  with.  There 
is  nothing  to  do  but  to  bury  him  in  the  river.  Sewed  him  up  in  the 
flaps  of  the  tent,  and  covered  him  with  my  flag.  Got  tea  ready,  and 
with  one  half-ounce  alcohol,  we  will  try  to  make  out  to  bury  him.  But 
we  are  all  so  weak,  that  I  do  not  see  how  vvc  are  going  to  move.  Read 
the  burial  service,  and  carried  our  departed  shipmate's  body  down  to 
the  river,  where,  a  hole  having  been  cut  in  the  ice,  he  was  buried ;  three 
volleys  from  our  Remingtons  being  fired  over  him  as  a  funeral  honor. 

For  supper  half  pound  dog  meat  and  tea.  Under  way  again  next 
day ;  had  for  dinner  one  ounce  of  alcohol.  Find  canoe,  lay  our  heads 
on  it  and  go  to  sleep.  Next  morning  we  divide  a  few  deer-skin  scraps, 
all  that  is  left  us  now,  and  this  is  but  a  poor  relief  from  starvation. 

Ahead  again  till  eleven.  At  three,  halted  ;  used  up.  Crawled  into  a 
hole  on  the  bank.  Nothing  for  supper,  except  a  spoonful  of  glycerine. 
Alexei  died,  covered  him  with  ensign,  and  laid  him  in  a  crib.  October 
twenty-first,  one  hundred  and  thirty-first  day,  Kaack  was  found  dead  at 
midnight.  Too  weak  to  carry  the  bodies  out  on  the  ice  ;  the  doctor,. 
Collins  and  I  carried  them  around  the  corner  out  of  sight.  Then  my 
eye  closed  up.  Sunday,  slept  or  rested  all  day,  then  managed  to  get 
enough  wood  in  before  dark.     Read  divine  service. 

The  preceding  brief  extracts  from  this  saddest  of  all  journals  tells  the 
story  of  the  first  cutter,  excepting  that  of  the  two  saved,  Nindemann 
and  Noros.  The  captain,  the  surgeon,  and  the  last  one  of  the  crew 
must  have  perished  immediately  after  the  last  one  of  their  comrades. 

ANIMAL   CURIOSITIES    OF   THE    ARCTIC    WORLD. 

It  is  in  the  waters  of  this  latitude  that  the  seal  and  walrus  abound. 
These  are  among  the  curiosities  of  the  Polar  clime,  as  they  are  among 
the  wonders  of  animal  life,  and  are  worthy  of  the  naturalist's  study. 
The  walrus  has  an  immense  size,  and  is  very  clumsy  and  awkward  in 
his  movements  ;  that  is.  when  he  gets  on  land  ;  in  the  sea  he  can  swim 
readily  enough.  He  can  use  his  two  large  tusks  when  he  wants  to  dig 
up  the  shell-fish,  or  the  roots  of  some  plant  that  grows  near  the  sea. 
And  he  can  use  them  to  drag  his  unwieldy  body  up  the  rocks,  or  up 
some  block  of  ice.  He  can  fight  with  them  against  the  fierce  polar 
bear.  In  spite  of  this,  the  bear  sometimes  gets  the  mastery,  and  kills 
the  walrus  by  giving  him  one  of  his  bear's  hugs.  Sometimes  the  dead 
body  of  a  walrus  is  cast  ashore,  and  then  there  is  great  excitement 
among  the  sea-birds  and  animals.     The  sea-birds  come  whirling  round 


IN  THE  TAWS  OF  STARVATION— DIVIDING  THE  DEER-SKIN  SCRAPS. 
•'  437 


438  WONDERS    OF    EXPLORATION    AND    ADVENTURE. 

and  scream  with  delight.  The  foxes  and  the  bears  scent  it  from  afar ; 
but  the  foxes  dare  not  approach  until  the  bears  are  satisfied.  So  they 
stand  round  barking  with  impatience. 

If  man  were  present,  he  would  dispute  the  prize.  For  the  walrus 
is  a  treasure  to  the  dwellers  on  those  desolate  shores.  His  flesh  forms 
an  article  of  food,  and  is  keenly  relished.  His  skin  is  used  for  leather, 
and  the  ivory  of  the  tusks  is  invaluable.  In  spite  of  his  great  size 
and  fierce  tusks  the  walrus  can  be  tamed,  and  is  very  affectionate.  A 
Russian  lady  is  said  to  have  tamed  a  young  walrus,  and  made  a  pet  of 
it.  The  creature  followed  her  about,  and  was  never  so  happy  as  when 
it  lay  with  its  head  in  her  lap,  and  was  being  fondly  petted. 

Fierce  encounters  have  been  known  to  take  place  between  the 
explorers  in  the  North  and  shoals  of  walruses,  which  sometimes  show 
great  bravery  in  defending  themselves  against  attack,  and  at  times  even 
turning  upon  the  boat  and  men,  putting  their  lives  in  danger.  They 
will  attempt  to  enter  the  boat,  and  only  by  hatchets  or  some  other 
hand-weapon  can  they  be  repulsed  and  captured. 

Human  life  in  these  far  regions  is  even  more  wonderful  than  that  of 
the  lower  animals.  It  is  hardly  credible  that  in  these  bleak  territories 
of  endless  snow  and  winter  people  should  be  found  who  prefer  their 
snowy  surroundings  to  all  the  glories  of  more  tropical  climes,  and 
would  not  exchange  their  snow-villages  for  the  splendor  of  any 
metropolis  in  either  hemisphere.     Yet  such  is  the  astounding  fact. 

A    PEOPLE   UNLIKE   ALL   OTHERS. 

There  is  not  a  more  singular  people  on  the  earth  than  those  living 
within  the  Arctic  belt ;  nomadic,  and  yet  all  their  resources  are  taxed 
to  procure  a  living ;  always  pressed  for  food,  and  yet  wonderfully 
hospitable ;  true  barbarians,  but  none  the  less  peaceable  and  clever. 
Away  in  the  chilly  North  nature  withholds  her  gifts  of  food  and 
warmth,  and  then  with  hard  and  pitiless  niggardness,  she  drives  such 
chilly  blasts  as  if  life  within  her  sphere  had  angered  her.  Under  a 
glintling  sky  of  frost,  within  an  unbroken  landscape  of  inexpressibly 
lonesome  desolation,  the  Esquimau  makes  his  home  and  lives,  despite 
the  rigor  and  barren  waste  of  his  nameless  country.  These  wonderful 
children  of  eccentric  creation  are  controlled  by  no  law,  either  written 
or  traditional,  and  acknowledge  accountability  only  to  their  own  con- 
science, and  yet  they  are  orderly  and  given  little  to  crime.  They  have 
patriarchs  in  their  tribes  who  give  advice,  but  never  assert  authority. 
Esquimaux  children  render  singular  obedience  to  their  parents,  even 
after  reaching  maturity,  which  proceeds  from  a  remarkable  fraternal 
devotion,  for  there  is  no  such  thing  as  punishment  of  a  male  child  by 
its  parents.     Females,  however,  fare  badly,  for  it  is  considered  quite 


a 


r~ 


tf 


i^I 


A  FIERCE  ENCOUNTER  AT  CLOSE  QUARTERS. 


439 


440  WONDERS   OF    EXPLORATION   AND    ADVENTURE. 

proper  to  control  the  female  sex  with  an  iron  hand.  In  former  times, 
at  least  among  some  of  the  Esquimaux  tribes,  it  was  customary  for 
the  parents  to  smother  all  their  girl  babies  except  one.  Girls  are 
married  before  they  reach  twenty,  a  thing  not  difficult  to  do,  owing  to 
their  scarcity  and  the  polygamous  practices  of  the  men.  As  soon  as 
a  man  dies  his  widows  are  almost  immediately  appropriated  by  others. 
Another  convenient  custom  which  they  practice  is  to  exchange  wives 
when,  for  any  reason,  the  consorts  of  a  man  who  is  about  to  set  out  on 
a  journey  cannot  accompany  him.  There  are  always  other  women  who 
will  take  their  places,  and  thus  a  clever  exchange  is  effected. 

An  exchange  of  children  is  also  sometimes  made,  while  the  giving 
away  of  infants  is  an  ordinary  occurrence.  Children  are  rarely  weaned 
before  they  reach  seven  and  eight  years  of  age,  though  they  begin  eat- 
ing meat  at  one  year.  Marriage  among  these  savages  is  purely  and 
entirely  a  matter  of  convenience,  as  love  is  a  feeling  unknown  to  them. 
Wives  are  usually  purchased  for  a  trifle,  and  after  being  taken  to  their 
husbands'  igloos  (huts),  they  are  tattooed  in  the  forehead  with  a  char- 
acter resembling  the  letter  V.  Others  tattoo  themselves  for  ornamen- 
tation, but  without  regard  to  definite  figures,  straight  lines  being  mostly 
made,  and  these  confined  principally  to  the  chin.  Their  dress  is 
admirably  adapted  to  the  severity  of  their  climate.  With  their  two 
pairs  of  breeches  made  of  reindeer  or  seal  skin,  the  outer  one  having 
the  hair  outside  and  the  inner  one  next  the  body,  and  their  two  jackets 
— of  which  the  upper  one  is  provided  with  a  great  hood — with  their 
water-tight  seal-skin  boots,  lined  with  the  downy  skins  of  birds,  and 
their  enormous  gloves,  they  bid  defiance  to  the  severest  cold,  and  even 
in  the  hardest  weather  pursue  their  occupations  in  the  open  air  when- 
ever the  moon  is  in  the  sky,  or  during  the  doubtful  meridian  twilight. 
The  dress  of  the  two  sexes  is  much  alike,  the  outer  jacket  having  a 
pointed  skirt  before  and  behind,  but  that  of  the  females  is  a  little 
longer.  The  women  also  wear  larger  hoods,  in  which  they  carry  their 
children  ;  and  sometimes  the  inner  boot  has  in  front  a  long,  pointed 
flap,  to  answer  the  same  purpose. 

The  Esquimaux  are  no  less  skillful  in  the  construction  of  their  dome- 
shaped  huts  of  a  single  room.  These  they  make  from  blocks  of  frozen 
snow,  which  are  cut  out  with  knives  made  of  walrus  bone.  These 
blocks  are  not  more  than  two  inches  thick,  and  thus  admit  considerable 
light  while  serving  well  to  keep  out  the  wind.  When  more  light  is 
required,  a  small  window  is  cut,  over  which  a  sheet  of  ice  is  placed,  or 
a  well-oiled  piece  of  dried  deer  skin.  To  secure  warmth  in  specially 
severe  seasons,  which  it  seems  they  have  a  faculty  of  forecasting,  the 
Esquimaux  dig  out  a  large  space,  deep  enough  to  contain  their  huts,  so 


442  WONDERS    OF    EXPLORATION    AND    ADVENTURE. 

that  the  dome  will  be  even  with  the  surface  of  the  earth.  To  reach  this- 
underground  habitation  they  dig  a  tunnel,  usually  about  fifteen  feet  long, 
which  first  slants  downward,  then  upward,  where  it  enters  the  hut ;  the 
tunnel  is  so  low  that  it  can  only  be  entered  by  creeping  on  the  hands 
and  knees.  As  may  be  imagined,  these  huts  are  very  warm,  the  tem- 
perature inside  reaching  ninety  degrees  above,  while  outside  it  is  fifty 
degrees  below  zero.  The  fitting  up  of  the  igloo — always  the  work  of 
the  igloo  wife — is  done  by  first  placing  the  stone  lamp  in  its  proper 
position,  trimming  it,  and  setting  over  it  a  kettle  of  snow  ;  then  placing 
boards  upon  the  snow-platforms  for  beds,  and  spreading  over  them  the 
canvas,  containing  some  pieces  of  a  dry  shrub,  gathered  for  this  pur- 
pose, and  on  this  the  tuk-too,  or  reindeer-skins ;  over  the  fire-lamp  the 
wet  clothing  is  hung,  to  be  turned  during  the  night  by  the  wife. 

The  Esquimaux  subsist  on  an  exclusively  meat  diet,  and  all  eat  like 
gourmands.  Cleanliness  is  something  which  they  do  not  appreciate, 
but  in  this  they  are  excused  by  the  rigor  of  their  climate,  v/hich  makes 
water  both  scarce  and  disagreeable.  Usually  they  prefer  uncooked  flesh, 
though  sometimes  they  boil  their  meat,  but  only  for  the  soup  it  yields. 
Their  mode  of  eating  from  a  fresh  carcass  is  ingeniously  curious.  They 
cut  the  meat  in  long  strips,  one  end  of  which  is  introduced  into  the 
mouth  and  swallowed  as  far  as  the  powers  of  deglutition  will  allow, 
then  cutting  off  the  portion  left  protruding  from  the  mouth,  they  repeat 
the  process  of  swallowing.     It  is  a  singular  mode  of  eating. 

VIVID    AURORAL   SPLENDORS. 

Other  useful  and  marvelous  information  is  to  be  derived  from  the 
various  expeditions,  undertaken  especially  in  the  interest  of  science,  or 
for  the  relief  of  explorers  who  have  been  in  peril. 

An  aurora  borealis,  as  seen  by  the  colonists  at  Upernavik,  is  thus 
described  by  one  of  their  number :  It  first  appeared  in  an  arch  extend- 
ing from  west-by-north  to  north-east ;  but  the  arch  shortly  after  its  first 
appearance  broke  up  and  disappeared.  Soon  after  this  a  new  display 
began  in  the  direction  of  the  western  foot  of  the  first  arch,  preceded  by 
a  bright  flame,  from  which  emanated  rays  of  a  pale  straw-color. 
Another  simultaneous  movement  occurred  at  both  extremities  of  the 
arch  until  a  complete  segment  was  formed  of  wavering  perpendicular 
radii.  As  soon  as  the  arch  was  complete,  the  light  became  greatly  in- 
creased, and  the  prismatic  colors,  which  had  before  been  faint,  now 
shone  forth  in  a  brilliant  manner.  The  strongest  colors,  which  were 
also  the  outside  ones,  were  pink  and  green,  on  the  green  side  purple 
and  pink,  all  of  which  were  as  imperceptibly  blended  as  in  the  rainbow. 
The  green  was  the  color  nearest  the  zenith.  This  magnificent  display 
lasted  a  few  minutes ;  and  the  light  had  nearly  vanished,  when  the 


SHIPS  AND  ICEBERGS  ARCHED  BY  THE  MARVELOUS  AURORA. 

443 


444  WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 

north-east  quarter  sent  forth  a  vigorous  display,  and  nearly  at  the  same 
time  a  corresponding  coruscation  emanated  from  the  opposite  extremity. 
The  western  foot  of  the  arch  then  disengaged  itself  from  the  horizon, 
crooked  to  the  northward,  and  the  whole  retired  to  the  north-east  quarter, 
where  a  bright  spot  blazed  for  a  moment,  and  all  was  darkness.  There 
was  no  noise  audible  during  any  part  of  the  phenomenon,  nor  were  the 
compasses  perceptibly  affected. 

Before  the  display  of  these  natural  fireworks  commences,  the  sky 
seems  to  prepare  itself  Its  hues  deepen,  until  a  well-defined  segment 
of  dark  sky  is  marked  off,  its  base  resting  on  the  northern  horizon ; 
along  the  line  of  its  arc,  and  as  if  from  behind  the  dark  segment,  a 
flashing  luminous  light  begins  to  play,  so  that  soon  the  whole  curve  is 
one  line  of  light.  This  light  seems  like  a  continuous  phosphorescent 
cloud;  it  is  never  still,  but  rises,  and  falls,  and  breaks — now  in  one 
place,  now  in  another — continually  sending  out  tongues  of  flame,  which 
shoot  up  the  zenith.  When  these  luminous  palpitating  rays  reach  their 
greatest  extent  the  sight  is  truly  wonderful.  The  aurora  sometimes 
assumes  the  shape  of  a  beautiful  fringed  curtain  hanging  in  graceful 
folds  from  the  arch  of  the  firmament.  The  prevailing  color  is  red, 
though  it  changed  its  hues  rapidly. 

These  aurora  are  by  no  means  local  appearances.  In  1796  one  was 
witnessed  simultaneously  in  France  and  Pennsylvania,  and,  of  course, 
in  all  the  intermediate  countries.  The  best  obsci'vations,  which,  how- 
ever, are  not  absolutely  certain,  find  these  streams  of  light  to  be  about 
one  hundred  miles  high;  we  may  judge,  therefore,  over  what  a  wide 
expanse  they  are  visible,  v/hen  we  remember  that  often  they  occupy 
the  whole  horizon.  Although  they  are  seen  more  in  winter  than 
summer,  it  is  only  because  the  nights  of  winter  are  longer,  and,  there- 
fore, there  is  more  opportunity  for  observation.  If  there  be  any  variation 
in  the  frequency  of  their -appearance  throughout  the  year,  they  seem 
to  be  more  numerous  about  the  time  of  the  equinoxes.  The  cause  of 
this  wonderful  phenomenon  is  not  known.  There  can,  however,  be  no 
doubt  that  if  it  be  not  due  to  electricity  itself,  it  is  closely  allied  to  it. 
When  the  aurora  is  being  displayed,  the  magnetic  needles  are  agitated, 
and  currents  of  electricity  stream  along  the  telegraph  lines,  causing  the 
needles  to  deflect ;  the  most  remarkable  fact  being  that  the  influence 
which  the  aurora  has  on  telegraph  lines  is  totally  different  to  that 
exercised  by  a  thunder-cloud.  In  1859,  at  the  end  of  August,  the 
aurora  monopolized  for  hours  and  worked  on  its  own  account  several 
of  the  lines  in  the  United  States,  chiefly  those  which  had  a  direction 
from  north  to  south.  The  European  telegraphs  were  similarly  affected 
by  the  same  aurora. 


WONDERS    OF    THE    POLAR    WORLD.  445- 

Every  philosopher  knows  that  electricity  plays  a  very  prominent  part 
in  the  affairs  of  our  earth,  but  as  yet  we  are  all  but  ignorant  of  its  exact 
effects.  Yet  it  would  seem  that  the  aurora  indicates  the  paths  of  vast 
currents  of  electric  fluid  which  circulate  through  and  about  our  world. 
The  streams  always  appear  to  leave  one  pole  for  the  other. 

Enough  has  here  been  described  to  show  the  marvelous  character  of 
the  Polar  world.  Those  who  have  explored  it  are  among  the  greatest 
adventurers  and  heroes.  As  an  instance  of  the  dreadful  sufferings 
which  they  have  encounted,  it  may  be  stated  that  when  the  vessels 
of  the  Greely  relief  expedition  reached  St.  John's,  the  world  was 
told  that  only  six  members  of  the  Greely  colony  were  living.  One 
had  been  drowned,  one  had  died  on  the  way  home,  and  seventeen, 
it  was  said,  had  perished  by  starvation.  This  was  a  shocking  story, 
but  soon  a  much  more  terrible  one  was  to  be  told.  When  their  food 
gave  out  the  unfortunate  members  of  the  colony,  starving  in  their  tent 
on  the  bleak  shore  of  Smith's  Sound,  were  led  by  horrible  necessity 
to  become  cannibals  !  The  complete  history  of  their  experience  during 
that  terrible  winter  has  afterwards  been  told  by  one  or  the  other  of  the 
survivors,  and  makes  one  of  the  most  dreadful  and  repulsive  chapters 
of  the  annals  of  Arctic  exploration.  Greely  and  his  surviving  com- 
panions were  forced  to  choose  between  death  and  this  way  of  preserving 
life,  and  they  have  chosen  the  latter.  From  July,  1882,  to  August^ 
1883,  not  less  than  fifty  thousand  rations  were  taken  in  the  steamers 
"  Neptune,"  "  Yantic,"  and  "  Proteus  "  up  to  or  beyond  Littleton  Island, 
and  of  that  number  only  about  one  thousand  were  left  in  that  vicinity, 
the  remainder  being  returned  to  the  United  States  or  sunk  with  the 
"  Proteus."  Two  costly  expeditions  had  taken  those  provisions  to  Smith's 
Sound,  but  Greely  and  his  men  gained  practically  no  benefit  from  them. 
Greely's  instructions  and  the  plain  teachings  of  common  sense  were 
disregarded.  He  foresaw  that  he  might  be  compelled  to  retreat  down 
the  west  shore  of  Smith's  Sound  ;  he  could  establish  provision  depots 
along  the  upper  part  of  the  line,  but  those  below  must  be  established 
by  the  relief  parties.  In  his  instructions  he  pointed  out  the  spots  on 
the  west  side  where  food  should  be  placed,  and  then  directed  that  a 
colony  should  be  established  on  the  other  shore.  He  even  foresaw  that 
he  might  reach  Cape  Sabine  and  then  be  unable  to  get  across ;  there- 
fore, he  directed  that  the  relief  colony  should  not  only  strive  to  find  him 
by  telescope,  but  should  also  send  sledge  parties  to  the  west  side  to 
rescue  him.  His  instructions  were  not  heeded,  and  the  terrible  suffer- 
ings, the  death,  and  the  cannibalism  of  Greely  and  his  men  resulted  from 
this  neglect. 


CHAPTER  XIIl. 
WONDERFUL  MOUNTAINS  AND  MOUNTAINEERING. 

Burning  Peaks  of  Iceland — Fiery  Vesuvius — Frightful  Chasms  of  Mont  Blanc — Gigantic 
Shadows  on  the  Brocken — A  Fantastic  Cascade — The  Harz  Mines  and  Miners — Mount 
Etna — An  Immense  Tree — Far- Famed  Ararat — The  Peter  Botte — Sublimity  of  Ameri  ■ 
can  Scenery — The  White  Mountains — A  Rock  with  an  Open  Mouth- 
Majestic  Summits  of  the  Southern  Rockies. 

HE  eruptions  of  volcanoes  in  Iceland  have  been  among 
the  most  terrible  of  those  carefully  recorded.  The  cold 
climate  of  the  island  and  the  height  of  the  mountains 
produce  vast  quantities  of  snow  and  ice,  which  cover 
the  volcanoes  and  fill  up  the  cracks  and  valleys  in  their 
sides.  When,  therefore,  the  eruption  commences,  the 
intense  heat  of  the  boiling  lava,  and  of  the  steam  which 
rushes  forth  from  the  crater,  makes  the  whole  mountain 
hot,  and  vast  masses  of  ice,  great  fields  of  snow,  and 
•deluo-es  of  water  roll  down  the  hill-side  into  the  plains.  The  lava 
pours  from  the  top  and  from  cracks  in  the  side  of  the  mountain,  or  is 
ejected  hundreds  of  feet,  to  fall  amongst  the  ice  and  snow ;  and  the 
great  masses  of  red-hot  stone  cast  forth,  accompanied  by  cinders  and 
fine  ashes,  splash  into  the  roaring  torrent,  which  tears  up  rocks  in  its 
course  and  devastates  the  surrounding  country  for  miles.  An  eruption 
of  Kotlugja,  in  1 860,  was  accompanied  by  these  dreadful  floods.  It 
began  with  a  number  of  earthquakes,  which  shook  the  surrounding 
country.  Then  a  dark  columnar  cloud  of  vapor  was  seen  to  rise  by 
day  from  the  mountain,  and  by  night  balls  of  fire  (volcanic  bombs)  and 
red-hot  cinders  to  the  height  of  nearly  five  miles,  which  were"  seen  at 
a  distance  of  one  hundred  and  eighty  miles.  Deluges  of  water  rushed 
from  the  heights,  bearing  along  whole  fields  of  ice  and  rocky  fragments 
of  every  size,  some  vomited  from  the  volcano,  but  in  great  part  torn 
from  the  flanks  of  the  mountain  itself  and  carried  to  the  sea,  there  to 
add  considerably  to  the  coast-line  afl:er  devastating  the  intervening 
country.  The  fountain  of  volcanic  bombs  consisted  of  masses  of  lava, 
containing  gases  which  exploded,  producing  a  loud  sound,  which  was 
said  to  have  been  heard  at  a  distance  of  a  hundred  miles.  The  size 
of  the  bombs,  and  the  height  to  which  they  must  have  reached,  were 
very  great.  The  great  volcano  of  Hecla,  in  the  same  island,  had  been 
nearly  quiet  for  eighty  years,  but  in  1845  a  violent  eruption  took  place, 
(446) 


WONDERFUL  MOUNTAINS  AND  MOUNTAINEERING.         447 

"Nvhich  lasted  a  long  time.  A  mass  consisting  of  no  less  than  five 
hundred  feet  of  the  top  of  the  mountain  was  blown  away  by  the  rush 
of  the  lava,  which  poured  down  the  valleys  on  the  side  of  the  volcano 
in  such  a  vast  quantity  as  to  reach  ten  miles.  Its  thickness  was  from 
fifty  to  eighty  feet.  Another  Icelandic  volcano,  Skaptar  Jokul,  burst 
forth  in  1783,  and  cast  out  enormous  streams  of  lava,  one  about  fifty 
miles  long  and  fifteen  broad,  and  the  other  forty  in  length  and  seven 
wide.  The  thickness  of  these  streams  of  molten  rock  was  in  some 
places  more  than  five  hundred  feet,  and  it  has  been  calculated  that  the 
entire  mass  exceeds  in  bulk  the  highest  mountain  in  Europe. 

A    MOUNTAIN    OF    FIRE. 

One  of  the  large  volcanoes  in  the  Sandwich  Islands  has,  when  quiet, 
a  lake  of  liquid  lava  in  the  hollow  or  crater  on  its  summit.  This  lava, 
like  all  others,  consists  of  different  rocks  which  have  been  dissolved 
deep  down  in  the  earth  below  the  volcano  by  steam  confined  in  a  small 
space,  and  therefore  by  what  is  called  high-pressure  steam.  It 
resembles  dark  bottle-glass,  but  under  the  microscope  pieces  of  the 
original  rock  may  be  detected.  On  the  surface  of  the  lake  the  lava  is 
cooled  more  or  less  by  the  escape  of  steam  and  by  the  wind,  and  a  sort 
of  fine  slag  is  formed  ;  this  is  pumice-stone ;  and  when  the  lava  is 
ejected,  the  pumice  becomes  red-hot  and  is  cast  up  in  vast  quantities. 
Thus,  when  the  volcano  Tomboro,  in  the  Eastern  Sea,  was  in  eruption 
in  181 5,  the  first  notice  of  it  was  a  number  of  explosions,  which  were 
heard  at  Sumatra,  nearly  one  thousand  miles  off  in  a  straight  line. 
Three  distinct  columns  of  flame  were  seen  to  rise  from  the  mountain 
to  avast  height,  and  its  whole  surface  soon  appeared  as  if  covered  with 
fiery  lava  streams.  The  flames  were  really  vast  masses  of  the  pumice 
or  scoriae  shooting  up  into  the  air,  and  they  fell  for  miles  around.  The 
pumice  and  the  powder  of  it  were  in  such  quantities  that  they  darkened 
the  air,  caused  complete  darkness  in  Java,  eight  hundred  miles  off,  and 
covered  the  ground  and  roofs  of  houses  to  a  depth  of  several  inches. 
The  floating  pumice  upon  the  sea  around  formed  a  layer  two  feet  thick, 
through  which  vessels  with  difficulty  forced  their  way.  Sometimes  the 
force  with  which  the  light  pumice  is  cast  up  is  so  great,  that  upper  cur- 
rents in  the  air  blow  vast  collections  of  it  to  a  great  distance,  and  the 
first  notice  of  the  eruption  of  some  volcanoes  in  out-of-the-way 
countries  has  been  given  by  showers  of  ashes  in  well-known  localities, 
often  several  hundreds  of  miles  distant. 

The  great  volcano  named  Vesuvius,  which  is  now  so  constantly  in 
eruption,  was  described  by  the  ancients  as  a  cone-shaped  mountain  with 
a  flat  top,  on  which  was  a  deep  circular  valley  filled  with  vines  and 
grass,  and  surrounded  by  high  precipices.     A  large  population  lived  on 


448 


WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 


the  sides  of  the  mountain,  which  was  covered  with  beautiful  woods,  and 
there  were  fine  flourishing  cities  at  its  foot.  So  httle  was  the  terrible 
nature  of    the   valley  on   the   top    understood,  that  in  the  year  72, 


TERKU'TC  ERUPTION  OF  THE  GREAT  CRATER  OF  VESUVIUS. 

Spartacus,  a  Roman  rebel,  Cwcamped  there  with  some  thousands  of 
fighting  men,  and  the  Roman  soldiers  were  let  down  the  precipices  in 
order  to  surprise  and  capture  them.  There  had  been  earthquakes 
around  the  mountain,  and  one  of  the  cities  had  been  nearly  destroyed; 


WONDERFUL  MOUNTAINS  AND  MOUNTAINEERING.         449 

but  no  one  was  prepared  for  what  occurred  seven  years  after  the  defeat 
of  Spartacus.  Suddenly  a  terrific  rush  of  smoke,  steam  and  fire 
belched  from  the  mountahi's  summit;  one  side  of  this  treacherous 
valley  was  blown  off,  and  its  rocks,  with  vast  quantities  of  ashes,  burning 
stones  and  sand,  were  ejected  far  into  the  sky.  They  then  spread  out 
like  a  vast  pall,  and  fell  far  and  wide.  For  eight  days  and  nights  this 
went  on,  and  the  enormous  quantity  of  steam  sent  up,  together  with 
the  deluge  of  rain  that  fell,  produced  torrents  on  the  mountain-side, 
which,  carrying  onwards  the  fallen  ashes,  overwhelmed  everything  in 
their  way.  Sulphurous  vapors  filled  the  air,  and  violent  tremblings  of 
the  earth  were  constant.  A  city  six  miles  off  was  speedily  rendered 
uninhabitable,  and  was  destroyed  by  the  falling  stones ;  but  two  others 
— Herculaneum  and  Pompeii — which  already  had  suffered  from  the 
down-pour  of  ashes,  were  gradually  filled  up  with  a  flood  of  water, 
sand,  and  ashes,  which  came  down  the  side  of  the  volcano,  and  finally 
were  covered  up  entirely.  In  succeeding  eruptions  much  lava  was 
poured  out;  and  in  the  year  472,  ashes  were  cast  forth  over  a  great  part 
of  Europe,  so  that  much  fear  was  caused  at  Constantinople.  The  cities 
were  more  and  more  covered  up,  and  were  only  discovered  in  17 13, 
when,  in  digging  a  well,  a  theatre  with  some  statues  was  disclosed. 
Since  then  numerous  curiosities  have  been  dug  up,  wonderfully 
preserved  by  the  ashes. 

The  recent  exhumation  of  those  towns,  and  the  consequent  recovery 
of  a  series  of  remarkable  memorials  of  that  antique  society  which 
previously  was  but  dimly  seen  in  the  pages  of  poets  and  historians,  has 
reflected,  as  it  were,  a  new  and  singular  interest  on  the  mountain  so 
fatally  associated  with  their  annals.  We  cannot  think  of  Herculaneum 
and  Pompeii  without  thinking  of  Vesuvius,  which  was  at  once  their- 
destroyer  and  preserver  ;  suddenly  arresting  their  current  history  and 
checking  their  flow  of  prosperous  life,  in  order,  as  it  would  seem,  that 
later  generations  might  be  able  to  contemplate  that  history  and  survey 
that  life  in  all  their  original  freshness  !  Thus  it  is  that  Vesuvius  has 
acquired  a  world-wide  fame,  to  which  no  mere  considerations  of  height 
or  grandeur  could  have  entitled  it. 

Vesuvius,  as  seen  from  Naples,  is  a  two-headed  mountain ;  the  peak 
to  the  left  is  the  Somma,  that  to  the  right  is  the  volcano  itself;  they  are 
separated  by  a  deep  valley.  At  the  mouth  of  the  valley,  on  a  plateau 
forming  quite  a  natural  belvedere,  are  situated  the  Hermitage  and  the 
Observatory.     The  first  stage  of  the  ascent  takes  to  the  former. 

The  sight  is  splendid — especially  in  the  evening,  when  the  sun  halts 
for  a  moment  over  the  island-rocks  of  Ischia,  like  a  wheel  of  fire,  before 
it  makes  haste  to  sink  behind  the  peaks  which  it  touches  with  glorious 
29 


450  WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 

flame.  But  the  picture  which  Ungers  longest  in  the  memory  is  a  moon- 
hght  effect,  such  as  was  seen  from  the  Hermitage,  on  the  occasion  of 
the  last  eruption.  Then  half  the  mountain  slept  in  shadow,  while  the 
rest  was  luminous,  as  was  the  kindling  sea ;  the  heights  of  Sorrento 
were  tinted  with  bronze  on  their  sides,  and  silver  on  their  brow ;  Capri 
shone  in  a  shimmering  milky  way  of  light ;  afar  off,  in  the  mist,  lay 
Misenum  and  Ischia,  the  distant  Mediterranean,  and,  beyond,  a  world 
of  dreams ;  nearer,  the  city,  with  the  lighthouse  on  its  mole,  and  the 
pale  reflections  of  its  lighted  quays — a  row  of  glow-worms  under  a 
border  of  houses — and  behind,  the  mountain  on  fire,  with  its  indescrib- 
able glories  of  leaping  flames  and  strange  electric  coruscations.  At 
such  a  time  all  eyes  are  attracted  to  the  crater,  as  it  vomits  flames,  asl"res, 
masses  of  rock,  and  even  a  kind  of  red  and  burning  snow,  which,  falling 
back  in  flakes  of  fire  on  the  slopes  of  the  cone,  accumulates  there,  to 
roll  down  headlong  in  formidable  avalanches,  and  cover  the  lands,  and 
swallow  up  houses,  and  bury  cities,  and  defy  the  strength  and  skill  of 
man  to  arrest  its  progress,  in  its  onward  sweep  of  destruction. 

ALPS    PILED    ON    ALPS. 

The  Alps  form  the  most  important  European  mountain-system,  and 
contain  the  loftiest  peaks.  They  strike  across  the  north  of  Italy,  from 
the  shore  of  the  Mediterranean,  and  extend  to  the  borders  of  Hungary. 
Geographers  divide  them  into  distinct  groups  or  masses,  to  which  dis- 
tinct names  are  attached.  The  culminating  summit  of  the  Alps  is  Mont 
Blanc,  which  has  long  reigned  supreme  among  European  mountains. 
Its  position  is  remarkable,  for  it  is  almost  equidistant  between  the  Pole 
and  the  Equator.  A  huge  pyramidal  mass,  elongated  from  north  to 
south,  so  that  it  resembles  the  hump  of  a  dromedary,  girt  round  with 
soaring  pinnacles,  furrowed  by  enormous  glaciers,  and  shrouded  perpet- 
ually in  ice  and  snow,  it  presents  a  remarkably  majestic  aspect,  and 
impresses  the  spectator  with  a  wonderful  feeling  of  sublimity  and  power. 
Hence  it  has  long  exercised  a  strange  fascination  over  the  minds  of 
men,  and  its  ascent  has  become  one  of  those  enterprises  which  offer  a 
peculiar  attraction  to  the  adventurous.  Its  summit  was  first  reached  by 
Paccard  and  Jacques  Balmat  in  August,  1785.  Since  that  time  ascents 
have  entered  into  the  ordinary  holiday  programme  of  the  bolder  class 
of  tourists ;  though  the  undertaking  is  one  which  requires  considerable 
strength,  endurance  and  resolution,  and  the  direction  of  efficient  guides. 
Several  ladies  have  accomplished  it,  however. 

The  ascents  of  Mont  Blanc  have  not  always  been  made  from  a  thirst 
for  adventure,  or  to  gratify  a  commonplace  curiosity,  but  in  the  highest 
interests  of  science  ;  and  to  those  accomplished  by  Saussure,  Agassiz, 
Forbes,  Tyndall  and  Charles  Martins,  we  are  indebted  for  much  of  our 


WONDERFUL  MOUNTAINS  AND  MOUNTAINEERING.         451 

knowledge  of  glaciers  and  glacial  phenomena.  In  the  annals  of  science 
no  mountain  occupies  a  more  distinguished  place  ;  while  it  has  furnished 
the  artist  with  inexhaustible  sources  of  inspiration.  We  favor  the  reader 
with  a  thrilling  account  of  the  ascent  by  M.  de  Saussure,  and  we  allow 
that  courageous  man  of  science  to  tell  his  own  story :  I  started  on  the 
first  of  August  accompanied  by  a  servant,  and  by  eighteen  guides,  who 
carried  our  scientific  instruments  and  all  the  apparatus  of  which  I  had 
need.  In  order  to  feel  perfectly  free  in  my  selection  of  places  where  to 
pass  the  nights,  I  took  with  me  a  tent ;  and  on  the  first  evening  I  re- 
posed under  its  canvas  roof  on  the  summit  of  the  peak  of  La  Cote. 
The  second  day's  march  is  not  the  easiest.  You  must  first  cross  the 
glacier  of  La  Cote,  to  gain  the  foot  of  a  small  chain  of  rocks  which  lie 
imbedded  in  the  snows  of  Mont  Blanc.  This  glacier  is  both  difficult 
and  dangerous.  It  is  intersected  by  broad,  deep,  irregular  crevasses ; 
and  often  you  can  traverse  these  only  upon  bridges  of  snow,  which  are 
sometimes  very  slight,  and  suspended  over  formidable  abysses.  One 
of  my  guides  nearly  perished  here.  The  day  before,  in  company  with 
two  others,  he  had  gone  to  reconnoitre  the  route  ;  fortunately  they  had 
taken  the  precaution  of  tying  themselves  together  with  ropes  ;  the  snow 
gave  way  beneath  him  in  the  middle  of  a  broad,  deep  crevasse,  and  he 
remained  suspended  between  his  two  comrades.  We  passed  very  near 
the  opening  which  had  formed  under  him,  and  shuddered  at  the  sight 
of  the  peril  he  had  incurred. 

After  reaching  these  rocks  we  kept  away  from  them  at  first,  in  order 
to  mount  by  a  winding  path  to  a  snow-loaded  valley,  which  runs  from 
north  to  south  to  the  foot  of  the  loftiest  summit.  The  snow  was  cut  at 
intervals  by  enormous  and  superb  crevasses,  the  sharp,  clean  section  of 
which  showed  the  snow  arranged  in  horizontal  layers,  each  layer  repre- 
senting a  year's  formation.  However  wide  the  crevasses,  you  can 
nowhere  discover  their  bottom.  My  guides  were  fain  to  have  spent  the 
night  near  one  of  the  rocks  which  w^e  fell  in  with  on  this  route ;  but  as 
the  loftiest  were  still  three  thousand  six  hundred  feet  below  the  summit, 
I  wished  to  ascend  to  a  higher  point.  For  this  purpose,  it  was  impera- 
tive that  we  should  encamp  in  the  middle  of  the  snows  ;  but  I  had  much 
difficulty  in  reconciling  my  companions  to  such  a  course.  They  im- 
agined that  during  the  night  an  absolutely  unendurable  degree  of  cold 
prevailed  in  the  upper  regions  of  the  snow,  and  seriously  feared  lest  they 
should  perish  there.  At  length  I  told  them  that  we  would  dig  deeply 
in  the  snow,  and  cover  the  excavation  with  the  canvas  of  the  tent ; 
beneath  which  we  would  all  ensconce  ourselves,  and  we  should  not  suffer 
from  the  cold,  however  rigorous  it  might  prove.  My  guides  at  once  set 
to  work  to  excavate  a  place  which  might  form  our  quarters  for  the 


452 


WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 


night ;  but  they  quickly  felt  the  rarefaction  of  the  air.  Robust  as  they 
were,  scarcely  had  they  thrown  out  five  or  six  spadefuls  of  snow  before 
they  were  compelled  to  abandon  the  task ;  it  was  necessary  to  relieve 
one  another  every  minute,  as  exertion  made  breath inc^  more  difficult 


PERILOUS    DESCENT    THROUGH    THE   GREAT    CREVASSE,    MONT    BLANC. 

From  the  middle  of  this  plateau,  inclosed  between  the  topmost  peak 
of  Mont  Blanc  to  the  south,  its  lofty  eastern  terraces  and  the  dome  of 
the  Goute  on  the  west,  we  could  see  nothing  but  snow  ;  snow  spotlessly 
pure,  of  a  dazzling  whiteness,  and  on  the  higher  summits  forming  a  very 


WONDERFUL  MOUNTAINS  AND  MOUNTAINEERING.         453 

singular  contrast  with  the  intensely  blue,  nay,  the  purple-black  sky  of 
tliese  elevated  regions.  No  living  being  was  visible,  no  appearance  of 
vegetation ;  it  is  the  abode  of  cold  and  silence.  My  guides,  constantly 
pre-occupied  with  fear  of  the  cold,  closed  so  carefully  every  chink  and 
crevice  of  our  tent  that  I  suffered  greatly  from  the  heat  and  from  the 
air  corrupted  by  our  breath.  In  order  to  breathe  freely,  I  was  com- 
pelled to  go  out  into  the  night.  The  moon  shone  with  the  greatest 
splendor  in  the  midst  of  a  sky  as  black  as  ebony.  Jupiter,  all  radiant, 
emerged  from  behind  the  loftiest  peak  to  the  east  of  Mont  Blanc  ;  and 
the  light  reverberated  from  all  this  vast  amphitheatre  of  snow  was  so 
dazzling,  that  I  could  distinguish  only  stars  of  the  first  and  second 
magnitude.  At  length  we  began  to  sleep,  when  we  were  awakened  by 
the  crash  of  a  great  avalanche  which  covered  a  part  of  the  slope  we  had 
ascended  the  day  before.  At  dawn  the  thermometer  marked  three 
degrees  below  freezing-point. 

We  began  by  ascending  to  the  third  and  last  plateau ;  then  we  di- 
verged to  the  left  in  order  to  gain  the  loftiest  rock  lying  east  of  the 
topmost  peak.  The  acclivity  is  exceedingly  abrupt  and  everywhere  it 
abuts  upon  precipices ;  and  so  hard  was  the  surface  of  the  snow,  that 
those  who  went  in  advance  could  not  steady  their  steps  until  they  had 
broken  it  with  a  hatchet.  We  spent  two  toilsome  hours  in  climbing 
this  acclivity.  Having  reached  the  summit-crag,  we  turned  to  the 
right — that  is,  to  the  westward — in  order  to  ascend  the  final  incline. 
Owing  to  the  excessive  rarefaction  of  the  air,  a  man's  strength  is  very 
readily  exhausted.  Near  the  summit,  I  had  to  stop  to  take  breath  at 
every  fifteen  or  sixteen  steps.  At  intervals,  indeed,  I  experienced  a 
weakness  which  compelled  me  to  sit  down ;  but  always  as  my  respira- 
tion recovered  itself  my  physical  energies  revived ;  and,  on  resuming 
my  march,  I  felt  for  the  moment  as  if  I  could  dart  like  an  arrow  to  the 
very  crest  of  the  mountain.  The  guides,  in  proportion  to  their  strength, 
were  in  the  same  condition  ;  some  better,  some  worse.  Hence,  it  took 
us  two  hours  to  climb  from  the  last  rock  to  the  summit. 

THE    MARVELOUS    BROCKEN. 

In  the  Harz  Mountains  there  is  a  celebrated  summit  which  tourists 
in  that  region  always  expect  to  visit.  A  strange  shadow  of  any  object 
is  thrown  from  one  point  upon  the  cloud  or  mist  opposite,  and  forms 
one  of  the  wonders  of  that  locality  which  has  long  been  described  in 
prose  and  song  as  the  home  of  spectres  and  witches,  and  supernatural 
beings.     The  figure  of  a  child  takes  on  the  appearance  of  a  giant. 

The  visitor  to  the  Harz  must  travel  afoot,  with  his  portmanteau  on 
his  back,  if  he  would  penetrate  into  the  less  frequented  and  the  wildest 
localities.     When  crossing  an  immense  plain,  luxuriant  with  splendid 


454 


WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 


crops,  we  perceived  several  young   persons    mounted   on   stilts,  and 
making  with  a  kind  of  rattle  a  deafening  noise,  intended  to  put  to  flight 


'JUK    FAMOUS    Sl'l'.CTKE    OF    THE    liKOCKEN. 

the  few  sparrows  which  came  to  peck  at  the  ears  bending  over  the  fur- 
rowed way.  These  robust  young  guardians,  who  spent  all  the  day  in 
the  fields,  certainly  received  at  each  meal,  in  the  shape  of  bread,  more 


WONDERFUL  MOUNTAINS  AND  MOUNTAINEERING.         455 

grain  than  the  birds  would  have  carried  away  in  a  week.  The  inaction 
of  their  vigorous  arms  bore  testimony  to  the  trifling  value  of  manual 
labor,  which  amounts  to  little  and  is  poorly  requited. 

The  Harz  is  composed  of  enormous  blocks  of  granite,  the  base  of 
which  rises  several  hundred  feet  above  the  sea-level.  Its  area  is  thirty- 
six  square  miles.  The  mountains  are  generally  isolated,  and  form 
huge  conical  peaks,  separated  by  deep  and  narrow  \alleys,  especially 
in  the  north  of  the  Harz.  A  chain  of  mountains  divides  this  country 
into  two  parts ;  several  rivers  rise  in  it.  Not  a  leaf  stirs ;  the  trees 
along  the  road  are  silent,  yet  seem  disturbed ;  great  belts  of  greenish- 
gray  clouds  rest  upon  the  horizon.  To  the  left,  the  Brocken  shows  it- 
self above  a  framework  of  mountains,  the  upper  portion  of  which  is 
sharply  outlined  against  the  sky ;  a  dull,  leaden-colored  mist  spreads 
o\-er  the  valley,  and  obscures  and  confounds  its  various  features. 

A    WONDERFUL    CASCADE. 

The  Ilsenstein  is  an  immense  rocky  precipice,  washed  by  the  winding 
flood  of  the  river  Use,  a  stream  very  famous  in  song  and  fable.  One 
explorer  says  of  it :  It  is  impossible  to  describe  the  vivacity,  the  bold- 
ness, the  grace,  with  which  the  Use  descends  on  the  fantastic  groups  of 
rocks  she  encounters  in  her  career.  Here  the  waters  hiss  wildly,  or 
roll  in  spray  and  foam  ;  there  they  leap  in  crystal  arches  over  a  laby- 
rinth of  crevasses ;  and,  lower  down,  they  dance  across  the  mossy  peb- 
bles like  frolicsome  nymphs. 

Here  are  various  phenomena  that  are  well  worth  a  study.  One 
of  the  most  remarkable  of  all  mountain  sights  is  a  kind  of  mirage, 
to  be  seen  only  from  the  top  of  the  Brocken.  It  is  there  known  as  the 
Spectre  of  the  Brocken  ;  and  very  spectre-like  it  looks  in  the  red  even- 
ing sun.  You  no  sooner  step  out  upon  the  plateau  on  the  top  of  the 
hill,  than  your  shadow,  grim  and  gigantic,  is  apparently  flung  right  out 
against  the  eastern  sky,  where,  with  all  visible  space  for  a  play-ground, 
it  flits  swiftly  from  place  to  place,  following  your  every  movement, 
This  weird-looking  phenomenon  surpasses  any  description  in  words. 
It  is  only  in  the  evening  just  before  sunset  that  the  phenomenon  is  visi- 
ble, so  that  the  shadow  is  doubly  exaggerated,  first  by  the  distance  and 
level  of  the  sun,  and  then  by  the  distance  of  the  surface  upon  which  it 
is  projected. 

The  explanation  of  the  Spectre  of  the  Brocken  is  very  simple.  To 
the  east  of  the  Harz  Mountains  there  is  always  a  very  dense  and  hazy 
atmosphere,  so  dense  that  it  presents  a  surface  capable  of  receiving  the 
impression  of  a  shadow  and  of  retaining  it  as  a  wall  does.  When, 
therefore,  the  sun  gets  round  to  the  west,  the  shadows  of  all  objects 
that  are  near  enough  to  this  surface  are  projected  upon  it.     It  is  not 


456  WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 

the  fact  that  these  shadows  are  flung  out,  as  they  appear  to  be,  upon 
what  is  called  the  sky,  they  are  all  close  at  hand.  And  the  chances  are 
that  if  it  were  possible  to  walk  straight  out  towards  them  from  the  top 
of  the  Brocken,  the  spectator  would  very  soon  get  behind  them.  To 
produce  the  mirage  in  miniature,  let  the  reader  take  a  red-hot  poker 
and  look  along  it  horizontally  towards  an  object  (say  some  letter  of  the 
alphabet)  stuck  upon  the  wall  a  {qw  feet  away.  He  will  soon  see  the 
inverted  image  of  the  object  a  few  inches  from  the  end  of  the  poker, 
and  a  few  inches  above  it,  and  have  a  case  of  mirage  on  a  small  scale. 

A    MARVELOUS    MOUNTAIN    INTERIOR. 

The  Harz  is  celebrated  for  its  mines,  and  a  visit  to  these  is  as  indis- 
pensable on  the  part  of  the  tourist  as  the  ascent  of  the  Brocken. 
There  are  two  ways  of  descending  into  the  mines.  Formerly,  at 
regular  intervals  in  a  special  compartment  of  the  shaft,  was  arranged  a 
succession  of  stages,  platforms,  or  landing-places,  communicating  with 
one  another  by  ladders  ;  and  the  visitor  ascended  or  descended  by 
means  of  these.  In  many  places  this  arrangement  is  still  kept  up.  But 
the  fatigue  of  climbing  up  or  down  vertical  or  almost  vertical  ladders, 
for  a  depth  of  two  thousand  feet,  is  very  severe.  The  miners  spent  an 
hour  or  an  hour  and  a  half  every  morning  and  evening  in  the  weari- 
some exercise,  to  the  great  trial  of  their  strength  and  the  loss  of  their 
time.  So,  in  some  of  the  mines,  the  ascent  and  descent  are  accom- 
plished, as  in  our  coal  mines,  in  the  buckets,  cradles,  or  suspended  cages, 
used  also  for  the  removal  of  the  ore  or  coal.  These  are  lowered  or 
raised  by  ropes  passing  over  pulleys,  and  worked  by  hand  or  by  steam 
power,  and  afford  an  expeditious  method  of  transit. 

Having  accomplished  our  descent  into  a  mine,  our  first  mquiry  will 
be  as  to  its  ventilation.  How  do  the  miners  breathe  in  these  under- 
ground recesses  ?  How  are  they  provided  with  a  sufficient  supply  of  pure 
atmospheric  air  ?  For  we  feel  that  the  temperature  is  not  disagreeable 
nor  the  odor  oppressive.  On  the  other  hand,  we  are  conscious  that  a 
cellar  or  subterranean  excavation,  if  only  a  few  feet  below  the  surface, 
is  by  no  means  a  healthy  or  agreeable  residence.  How,  then,  do  the 
miners  contrive  to  enjoy  a  tolerably  healthy  climate  at  a  depth  of  two 
thousand  feet  in  the  bowels  of  the  earth  ?  The  process  of  ventilation, 
though  somewhat  complicated  in  its  details,  is  very  simple  as  a  whole. 

Metallic  mines,  like  those  of  the  Harz,  do  not  require  a  very  active 
circulation  of  the  air  ;  all  that  is  necessary  is  to  carry  off  that  which 
has  already  been  respired  by  the  workmen,  which  has  fed  their  lamps, 
and  been  vitiated  by  the  process  of  blasting.  There  is  no  occasion  to 
fear,  as  in  coal  mines,  the  irrespirable  and  explosive  gas  which  is  dis- 
engaged from  the  surface  of  the  coal.     Special  machines,  however  are 


A    REMARKABLE    MINE    IN    THE    HARZ DESCENDING   THE    SHAFT. 

457 


458  WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 

sometimes  made  use  of  to  renew  the  air  in  the  inner  parts  of  the  mine. 
But  frequently  a  natural  ventilation  is  sufficient ;  the  fresh  air  enters 
through  the  lowest  openings,  shafts,  or  galleries,  grows  warm  in  the 
mine,  and  accordingly  rises  and  passes  away  through  the  higher  shafts, 
just  as  the  heated  atmosphere  of  our  rooms  escapes  through  the 
chimneys.  In  all  cases  the  direction  of  the  air-current,  and  its  propor- 
tion, is  regulated  by  means  of  doors,  which  prevent  it  from  seeking  the 
shortest  way,  and  compel  it  to  feed  those  places  most  in  need  of  it. 

The  lights  used  by  the  Harz  miners  are  lamps  of  classic  form  ;  which 
are  supplied,  before  descending,  with  a  lump  of  fat  for  distinguished 
visitors,  or  with  oil  for  workmen.  The  same  system  of  lightage  is 
adopted  for  the  solid  galleries  and  those  navigated  in  boats,  in  spite  of 
the  regret  of  all  lovers  of  the  picturesque,  who  naturally  would  prefer 
the  weird  effects  produced  by  the  shifting  glare  of  torches.  And  yet  it 
is  fortunate  that  such  lamps,  with  their  naked  and  powerful  flame,  can 
be  safely  employed.  In  coal  mines  the  presence  of  an  explosive  gas 
compels  the  miner,  as  everybody  knows,  to  surround  the  flame  with  a 
metallic  network,  which  prevents  its  combustion  from  spreading  exter- 
nally, and,  at  the  same  time,  so  masks  the  flame  that  darkness  swallows 
up  everything  at  a  foot  or  two  from  the  lamp's  flickering  flame. 

GARDENS  ON    THE   SURFACE    AND   FIRE    BENEATH. 

Mount  Etna,  one  of  the  most  remarkable  of  the  European  volcanoes, 
is  situated  on  the  east  coast  of  the  island  of  Sicily.  A  high  road  winds 
round  its  lower  slopes  with  a  total  circuit  of  ninety-three  miles  ;  but  if 
we  take  the  sea,  and  the  rivers  Simeto  and  Cantara,  as  defining  its 
natural  boundaries,  we  must  reckon  its  total  circumference  at  one 
hundred  and  twenty  miles,  and  even  this  limit  will  not  include  the  whole 
of  the  district  over  which  it  pours  its  lava  floods.  Its  Greek  name  is 
intended  to  indicate  pre-eminence — the  "  mountain  of  mountains," 
which  Etna  assuredly  is,  so  far  as  the  Mediterranean  basin  is  concerned. 

The  ascent  of  Mount  Etna  is  peculiarly  interesting,  because  it  con- 
ducts the  traveler  through  three  distinct  zones  of  climate  and  vegetation, 
which  graduate,  so  to  speak,  from  the  semi-Oriental  to  the  Alpine.  The 
lowest  of  these  zones  is  celebrated  for  its  fertility.  It  stretches  up  the 
acclivities  of  the  mountain  to  a  distance  varying  from  two  miles  on  the 
north,  to  ten  or  eleven  miles  on  the  south.  Its  soil,  consisting  of 
decomposed  volcanic  matter,  yields  abundant  harvests  of  corn,  and  wine, 
and  fruit.  The  air  is  soft  and  bland  ;  the  winds  breathe  warmly,  as  if 
influenced  by  the  subterranean  fires  ;  the  slopes  laugh  with  flowers,  and 
are  decked  with  groves  of  chestnuts  and  Oriental  planes  ;  orchards  and 
vineyards  seem  to  yield  their  treasures  almost  spontaneously  ;  while  the 
landscape  everywhere  echoes  with  the  music  and  brightens  with  the 


WONDERFUL  MOUNTAINS  AND  MOUNTAINEERING..        459 

sunshine  of  copious  streams.  Villages  and  convents  are  numerous: 
the  former  are  reckoned  at  sixty-five,  with  a  population  of  three  hundred 
thousand,  and  their  condition  generally  appears  peaceful  and  prosperous. 
Every  picture,  however,  must  have  its  shade  ;  and  here,  as  in  other 
parts  of  Etna,  the  slopes  are  furrowed  by  the  black  channels  of  ancient 
lava-streams,  bearing  significant  witness  to  the  terrible  power  of  the 
subterranean  fires,  and  conveying  to  the  mountaineers  a  warning  of 
possible  calamity  which  they  regard  with  supreme  indifference. 

A   TREE    THAT    CAN    SHELTER    A    HUNDRED    HORSEMEN. 

From  this  zone  we  pass  into  the  wooded  region,  or  forest.  The 
botanical  aspects  of  the  forest  differ,  however,  in  different  districts.  At 
Bronte,  pines  of  goodly  stature  abound.  At  Paterno,  the  oak,  the  beech, 
the  ilex  and  the  fragrant  lime.  Poplars  mingle  with  the  oaks  and  pines 
near  Matello  ;  while  hawthorn  and  cork-trees,  fir,  beech  and  oak  inter- 
mingle their  shades  in  the  adjoining  district.  Between  Mascali  and 
Piraino,  a  woody  tract  of  oak-trees  and  of  immense  chestnuts  affords  a 
delightful  shelter  to  numerous  flocks  and  herds.  Here  is  found  that 
botanical  marvel,  the  Castagno  di  Cento  Cavalli,  which  can  receive  a 
hundred  horsemen  beneath  its  leafy  canopy.  The  scenery  of  this  region 
is  rich  in  picturesque  effects,  which  recall  the  old  poetic  descriptions  of 
the  classic  Arcadia.  The  forest  recesses  are  the  home  of  game  and 
wild  animals  of  alm^ost  every  description ;  the  wild  boar,  the  roebuck, 
the  fox,  the  badger,  the  porcupine,  wild  cats,  weasels,  ferrets,  the  eagle, 
the  falcon,  the  partridge  and  a  host  of  song-birds.  And  here,  too,  the 
Etnaen  flora,  which  includes  a  great  variety  of  species,  may  be  examined 
in  all  its  beauty. 

We  pass  on  to  the  Desert  Region,  the  upper  part  of  which  is  fitly 
called  the  "Abode  of  Snow."  At  first  the  traveler  meets  with  a  few 
stunted  plants  and  lichens,  as  in  the  frozen  wastes  of  Greenland,  but 
soon  he  leaves  even  these  scanty  traces  of  vegetation  behind  him,  and 
climbs  a  dead  ascent  of  ashes,  scoriae  and  lava  to  the  great  cone,  which 
incessantly  pours  forth  a  cloud  of  sulphurous  vapor.  From  June  to 
October  this  region  is  bare  and  black  ;  but  during  the  rest  of  the  year 
Nature  conceals  its  desolation  with  a  thick  mantle  of  snow.  The  air  is 
chill  and  piercing,  and  the  eye  nowhere  lights  on  a  sign  of  life. 

We  must  not  omit  to  allude  to  what  Sir  Charles  Lyell  has  aptly  and 
justly  called  the  grandest  and  most  original  feature  in  the  physiognomy 
of  this  remarkable  mountain — namely,  the  number  of  comparatively 
small  cones  scattered  over  its  declivities.  These,  in  relation  to  the 
colossal  bulk  of  Etna,  are  like  the  protuberances  on  the  rind  of  an 
orange ;  but  in  some  places  they  would  pass  for  lofty  hills.  About 
eighty  of  these  minor  volcanoes  are  found  at  different  parts ;  cones  of 


460 


WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 


eruption,  with  rent  and  broken  craters,  which  now  in  general  form  the 
most  romantic  wooded  basins  imaginable,  but  in  some  instances  retain 
their  original  rugfjedness  and  naked  desolation 


Mr.  Gladstone,  who  ascended  the  niDuiilain,  has  left  on  record  a  de- 
scriptive narrative,  from  which  we  take  the  following  passage  :  To  ascend 
the  highest  peak  our  choice  lay  between  a  precipice  and  a  corner  of  a 
ciater.     We  went  over  the  lava  in  a  very  warm  atmosphere,  sometimes, 


WONDERFUL  MOUNTAINS  AND  MOUNTAINEERING.         461 

on  passing  a  rift,  too  hot  for  a  moment  or  two  to  breathe.  We  got  upon 
the  back  of  the  peak,  and  worked  up  through  the  sulphur-clouds,  which 
here  alone  were  seriously  disagreeable.  We  here  gazed  upon  the  eastern 
view,  embracing  the  Messina  mountains  and  the  fine  kindred  outline  of 
the  Calabrian  coast.  From  thence  the  view  stretched  all  along  the 
southern  coast  to  Cape  Passaro.  But  our  chief  object  from  this  point 
was  the  crater  of  the  opposite  side,  into  which,  having  now  reached  a 
position  higher  than  any  part  of  it,  we  had  a  considerable  insight.  We 
enjoyed  keenly  our  full,  clear  sight  of  the  volcanic  action,  and  even  at 
the  moment  I  could  not  help  being  struck  with  the  remarkable  accuracy 
of  Virgil's  account.  The  great  features  of  this  action  are  the  sharp  and 
loud  clap  which  perceptibly  shook  from  time  to  time  the  ground  of  the 
mountain  under  our  feet  ;  the  sheet  of  flame,  which  leaped  up  with  a 
sudden  momentary  blast,  and  soon  disappeared  in  smoke  ;  then  the 
shower  of  red-hot  stones  and  lava.  At  this  time,  as  we  found  on  our 
way  down,  lava  masses  of  two  hundred  pounds  weight  were  being  thrown 
to  a  distance  of  probably  a  mile  and  a  half;  smaller  ones  we  found  even 
more  remote.  These  showers  were  most  copious,  and  often  came  in 
the  most  rapid  succession.  Even  while  we  were  ascending  the  exterior 
of  the  cone,  we  saw  them  alighting  on  its  slope,  and  sometimes  bound- 
ing down  with  immense  rapidity  within  perhaps  some  thirty  or  forty 
yards  of  our  rickety  footing  on  the  mountain-side.  They  dispersed  like 
the  sparks  of  a  rocket ;  they  lay,  beneath  the  snow,  over  the  mountain, 
thicker  than  even  the  stars  in  heaven ;  the  larger  ones  ascended  as  it 
were  with  deliberation,  and  then  descended  first  with  speed  and  then 
with  fury.  Now  they  passed  even  over  our .  heads,  and  we  could  pick 
up  some  newly  fallen,  and  almost  intolerably  hot.  Lastly,  there  was 
the  black-gray  column,  which  seemed  smoke,  and  was  really  ash,  and 
which  was  shot  from  time  to  time  out  of  the  very  bowels  of  the  crater, 
far  above  its  edge,  in  regular,  unbroken  form,  rising  high  in  the  air. 

THE  FAMOUS  MOUNT  ARARAT. 

Ararat,  strictly  speaking,  is  the  name  given  to  a  mountainous  district 
of  Asia  Minor,  in  the  province  of  Armenia,  which  has  acquired  a  pe- 
culiar interest  from  its  connection  with  the  Scriptural  records  of  the 
Deluge.  It  was  unknown  to  the  ancient  geographers,  as  it  is  to  the 
modern  Armenians  ;  but  evidence  exists  to  prove  that  it  was  an  old  and 
indigenous  name  for  a  portion  of  Armenia, — and  it  seems  to  have  been 
applied  to  the  elevated  table-land  which  overlooks  the  plain  of  the 
Araxes  on  the  north,  and  of  Mesopotamia  on  the  south.  At  a  very 
early  date  this  table-land  was  put  forward  as  the  spot  where  the  ark 
rested  after  the  subsidence  of  the  Noachian  Flood.  Tradition's  finger 
still  points  to  the  Jebel  Judi  as  the  scene  of  the  event,  and  legends  re- 


462 


WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 


cord  that  fragments  of  the  ark  still  lie  upon  its  lonely  summit.  And, 
indeed,  it  was  only  natural  that  the  Ararat  range  should  be  selected  by 
an  inhabitant  of  the  Mesopotamian  plain,  to  whom  it  must  have  repre- 
sented the  world's  furthest  limit,  or  at  least  its  loftiest  summits. 

In  this  neighborhood,  at  all  events,  are  all  the  associations  and  tra- 
ditions connected  with  Noah,  and  European  travelers  have  confirmed 
the  opinion  of  the  natives  so  far  as  to  confine  the  name  Ararat  to  the 
loftiest  and  most  striking  mountain  in  the  district.  Ararat,  then,  as  it 
is  now  called,  starts  immediately  from  the  plain  of  the  Araxes,  and  ter- 
minates in  two  conical  summits,  the  Great  and  the  Less  Ararat,  about 


THE    HISTORIC    MOUNT    ARARAT. 

seven  miles  distant  from  each  other;  the  former  attaining  an  elevation 
of  seventeen  thousand  feet  above  the  sea-level,  while  the  latter  is  about 
four  thousand  feet  lower.  The  crest  of  the  former  is  shrouded  in 
eternal  snow.  Its  middle  region  abounds  in  immense  masses  of  cinders, 
lava,  and  porphyry,  indicating  the  volcanic  origin  of  the  mountain  ;  and 
a  chasm  on  its  northern  side  has  been  regarded  as  a  crater.  In  July, 
1840,  it  was  the  scene  of  an  outbreak,  in  which  the  village  of  Arguri 
and  the  monastery  of  St.  James  were  destroyed.  A  violent  earthqifake 
brought  down  an  avalanche  of  earth  and  stones  from  the  upper  heights, 
which  buried  beneath  its  ruins  both  the  convent  and  the  villao-e.     As 


WONDERFUL  MOUNTAINS  AND  MOUNTAINEERING. 


463 


the  shock  was  followed  by  clouds  of  reddish  smoke  and  a  pungent 
sulphurous  odor,  it  is  assumed  that  the  volcanic  forces  of  Ararat  are 
not  extiiict,  and  without  any  doubt  this  conjecture  is  well  founded. 

It  was  long  believed  that  the  summit  of  Ararat  was  inaccessible,  and 
the  Armenians  still  adhere  to  the  belief,  though  its  ascent  was  accom- 
plished in  1829  by  Parrot,  and  several  later  travelers  have  successfully 
followed  in  his  footsteps.  The  region  immediately  below  the  snow-line 
they  describe  as  bare  and  desolate,  unvisited  by  beast  or  bird,  and 
haunted  by  a  silence  and  a  solitude  which  are  completely  overpowering. 
Arguri,  the  only  village  known  to  have  been  erected  on  its  slopes,  was 


NOAH's    ark    resting    on    ARARAT. 

the  spot  where,  according  to  an  ancient  tradition,  Noah  planted  his 
vineyard ;  and  in  the  plain  of  the  Araxes,  the  patriarch  is  reputed  to 
have  been  buried.  One  of  the  legends  connected  with  Ararat  relates 
that,  in  the  early  ages  of  Christianity,  a  poor  monk  conceived  the  idea 
of  offering  his  prayers  on  the  sacred  summit,  and  thrice  attempted  the 
ascent,  but  was  thrice  brought  back  by  angels  to  his  starting-point, 
where  he  was  ordered  to  build  the  chapel  destroyed  along  with  the 
village  of  Arguri  in  1840. 

The  Island  of  Mauritius,  in  the  Indian  Ocean,  possesses  a  chain  of 
mountains  of  volcanic  origin,  some  of  which  are  singularly  striking  and 


464  WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 

rugged  in  appearance.  The  most  celebrated  of  these,  and  one  that, 
from  its  pecuHar  formation,  is  one  of  the  most  wonderful  mountains  of 
the  world,  is  known  as  the  Pieter  of  Peter  Botte,  after  the  name  of  an 
adventurous  Dutchman  who,  tradition  asserts,  once  scaled  its  summit, 
but  lost  his  life  in  coming  down.  In  form  it  is  a  rugged  cone,  which 
runs  up  sharply  from  its  base  to  the  height  of  nearly  three  thousand 
feet ;  and  at  the  summit  of  this  cone  is  a  huge  mass  of  rock,  which 
appeared  to  be  poised  with  the  greatest  nicety,  so  that  a  change  in  its 
direction  of  a  few  feet  on  either  side  would  bring  it  to  the  earth. 

The  example  of  the  unfortunate  Dutchman  was  not  sufficient  to  deter 
other  daring  spirits  from  making  the  same  attempt,  and  several  times 
the  mountain  has  been  ascended  in  safety.  The  first  instance  occurred 
ia  1832,  when  a  party  of  Englishmen  accomplished  what  was  then 
deemed  a  most  daring  and  hazardous  task.  An  idea  of  the  difficulty 
of  the  undertaking,  as  well  as  the  general  character  of  the  mountain, 
will  be  gained  from  the  following  narration  by  one  of  the  party. 

A    FRIGHTFUL   CLIMB    TO    THE    PINNACLE. 

On  rising  to  the  shoulder  of  the  mountain,  a  view  burst  upon  us 
which  quite  defies  my  descriptive  powers.  We  stood  on  a  narrow 
ledge  or  neck  of  land  about  twenty  yards  in  length.  On  the  side  which 
we  mounted,  we  looked  back  into  the  deep  wooded  gorge  we  had 
passed  up  ;  while  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  neck,  which  was  between 
six  and  seven  feet  broad,  the  precipice  went  sheer  down  one  thousand 
five  hundred  feet  to  the  plain.  One  extremity  of  the  neck  was  equally 
precipitous,  and  the  other  was  bounded  by  what  to  me  was  the  most 
magnificent  sight  I  ever  saw.  A  narrow  knife-like  edge  of  rock,  broken 
here  and  there  by  precipitous  faces,  ran  up  in  a  conical  form,  and  on 
the  very  pinnacle  old  "  Peter  Botte  "  frowned  in  all  his  glory. 

After  a  short  rest  we  proceeded  to  work.  A  ladder  had  been  left 
by  a  party  who  attempted  the  ascent  the  year  before.  It  was  about 
twelve  feet  high,  and  reached  about  halfway  up  a  face  of  perpendicular 
rock.  The  foot,  which  was  spiked,  rested  on  a  ledge,  with  barely  three 
inches  on  each  side.  A  negro  clambered  from  the  top  of  the  ladder, 
by  the  cleft  in  the  face  of  the  rock  ;  he  carried  a  small  chord  round 
his  middle.  A  single  loose  stone  or  false  hold  must  have  sent  him 
down  into  the  abyss  ;  however,  he  fearlessly  scrambled  away,  till  at 
length  we  heard  him  halloo  from  under  the  neck,  "All  right !  "  The 
line  carried  up  he  made  fast  above,  and  up  it  we  all  four  "shinned  "  in 
succession.  It  was,  joking  apart,  awful  work.  In  several  places  the 
ridge  ran  to  an  edge  not  a  foot  broad  ;  and  I  could,  as  I  held  on  half 
sitting,  half  kneeling  across  the  ridge,  have  kicked  my  right  shoe  down 
to  the  plain  on  one  side,  and  my  left  into  the  bottom  of  the  ravine  on 


A  MAGNIFICENT  SCENE  IN  THE  WHITE  MOUNTAINS. 
30  465 


466 


WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE, 


the  other.     I  held  on  uncommonly  hard,  and  felt  very  well  satisfied 
when  I  was  safe  under  the  neck. 

A  communication  being  established  with  the  shoulder  by  a  double  line 
of  ropes,  we  proceeded  to  get  up  the  necessary  material — the  portable 
ladder,  additional  coils  of  ropes,  and  crowbars.  But  now  the  question 
was  how  to  get  the  ladder  up  against  the  rock.  One  made  a  line  fast 
round  his  body,  to  which  we  all  held  on,  and  going  to  the  edge  of  the 
precipice  on  the  opposite  side,  he  flung  a  large  stone  with  a  lead-line 
over  the  least  projecting  part,  and  it  was  eagerly  seized  on  the  opposite 
side.  Three  lengths  of  the  ladder  were  put  together  on  the  ledge;  a 
large  line  was  attached  to  the  one  which  was  over  the  head,  and  care- 
fully drawn  up  ;  and,  finally,  a  two-inch  rope,  to  the  extremity  of  which 


THE    OLD    MAN    OF   THE   MOUNTAIN. 

we  lashed  the  top  of  our  ladder,  tlien  lowered  it  gently  over  the  preci- 
pice until  it  hung  perpendicularly,  and  was  steadied  by  two  negroes  on 
the  ridge  below.  "All  right,  now  hoist  away!"  And  up  went  the 
ladder  till  the  foot  came  to  the  edge  of  our  ledge,  where  it  was  lashed 
in  firmly  to  the  neck.  We  then  hauled  away  on  the  guy  to  steady  it, 
and  made  it  fast ;  a  line  was  passed  over  by  the  lead-line  to  hold  on, 
and  up  went  the  one  who  had  held  the  line,  screeching  and  hallooing, 
and  we  all  three  scrambled  after  him.  The  Union  Jack  and  a  boat- 
hook  were  passed  up,  and  the  flag  waved  freely  and  gallantly  on  the 
redoubted  Peter  Botte. 

A  sketch  of  the  wonderful  mountains  of  the  world  would  be  incom- 
plete without  a  description  of  some  in  our  owft  country,  which  are  justly 
celebrated  for  their  unsurpassed  grandeur.  America  is  the  land  of  the 
marvelous.     It  is  affluent  in  nature's  magnificence,  and  if  the  countries 


WONDERFUL  MOUNTAINS  AND  MOUNTAINEERING. 


467 


of  the  Eastern  Hemisphere  can  present  sights  which  arc  worth  visiting, 
even  at  the  expense  of  thousands  of  miles  of  travel,  we  can  furnish 
marvels  and  attractions  no  less  worthy  of  admiration.  Here  may  be 
witnessed  on  the  grandest  scale  the  varied  wonders  of  natural  scenery. 
The  Atlantic  system  of  mountains  extends  from  Newfoundland  to 
Alabama.  Along  this  picturesque  chain,  as  it  extends  through  New 
England,  are  many  bold  summits,  which  have  been  explored  by  enter- 
prising scientists,  and  are  now  visited  by  crowds  of  summer  tourists, 
who  are  attracted  by  the  splendid  scenery  and  the  invigorating  moun- 
tain air.     The  White  Mountains  form  a  part  of  this  range,  and  are  justly 


THE    CURIOUS    LAUGHING   HEAD,    ARKANSAS. 

celebrated  for  their  imposing  features  and  the  magnificent  views  to  be 
obtained  from  their  elevated  heights,  which  attract  so  many  visitors. 

There  are  two  clusters  of  peaks  which  are  separated  from  each  other 
by  a  table-land  from  ten  to  fifteen  miles  in  width.  The  highest  of  these 
IS  Mount  Washington,  which  is  the  loftiest  mountain  summit  in  New 
England,  being  six  thousand  two  hundred  and  ninety-three  feet  above 
the  level  of  the  sea.  This,  with  many  of  the  surrounding  peaks, 
is  composed  of  immense  masses  of  bald  and  rugged  granite.  A 
gravelly  soil,  formed  around  the  bases  of  these  barren  summits,  supports 
a  few  hardy  trees,  such  as  are  capable  of  growing  in  the  poorest  ground. 


468  WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE, 

A  near  approach  to  Mount  Washington  can  be  made  by  railway,  and 
in  addition  to  this  a  carriage  road  on  the  east  side  enables  the  traveler 
to  reach  the  highest  point.  Here  may  be  seen  other  peaks  far  below, 
gulches  through  which  dashing  streams  flow,  valleys  further  away  that 
are  traversed  by  rivers,  and  at  times  such  brilliant  sunsets  and  landscape 
expanses  as  awaken  the  admiration  of  every  beholder.  Among  other 
objects  of  interest  is  the  "  Old  Man  of  the  Mountain,"  in  the  Franconia 
group,  opposite  Mount  Lafayette.  It  is  a  remarkable  profile  of  a  human 
face,  eighty  feet  in  length,  and  formed  by  the  singular  grouping  of  three 
immense,  projecting  rocks. 

From  one  peak  you  may  obtain  a  view  extending  beyond  a  deep 
mountain  gorge  lying  far  below,  to  a  summit  opposite,  around  which 
winds  the  railroad,  requiring  two  engines  for  the  ascent  when  several 
cars  compose  the  train.  Toward  evening  the  descending  sun  lights  up 
this  scene,  and  gives  it  a  rare  beauty  and  sublimity. 

In  many  parts  of  our  Great  West  there  are  mountainous  formations 
which  cannot  be  classed  as  anything  other  than  curiosities.  They  are 
remarkable  not  merely  for  size,  but  in  many  instances  for  shape  and 
configuration.  In  Arkansas  there  is  a  Laughing  Head  that  is  worth 
noting.  From  one  point  on  the  Arkansas  River  the  traveler  who  looks 
at  Dardanelle  Rock,  a  part  of  Magazine  Mountain,  that  juts  out  oppo- 
site Norristown,  in  Pope  County,  will  see  a  grotesque  face,  with  wide 
open  mouth,  as  if  laughing,  and  even  the  semblance  of  an  eye. 

The  southern  section  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  comprised  in  Southern 
Wyoming,  Colorado,  and  New  Mexico,  contains  the  greatest  mass  of 
elevation.  Here  are  ranges  extending  for  hundreds  of  miles,  whose 
crests  are  surmounted  by  lines  of  peaks  towering  far  into  the  sky.  Pro- 
ceeding westward  from  the  western  border  of  the  plains,  we  cross  a 
succession  of  two,  three,  or  more  well-defined  ranges,  beyond  which  are 
scattered  groups  of  mountains  apparently  without  system.  There  is  a 
great  contrast  in  this  respect  between  the  eastern  and  western  sides  of 
the  system.  On  the  east  the  plains  are  bordered  by  well-defined  ranges, 
whose  crests  are  sharply  cut;  while  on  the  west  the  mountain-making 
forces  seem  to  have  expended  themselves  in  throwing  up  groups  more 
or  less  isolated. 

The  Parks  of  Colorado  are  large  high  mountain  valleys,  on  the  very 
crest  of  the  Cordilleran  plateau.  They  are  four  in  number.  The  first 
of  these  lies  partly  in  Southern  Wyoming,  the  Colorado  boundary  pass- 
ing through  it  near  the  middle.  It  has  an  area  of  about  seven  hundred 
square  miles.  Its  surface  is  quite  flat,  well  grassed,  and  abounding  in 
large  game.  On  all  sides  rise  high  mountains,  forming  an  almost 
continuous  wall  around  the  valley.     It  is  drained  by  the  North  Platte 


IMMENSE  MOUNTAIN  CLIFFS,  SOUTHERN  WYOMING. 

469 


470  WONDERS  OF  EXPLORATION  AND  ADVENTURE. 

River.  North  of  the  North  Park,  and  separated  from  it  by  high  moun- 
tains, are  the  Plains  of  Laramie,  lying  west  of  the  Laramie  Range. 
They  are  fertile  and  grass-covered,  and  afford  pasturage  to  vast  herds 
of  cattle,  and,  in  the  spring  and  fall,  to  countless  bands  of  antelope. 
South  of  North  Park,  separated  from  it  by  detached  peaks  of  volcanic 
origin,  is  the  depression  known  as  Middle  Park.  It  is  a  collection  of 
narrow  valleys,  separated  from  one  another  by  high  ranges,  spurs  from 
the  walls  of  the  Park.  In  this  depression  heads  the  Grand  River,  a  fork 
of  the  Colorado.  The  next  in  this  meridional  series  is  the  South  Park. 
This  is  a  table-land,  very  uniform  in  surface,  with  the  exception  of  a  few 
minor  ridges,  and  in  the  southern  part  numerous  volcanic  buttcs.  Its 
shape  is  nearly  elliptical,  its  longest  axis  being  nearly  north  and 
south.  Its  limits  are  sharply  defined  by  the  surrounding  mountains, 
which  rise  abruptly  on  all  sides  to  the  highest  summits.  It  is  drained 
by  the  South  Platte  and  its  branches.  Its  surface  is  covered  with  the 
highly  nutritious  bunch  grass,  which  makes  it  an  excellent  pasture- 
land,  a  thing  which  stock  raisers  quickly  discovered. 

One  of  the  most  important  groups  in  the  Rocky  Mountain  Range  is 
that  known  as  the  Elk  Mountains.  These  mountains  are  of  volcanic 
origin.  Some  of  the  peaks  are  of  volcanic  material,  readily  dis- 
tinguished from  those  of  sedimentary  material  by  their  light-gray, 
almost  white,  color,  while  the  others  are  a  vivid  red,  brown  or  maroon. 
In  sharp  contrast  with  the  heavy  massive  forms  of  those  ranges  here- 
tofore considered  are  the  spires  and  pinnacles  of  these  catastrophic 
mountains.  In  the  eastern  members  the  peaks  reach  nearly  as  great 
an  altitude  as  in  the  Sawatch,  but  toward  the  west  they  are  much  lower, 
and  with  their  disappearance  the  system  of  plateaus  and  mesas  of  the 
resfion  of  the  Colorado  begins.  From  the  south  end  of  the  Sawatch 
Range  a  mass  of  hills  runs  south-westward,  connecting  with  an 
enormous  mass  of  mountains  about  the  heads  of  the  Ri<^  Grande,  the 
Rio  San  Juan,  and  many  branches  of  the  Gunnison.  They  can  be 
defined  only  as  a  mass,  with  a  long  spur,  of  magnitude  amply  sufficient 
to  entitle  it  to  the  name  of  range,  running  southward,  and  forming  the 
western  wall  of  the  San  Luis  Valley.  This  mass  radiates  drainage  in 
all  directions.  Within  these  mountains  there  is  no  level  country, 
practically.  The  large.'- 1  \alley,  known  as  Baker's  Park,  is  but  four 
miles  long  by  half  a  mile  in  width.  South  of  this  group,  in  New 
Mexico,  the  level  of  the  plateaus  is  broken  by  several  ranges  of  greater 
or  less  macrnitude. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 


WONDERS  OF  THE  ATMOSPHERE. 


A  Storehouse  of  the  Marvelous — No  Such  Thing  as  Cold — Beautiful  Vapor  Crystals — Gor- 
geous Pictures  of  the  Sun — The  Wonderful  Mirage — Striking  Effects  of  Frost — Aerial 
Navigation — The  Great  Voyage  Across  Europe — A  World  Far  Below — The  Balloon 
in  Warfare — Despatch  from  a  Balloon  to  President  Lincoln — The  Dreadful  Cyclone — 
Theory  of  the  Whirlwind — Trade  Winds— Snow  and  Rain  in  Colors — A  Rain  of  Ink 
— Marvelous  Showers  of  Dust  and  Fishes — Brilliant  Sunsets — The  Ba- 
rometer and  Thermometer — Men  Who  Thought  They  Could  Fly. 

OT  only  is  the  atmosphere,  by  which  the  earth  is  envel- 
oped, the  great  source  of  life  to  the  animal  creation,  but 
it  is  a  vast  museum  and  a  storehouse  of  the  marvelous. 
Its  phenomena  as  exhibited  in  cold  and  heat,  the  frost 
that  chills  the  vapor  and  the  sunbeams  that  warm  the 
world,  and  displayed  also  in  the  discoveries  of  balloon- 
ists,  are  of  the  most  interesting  and  remarkable  descrip- 
tion. The  atmosphere  is  the  medium  of  light  and 
warmth  from  the  sun.  It  shows  us  the  falling  snow  with 
its  crystal  shapes,  the  golden  dawn  and  flaming  sunset,  the  worlds  that 
hang  their  lamps  in  the  firmament  and  the  beautiful  rainbow  that  flings 
its  gorgeous  arch  across  the  sky. 

Every  one  knows  that  there  is  no  such  separate  existence  as  "  cold." 
Cold  is  only  an  absence  of  heat ;  hence,  when  we  require  great  cold, 
we  must  use  some  body  which  is  demanding  large  quantities  of  heat. 
The  confectioners  apply  this  principle  in  making  ices.  The  creamy 
preparation,  placed  in  a  metallic  vessel,  is  immersed  in  broken  ice  mixed 
with  salt.  Now  it  happens  that,  for  some  unknown  reason,  salt  and  ice 
so  act  upon  each  other  as  to  force  the  ice  to  liquefy,  but  this  it  is  un- 
able to  do  unless  it  has  heat :  this  it  abstracts  from  the  cream,  which 
consequently  freezes.  Two  parts  of  pounded  ice  mixed  with  one  of 
common  salt  can  reduce  the  temperature  thirty-six  degrees  below  the 
freezing-point  of  water ;  or  if,  instead  of  the  salt,  three  parts  of  crystal- 
lized chloride  of  lime  be  used,  so  low  a  temperature  is  produced  that 
mercury  will  freeze.  Yet,  low  as  we  can  get  the  temperature  by  these 
freezing  mixtures,  it  is  nothing  to  the  wonderful  degree  of  intense  cold 
"which  the  vaporization  of  some  liquids  can  produce. 

There  is  every  reason  to  believe  that  gases  are  in  reality  liquids  in 
vapor.     Many  of  them,  by  being  forced  into  a  wrought  iron  receivei' 

(471) 


472  WONDERS    OF    THE    WHOLE    WORLD. 

by  means  of  a  forcing  pump,  can  be  liquefied.  Of  course,  when  the 
liquid  is  taken  out  of  the  receiver,  and  relieved  of  the  enormous  pressure 
under  which  it  existed,  it  immediately  endeavors  to  go  back  to  its  gas- 
eous state.  It  is  in  a  tremendous  hurry  to  do  this,  and,  seeing  it  ia 
unable  to  become  a  vapor  without  it  receives  a  large  increase  of  heat, 
it  commands  all  the  surrounding  bodies  to  deliver  up  their  heat  in  the 
most  peremptory  manner.  Laughing-gas,  or  nitrous  oxide,  so  con- 
densed under  a  pressure  of  four  hundred  and  fifty  pounds  on  every 
square  inch  of  the  receiver  which  held  the  gas,  and  then  liberated,  can 
produce  a  temperature  by  its  rapid  evaporation  nearly  two  hundred  de- 
grees below  the  freezing-point  of  water  ;  and,  by  causing  this  process- 
to  go  on  under  the  exhausted  receiver  of  an  air-pump,  the  greatest  cold 
has  been  produced — very  nearly  three  hundred  degrees  below  the  tem- 
perature of  ice. 

But  perhaps  a  more  remarkable  fact  is  this  :  that  it  is  possible  to 
cause  extremes  of  temperature  to  exist  in  the  closest  juxtaposition.  If 
some  of  the  liquefied  gas  above  mentioned  be  placed  in  a  red-hot  plati- 
num crucible,  and  then  a  little  water  dropped  on  it,  the  water  will  go 
into  ice.  Imagine  freezing  in  a  red-hot  crucible !  nay,  even  mercury 
can  be  made  to  take  the  solid  state  under  similar  circumstances,  and 
frozen  mercury  is  so  cold  that  when  held  in  the  hand  it  will  blister  it 
as  though  it  had  been  a  piece  of  red-hot  iron.  The  reason  that  the  liq- 
uefied gas  was  not  instantly  dissipated  by  the  heat  is  the  same  as  that 
which  causes  a  drop  of  water  to  dance  about  on  an  almost  red-hot  plate 
of  metal :  the  drop  does  not  really  touch  the  plate,  but  is  surrounded 
by  an  atmosphere  of  vapor,  upon  a  thin  layer  of  which  it  rests.  An  in- 
genious application  of  this  really  wonderful  fact  has  been  long  in  use  irt 
glass-works.  The  mode  of  making  plate-glass  is  to  blow  a  cylinder  of 
glass,  then  cut  it  open  and  spread  it  out.  To  make  the  cylinder  even 
and  symmetrical,  the  glass  is  blown  in  a  wooden  mould,  the  sides  of 
which  are  wet  with  water ;  the  red-hot  glass  converts  this  into  steam, 
which  keeps  the  glass  from  burning  the  wood,  and  also  from  touching 
the  water,  which  would  at  once  spoil  it,  rendering  it  brittle. 

If  possible,  more  wonderful,  and  indeed,  all  but  incredible,  is  the  find- 
ing of  ice  over  which  a  lava-bed  has  been  poured  centuries  ago.  The 
ice  was  first  covered  with  a  layer  of  cinders,  which  arc  bad  conductors 
of  heat;  then  came  the  molten  lava;  and  the  non-conducting  power  of 
the  ashes  proved  sufficient  to  prevent  the  heat  of  the  lava  from  melting 
the  ice.     This  is  an  occurrence  by  no  means  rare. 

The  ancient  historian  Herodotus  tells  us,  in  his  gossiping  way,  that 
the  Scythians  reported  of  the  country  lying  beyond  them,  and  further 
to  the  north,  that  it  could  neither  be  passed,  nor  yet  discerned  with  the 


WONDERS    OF   THE    ATMOSPHERE. 


47a 


-^^Jd, 


eye,  on  account  of  the  feathers  which  were  continually  falling.  With 
these  both  the  earth  and  the  air  were  so  filled  as  effectually  to  obstruct 
the  view.  He  had  himself  sufficient  acquaintance  with  natural  phe- 
nomena to  conjecture  that  by  feathers  the  wild  inhabitants  of  Scythia 
in  reality  meant  snow  ;  but  it  is  more  than  probable  that  when  the 
uninformed  denizens  of  warmer  latitudes  first  gazed,  in  their  travels,  on 
the  spectacle  of  a  snow-storm,  they  verily  believed,  and  reported  in  all 
honesty,  that  feathers  had  been  falling  to  the  ground.  The  nursery 
story  of  the  "  old  woman  picking  her  geese  "  may  thus  have  had  its 
counterpart  in  the  infantile  ages  of  the  life  of  the  human  race.  Snow 
is  always  a  wonder  to  him  who  sees  it  for  the  first  time,  and,  familiar  as  it 
is  to  us,  we  occasionally  meet  with  pe'ople  to  whom  it  is  utterly  strange. 
Youths  born  in  India,  for  example,  gaze  upon  a  snow-fall  with  astonish- 
ment and  admiration. 

But  there  are  wonders 
in  the  snow,  with  which 
many  who  look  upon 
its  coming  as  quite  a 
matter  of  course,  may 
be  unacquainted.  Such 
a  wonder  is  presented 
in  the  phenomena  of 
crystallization.  Snow  is 
produced  by  the  freezing 
of  moist  vapors  sus- 
pended in  the  atmos- 
phere ;  and  in  very  low  wonderful  snow  crystals. 
temperatures  the  flakes  or  particles  of  snow  are  found  to  assume  the 
most  elegant  and  regular  forms.  These,  from  their  perfect  geometrical 
proportion,  are  denominated  crystals,  that  name  being  applied  to  all  par- 
ticles of  matter  which  take  a  definite  geometrical  shape.  Snow  crystals 
are  of  infinite  variety  and  beauty.  Captain  Scoresby,  the  Arctic  traveler, 
who  was  the  first  to  observe  them,  gave  ninety-six  illustrations  of  their 
graceful  forms,  in  his  description  of  the  Arctic  regions. 

It  was  at  first  thought  that  only  such  extreme  cold  as  that  of  the 
Arctic  regions  could  produce  this  crystallization.  On  investigation, 
however,  it  was  discovered  that  in  our  own-  severe  winters  the  snow 
presents  an  equally  wonderful  appearance  ;  and  an  eminent  meteorolo- 
gist has  given  to  the  world  a  representation  of  one  hundred  and  fifty 
figures  from  the  snow,  which  had  come  within  his  own  observation. 
These  were  quite  as  beautiful  and  diversified  in  character  as  those 
noticed  in  the  Polar  seas. 


474  WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 

One  striking  feature  in  the  snow  crystals  is  this :  that  though  diflfering 
so  widely  in  character,  they  are  all,  or  nearly  all,  hexagonal  or  six-sided 
in  shape.  Occasionally  three-sided  figures  are  seen,  but  these  are  very 
rare.  Sometimes  three  of  the  sides  are  shorter  than  the  other  three,  so 
that  the  figure  is  like  a  triangle  with  the  points  cut  off;  and  now  and 
then  two  small  figures  are  connected  together  by  a  slender  bar  or  link. 
As  a  rule,  however,  the  hexagons  consist  of  thin  plates  shaped  like 
beautiful  stars,  and  sometimes  surrounded  by  other  stars  of  similar 
nature.  The  great  variety  of  these  appearances  is  apparently  inexhaust- 
ible, for  each  investigation  has  resulted  in  the  discovery  of  forms  pre- 
viously unobserved,  although  possessing  the  general  characteristics  to 
which  we  have  alluded.  The  angle  of  sixty  degrees  is  also  found  to 
prevail  in  all  the  various  ramifications  of  these  stars  amid  the  snow,  in 
conformity  with  the  law  by  which  water  always  crystallizes  at  this 
angle.     Thus  there  are  constellations  in  the  flying  snow. 

BRILLIANT    PICTURES    OF   THE    SUN. 

The  intensity  of  the  colors  of  the  rainbow  has  been  found  to  depend 
in  a  great  measure  on  the  size  of  the  drops  of  water  from  which  it 
forms  itself.  When  a  rainbow  is  seen  in  a  fog,  the  colors  of  it  are 
always  remarkably  faint,  owing  to  the  minuteness  of  the  drops  of  water 
on  which  the  sun's  rays  fall ;  so,  on  the  other  hand,  when  we  see  a 
rainbow  following,  as  it  were,  in  the  wake  of  a  pelting  April  shower, 
we  are  always  struck  with  the  vividness  and  intensity  of  its  hues. 
The  remarkable  appearance  represented  in  the  illustration  is  a  very 
peculiar  rainbow  which  was  observed  by  Ulloa  and  Bougucr  during 
their  stay  in  the  Pichincha,  and  called  by  them,  from  the  singular 
faintness  of  its  tints,  the  white  rainbow.  It  is  also  known  as  Ulloa's 
circle,  from  the  name  of  one  of  the  travelers  who  witnessed  it. 

Ulloa  was  with  his  fellow-travelers,  one  morning  at  day-break,  on 
the  summit  of  the  Pambamarca.  The  whole  of  the  mountain- top 
was  covered  with  a  dense  fog,  which  gradually  dispersed  as  the  sun 
rose.  By  degrees  the  atmosphere  became  tolerably  clear,  with  the 
exception  of  a  few  light  vaporous  clouds,  so  filmy  as  to  be  scarcely 
perceptible.  While  they  were  noticing  these  gradually  disappear,  one 
of  the  travelers,  on  turning  round  suddenly  to  that  quarter  of  the  sky 
which  was  exactly  opposite  to  the  rising  sun.  perceived  an  image  of 
himself  reflected  in  the  air  as  distinctly  as  in  a  mirror,  and  standing, 
apparently,  at  about  the  distance  of  twelve  feet  from  him.  The  figure 
appeared  to  stand  in  the  centre  of  three  concentric  rings,  which  were 
shaded  with  different  colors,  while  around  the  whole  was  a  fourth  ring, 
tinted  with  one  color  alone.  The  outermost  edge  of  each  of  the  three 
interior  rings  was  crimson,  the  next  color  was  orange,  which  shaded 


475 


476  WONDERS    OF   THE   WHOLE   WORLD. 

off  through  yellow  into  a  pale  straw,  while  the  innermost  tint  was 
green.  The  figure,  with  the  surrounding  rings,  followed  every  move- 
ment of  the  observer,  the  rings  always  keeping  the  figure  in  their 
centre.     The  atmosphere  is  a  storehouse  of  vivid  colors. 

Another  very  singular  atmospheric  effect  is  produced  by  the  rays 
of  the  sun,  and  sometimes  those  of  the  moon,  striking,  not  upon  drops 
of  water,  but  upon  minute  crystals  of  ice.  Clouds  formed  of  such 
crystals  are  stated  by  aeronauts  to  exist  in  the  highest  regions  of  the 
atmosphere,  where  they  constitute  those  clouds  which  are  known 
among  meteorologists  by  the  name  of  cirrus.  The  most  frequent 
phenomena  of  this  kind  seen  in  temperate  climes  are  what  are  called 
halos,  such  as  we  so  often  see  round  the  moon  on  a  slightly  misty 
night.  The  circular  rings  of  light  are  divided  by  luminous  diameters.. 
On  these  lines,  a  little  outside  each  circle,  brilliant  patches  of  light  are 
seen  to  form,  which  are  called  mock  suns  or  mock  moons,  according 
as  the  sun  or  moon  happens  to  be  the  centre  of  light.  Those  just 
outside  the  inner  circle  are  beautifully  colored  with  the  different  hues 
of  the  prism,  while  those  altogether  outside  are  nearly  colorless. 
Frequently,  also,  arcs  of  circles  are  seen  touching  the  principal  halos,, 
and  these,  especially  at  the  point  of  contact,  are  brilliantly  colored. 
These  are  most  perfect  round  the  inner  circle ;  when  they  are  seen 
touching  the  outside  one  they  are  usually  faint  and  indistinct. 

AMAZING   SPECTRAL    ILLUSIONS. 

The  beautiful,  deceptive  phenomenon  known  as  the  mirage  is  of  three 
distinct  kinds.  First,  there  is  that  form  of  it  where  sonic  distant  object, 
below  the  line  of  the  horizon,  and  consequently  out  of  the  range  of 
vision,  seems  to  be  lifted  up  into  mid-air,  and  to  hang  suspended  there 
— sometimes  in  its  natural  position,  sometimes  upside  down,  and  some- 
times both  ways  at  once  ;  the  image  in  this  latter  case  being  doubled, 
like  a  ship  and  its  reflection  in  the  water.  Secondly,  there  is  that  form 
of  it  where  some  object  high  up  in  the  air,  such  as  a  cloud  or  a  village 
on  a  hill,  seems  to  be  brought  down  and  to  lie  floating  in  a  vast  lake 
stretching  miles  away  at  the  spectator's  feet.  Thirdly,  there  is  that  less 
frequent  form  of  it,  where  the  setting  sun  appears  to  fling  huge  shadows 
of  terrestrial  objects  far  out  into  space. 

Of  the  first  kind  of  mirage  there  are  some  very  striking  instances  on 
record.  While  sailing  in  the  Polar  seas.  Captain  Scoresby  saw  the 
inverted  image  of  a  ship,  apparently  suspended  in  the  air,  some  miles 
distant.  It  was,  he  writes,  so  well  defined  that  I  could  distinguish  by  a 
telescope  every  sail,  the  general  rig  of  the  ship,  and  its  particular  char- 
acter, insomuch  that  I  pronounced  it  to  be  my  father's  ship,  which  it 
afterwards  proved  to  be ;  though  on  comparing  notes  with  my  father 


WONDERS    OF    THE   ATMOSPHERE.  477 

■when  we  met,  I  found  that  our  relative  position  at  the  time  gave  our 
■distance  from  one  another  very  nearly  thirty  miles,  being  about  seven- 
teen miles  beyond  the  horizon,  and  some  leagues  beyond  the  limit  of 
direct  vision.  An  English  ship,  while  cruising  in  the  Baltic,  saw 
a  similar  mirage  of  the  whole  British  fleet,  consisting  of  nineteen  sail. 
Here,  again,  the  distance  between  the  vessels  was  found  to  be  full  thirty 
miles.  In  both  these  instances  the  objects  seen  were  inverted.  At 
Hastings,  on  the  south  coast  of  England,  a  more  striking  example  of 
mirage  was  witnessed.  The  whole  of  the  coast  of  France,  from  Calais 
to  Dieppe,  though  more  than  fifty  miles  distant,  and  quite  out  of  the 
range  of  ordinary  vision,  seemed  to  be  lifted  up  into  mid-air,  and  was 
seen  there,  not  inverted,  but  in  its  natural  position,  during  the  space  of 
three  hours,  by  hundreds  of  persons  assembled  upon  the  beach.  The 
most  remarkable  instance  of  all,  however,  is  that  from  Ramsgate,  the 
four  turrets  of  Dover  Castle  may  be  seen  on  a  fine  day  over  the  top  of 
an  intervening  hill.  While  looking  in  this  direction  one  evening,  the 
whole  castle  was  seen,  not  lifted  up  in  the  air  above  the  hill  on  the  other 
side,  but  to  all  appearances  brought  over  bodily  on  this  side  of  it.  So 
•strong  was  the  image,  that  the  hill  could  not  be  seen  through  it.  The 
•double  mirage  is  seen  oftenest  on  the  shore  of  the  Straits  of  Messina, 
where  the  phenomenon  is  known  as  the  Fata  Morgana.  The  images 
■of  men,  horses,  houses  and  ships  are  projected  into  the  air,  feet  to 
feet,  or  keel  to  keel,  as  the  case  may  be,  until  the  atmosphere  looks  like 
one  huge  lake,  in  which  all  these  miscellaneous  objects  are  seen  floating 
about  together. 

The  second  kind  of  mirage — that,  namely,  in  which  the  object  is 
brought  down  instead  of  being  elevated — is  most  frequently  seen  in  the 
arid  deserts  of  Lower  Egypt,  where  it  often  proves  cruelly  deceptive  to 
the  thirsty  traveler.  Dotted  about  the  waste  are  elevations,  on  which 
the  natives  have  built  their  villages,  in  order  that  they  may  be  safe  from 
the  flood  during  the  periodical  inundations  of  the  Nile.  In  the  heat  of 
the  day,  the  mirage  brings  down  an  image  of  the  sky  upon  the  level, 
some  few  miles  in  front  of  the  caravan,  and  produces  the  effect  of  a 
broad  expanse  of  water,  in  which  each  village,  brought  down  also, 
appears  as  an  islet.  Lured  on  by  the  refreshing  prospect,  man  and 
beast  push  hopefully  forward,  often  miles  out  of  their  track,  to  find  the 
waters  and  the  islands  constantly  receding  from  their  view,  until  the 
evening  comes,  and  they  vanish  altogether.  So  complete  is  the 
delusion,  that  not  only  experienced  and  scientific  travelers,  but  even  the 
Arabs  themselves,  are  often  deceived  by  it. 

To  produce  the  third  illusion,  the  observer  must  be  above  the  level 
of  the  reflecting  surface.     A  stratum  of  denser  air  being  above  the 


■■■li 


ilii   illflfl 

>!i  'Mil    ill  I  hi    I'l'  I  111 


"i|H,'!!jJii 

ill',' J 


478 


WONDERS    OF   THE    ATMOSPHERE.  479 

eye,  as  is  sometimes  the  case  at  sea,  then  a  phenomenon,  such  as  the 
reflection  of  a  steamer,  is  caused.  The  reader  will  readily  conceive  the 
philosophy  of  this,  if  a  plate  of  glass  be  imagined  to  exist  parallel  to 
tiie  surface  of  the  sea  at  the  height  of  the  reflected  ship.  Thus  we 
should  see  the  vessel  upside  down,  and  the  stratum  of  denser  air  has 
precisely  the  same  effect. 

The  double  reflection  of  the  three-masted  ship  is  somewhat  more 
complicated.  The  vessel  itself  is  almost  below  the  horizon,  and,  indeed, 
the  reflection  in  the  sky  of  a  ship  thirty  or  forty  miles  distant  has  been 
seen.     This  certainly  is  one  of  the  marvels  of  human  vision. 

The  inverted  reflection  is  due  to  the  same  cause  as  that  of  the  steamer. 
In  each  of  these  cases,  as  in  all  cases  of  reflection,  only  some  of  the 
rays  of  light  were  reflected  or  thrown  back  from  the  surface — the  rest 
passing  into  the  upper  stratum  ;  and  if  we  could  have  risen  in  a  balloon, 
in  all  probability  we  should  have  been  able  to  reach  these  rays,  and 
thus  have  seen  the  other  image  of  the  steamer  upright,  and  keel  to 
keel  with  the  inverted  image.  In  the  case  of  this  ship,  the  reflecting 
surface  happens  to  be  in  the  right  position  for  the  observer  not  only  to 
catch  the  first  reflection,  but  the  rays  which  entered  the  upper  layer  are 
refracted,  or  bent  down,  and  thus  the  second  image  becomes  visible. 

STR.\NGE   VISIONS    IN    THE    DESERT. 

Eastern  travelers  often  tell  scarcely  credible  tales  of  the  mirage  of  the 
desert.  Suddenly  in  the  distance,  where  all  is  known  to  be  arid  sand, 
appears  a  sheet  of  water.  Here  and  there  upon  its  bosom  lie  enchanted 
islands,  above  the  top  of  whose  woody  groves  rise  the  turrets  of  castles, 
or  minarets  of  mosques.  So  real  is  the  sight,  that  men  and  camels  push 
forward,  longing  to  bathe  in  the  refreshing  waters  of  this  fairy  lake  ;  but 
as  they  advance,  the  mirage  retreats,  and  all  fades  as  the  sun  sinks  be- 
neath the  lurid  horizon.  The  explanation  of  the  phenomenon  is  this  : 
that  the  sand,  being  intensely  hot,  causes  the  layer  of  air  which  rests 
upon  it  to  become  greatly  rarefied  ;  and  under  certain  circumstances 
this  layer  is  quite  distinct  from  the  denser  stratum  a  few  inches  or  feet 
above  it — just  as  if  it  were  a  sheet  of  water  upon  which  oil  rested,  the 
surface  at  which  the  two  layers  meet  being  quite  sharply  defined. 

This  explanation  will,  in  some  measure,  account  for  that  illusion  which 
is  occasionally  seen  on  the  Straits  of  Messina.  The  Italians  called  it 
the  Fata  Morgana.  It  is  thus  described  by  one  who  was  fortunate  enough 
to  witness  it :  As  I  stood  at  my  window,  I  was  surprised  with  a  most 
wonderful  delectable  vision.  The  sea  that  washes  the  Sicilian  shore 
swelled  up  for  the  distance  of  ten  miles,  like  a  chain  of  dark  mountains  ; 
while  the  waters  near  the  Calabrian  share  grew  quite  smooth,  and,  in 
an  instant,  appeared  as  one  clear,  polished  mirror,  reclining  against  the 


480  WONDERS    OF   THE   WHOLE    WORLD. 

aforesaid  ridge.  On  this  glass  was  depicted  a  string  of  several  thousands 
of  pilasters,  all  equal  in  altitude,  distance  and  degree  of  light  and  shade. 
In  a  moment  they  lost  half  their  height,  and  bent  into  arcades  like 
Roman  acqueducts.  A  long  cornice  was  next  formed  on  the  top,  and 
above  it  rose  castles  innumerable,  all  perfectly  alike.  These  soon  split 
into  towers,  which  were  shortly  after  lost  in  colonnades,  and,  at  last, 
ended  in  pines,  cypresses,  and  other  trees,  even  and  similar.  This  was 
the  Fata  Morgana,  which  for  twenty-six  years  I  had  thought  a  mere 
fable,  but  found  to  be  a  picturesque  and  pleasing  reality. 

STARTLING    EFFECTS    OF    FROST. 

During  one  of  Franklin's  voyages,  the  winter  was  so  severe,  near  the 
Coppermine  River,  that  the  fish  froze  as  they  were  taken  out  of  the 
nets  ;  in  a  short  time  they  became  as  solid  as  ice,  and  were  easily  split 
open  by  a  blow  from  a  hatchet.  If,  in  the  completely  frozen  .state,  they 
were  thawed  before  the  fire,  they  revived.  This  is  a  very  remarkable 
instance  of  how  completely  animation  is  sometimes  found  suspended  in 
the  case  of  cold-blooded  animals.  The  common  leech  is  said  to  be 
capable  of  resisting  the  effects  of  a  low  temperature  to  a  wonderful 
degree.  It  is  said  that  once  a  group  of  these  animals  left  accidentally 
in  a  closet  without  a  fire,  during  the  severe  frost  of  the  year  i8i6,  not 
only  survived,  but  seemed  to  have  experienced  no  injury,  although  they 
had  been  imbedded  in  a  solid  mass  of  ice  for  many  days. 

A  celebrated  Arctic  traveler  states  that  all  animal  substances,  fi.sh 
excepted,  may  be  preserved  in  Greenland  for  any  length  of  time  without 
being  smoked,  dried  or  salted.  Beef,  mutton,  pork  and  fowls,  the  latter 
neither  plucked  nor  drawn,  are  constantly  taken  out  from  the  northern 
islands  of  Scotland,  and  preserved  in  this  way.  When  used,  the  beef  is 
divided  by  a  saw  ;  it  is  then  thawed  in  cold  water,  and  if  cooked  when 
it  is  three,  four  or  five  months  old,  will  frequently  appear  as  profuse  of 
gravy  as  if  it  had  been  recently  killed.  A  further  antiseptical  effect  is 
produced  by  the  cold  on  animal  and  vegetable  substances,  so  as  to  pre- 
serve them,  if  they  remain  in  the  same  climate,  unchanged  for  many 
years.  Wood  has  been  met  with  in  Spitzbergen  which  has  resisted  all 
injury  from  the  weather  during  the  lapse  of  a  century.  A  French  writer 
relates  also  that  the  bodies  of  seven  Dutch  seamen,  who  perished  in 
Spitzbergen  in  1635,  were  found  twenty  years  afterwards  by  some  sailors 
who  happened  to  land  about  the  place  where  they  were  interred,  in  a 
perfect  state,  not  having  suffered  the  smallest  degree  of  putrefaction. 
A  similar  phenomenon  is  recorded  of  the  Mer  de  Glace  in  Switzerland, 
which  engulfed  several  travelers,  and  many  years  afterward  threw  their 
bodies  out  in  the  valley  below;  the  natural  movement  of  the  ice  having 
carried  them  down.     When  water  solidifies,  or  freezes,  it  expands,  and 


WONDERS    OF    THE    ATMOSPHERE.  481 

for  this  reason  water-jugs  and  bottles,  as  well  as  the  leaden  supply-pipes, 
are  often  broken  in  severe  weather  by  the  formation  of  ice  within  them. 
The  water  in  the  vessel  freezes  at  the  top.  No  injury  is  done  because 
there  is  nothing  to  hinder  the  expansion  upwards.  But  if  it  freezes  again, 
until  the  ice  becomes  so  thick  that  it  is  more  capable  of  resisting  the 
•expansive  force  than  the  glass  or  earthenware  of  which  the  vessel  is 
composed,  the  latter  will  break.  An  artillery  officer  at  Quebec  made 
an  experiment  during  a  hard  winter,  by  filling  a  bomb-shell,  about  four- 
teen inches  in  diameter,  with  water,  and  then  closing  the  opening  with 
an  iron  peg,  which  w^as  driven  firmly  in.  This  being  exposed  to  the 
severe  frost,  the  stopper  was  driven  out  to  a  distance  of  more  than  one 
hundred  yards,  and  a  cylinder  of  ice,  eight  or  nine  inches  long,  came 
out  of  the  opening.  In  a  second  experiment  of  the  same  kind,  the 
stopper  resisted  the  expansive  force  ;  but  the  shell  itself  was  rent,  and 
a  ring  of  ice  was  forced  through  the  crack  all  round  the  shell.  In  the 
same  manner  houses  have  been  overthrown  by  the  expansive  force  of 
frost  in  the  earth  causing  the  ground  to  swell  up.  Stones  will  break  in 
•consequence  of  the  water  they  contain  freezing,  and  trees  have  split  up 
with  an  explosive  sound  on  occasions  of  sudden  cold  occurring  when 
their  vessels  have  been  full  of  sap. 

An  interesting  experiment  on  the  expansion  of  ice  was  made  in 
Maine  not  long  ago.  The  Kennebec  River,  near  the  town  of  Gardiner, 
is  about  seven  hundred  feet  wide  ;  the  water  is  very  fresh  for  many 
miles  below,  and  the  average  ebb  and  flow  of  the  tide  is  five  feet ;  the 
•depth  of  the  water  varies,  according  to  the  locality  and  state  of  the  tide, 
from  seventeen  to  twenty-five  feet.  In  the  course  of  the  winter,  the 
ice  is  always  observed  to  crowd  ashore,  crumpling  up  in  ridges  on  the 
flats,  and  near  the  edge  of  the  channel.  A  row  of  stakes  was  planted 
in  the  ice,  by  boring  holes  through  to  the  water,  at  distances  of  about 
one  hundred  feet  apart,  avoiding  a  very  near  approach  to  the  shore. 
The  distance  between  the  eastern  and  western  stakes  was  five  hundred 
feet.  A  month  later  it  was  found  that  the  outer  stakes  had  advanced 
more  than  a  foot,  and  the  whole  expansion  was  upwards  of  thirteen 
feet.     The  balloonist  also  meets  with  singular  atmospheric  facts. 

WONDERFUL  AERIAL  VOYAGES. 

The  first  balloon  of  Montgolfier,  the  discoverer  of  ballooning,  was 
small,  containing  less  than  seventy-eight  cubic  inches  of  air.  He  made 
it  rise  to  the  roof  of  his  apartment,  in  November,  1782.  Certain,  then, 
■of  the  new  principle,  he  made  a  balloon  of  considerable  size,  containing 
upwards  of  sixty-five  feet  of  heated  air.  This  machine  likewise  rose, 
tore  away  the  cords  by  which  it  was  at  first  held  down  and  mounting 
in  the  air  to  the  height  of  from  two  to  three  hundred  feet,  fell  upon  the 
31 


482  WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 

neighboring  hills  after  a  considerable  flight.  The  brothers  Montgolfier 
then  made  a  very  large  and  strong  balloon,  with  which  they  wished  to 
bring  their  discovery  before  the  public. 

On  the  appointed  day,  the  nobility  of  the  vicinity  were  invited  to  be 
present  at  the  experiment.  What  was  the  general  astonisment  when 
the  inventors  of  the  machine  announced  that  immediately  it  should  be 
full  of  gas,  which  they  had  the  means  of  producing  at  will  by  the  most 
simple  process,  it  would  raise  itself  to  the  clouds !  It  must  be  granted 
that,  in  spite  of  the  confidence  in  the  ingenuity  and  experience  of  the 
Montgolfiers,  this  feat  seemed  so  incredible  to  those  who  came  to  wit- 
ness it,  that  the  persons  who  kiiew  most  about  it — who  were,  at  the 
same  time,  the  most  favorably  predisposed  in  its  favor — doubted  of  its 
success.  But  the  machine — which  at  first  seemed  only  a  covering  of 
cloth,  lined  with  paper,  a  sort  of  sack  thirty-five  feet  high — became  in- 
flated, and  grew  large  even  under  the  eyes  of  the  spectator,  took  consis- 
tence, assumed  a  beautiful  form,  stretched  itself  on  all  sides,  and  strug- 
gled to  escape.  Meanwhile,  strong  arms  were  holding  it  down  until 
the  signal  was  given,  when  it  loosened  itself,  and  with  a  rush  rose  to  the 
height  of  one  thousand  fathoms  in  less  than  ten  minutes.  It  then  de- 
scribed a  horizontal  line,  and  as  it  had  lost  a  considerable  amount  of 
gas,  it  began  to  descend  quietly.  It  reached  the  ground  in  safety  ;  and 
this  first  attempt,  crowned  with  such  decisive  success,  secured  for  ever 
to  the  brothers  Montgolfier  the  glory  of  one  of  the  most  astopishing 
discoveries.     Their  rude  apparatus  has  since  been  greatly  improved. 

A  young  man  well  versed  in  physics.  Professor  Charles,  assisted  by 
two  practical  men,  the  brothers  Robert,  threw  himself  ardently  into  the 
investigation  of  the  modes  of  inflating  balloons  with  hydrogen  gas, 
which  was  then  called  inflammable  air.  Guessing  that  it  was  much 
lighter  than  that  which  Montgolfier  had  been  obliged  to  make  use  of, 
Charles  leagued  himself  with  his  two  assistants  to  construct  a  balloon 
of  taffeta,  twelve  feet  in  diameter,  covered  with  india-rubber,  and  to  in- 
flate it  with  hydrogen. 

The  inflation  with  hydrogen  was  effected  in  a  very  curious  manner. 
As  much  as  eleven  hundred  and  twenty-five  pounds  of  iron  and  five 
hundred  and  sixty  pounds  of  sulphuric  acid  were  found  necessary  to  in- 
flate a  baloon  which  had  scarcely  a  lifting  power  of  twenty-two  pounds, 
and  the  process  of  filling  took  no  less  than  four  hours.  At  length, 
however,  at  the  end  of  the  fourth  hour,  the  balloon,  composed  of  strips 
of  silk,  coated  with  varnish,  floated. 

The  conveyance  of  the  balloon  to  the  Champ  de  Mars  was  a  most 
singular  spectacle.  A  vanguard,  with  lighted  torches,  preceded  it ;  it 
was  surrounded  by  special  attendants,  and  was  followed  by  detachments 


A   WUlMUERiLL  ...v-^i..,. 


o.    .i.,!.,,   x.xiLES  i'ROM  THE  EARTH. 

483 


484  WONDERS    OF    THE   WHOLE   WORLD. 

of  night-patrols  on  foot  and  mounted.  The  size  and  shape  of  this 
structure,  which  was  escorted  with  such  pomp  and  precaution — the  si- 
lence that  prevailed — the  unearthly  hour,  all  helped  to  give  an  air  of 
mystery  to  the  proceedings.  At  last,  having  passed  through  the  prin- 
cipal thoroughfares,  it  arrived  at  the  Champ  de  Mars,  where  it  was 
placed  in  an  inclosure  prepared  for  its  reception.  When  the  dawn 
came,  and  the  balloon  had  been  fixed  in  its  place  by  cords,  attached 
around  its  middle  and  fixed  to  iron  rings  planted  in  the  earth,  the  final 
process  of  inflation  began.  The  Champ  de  Mars  was  guarded  by  troops, 
and  the  avenues  were  also  guarded  on  all  sides.  As  the  day  wore  on 
an  immense  crowd  covered  the  open  space,  and  every  advantageous 
spot  in  the  neighborhood  was  crowded  with  people.  Later,  the  report 
of  a  cannon  announced  to  the  multitudes,  and  to  scientific  men  who 
were  posted  on  elevations  to  make  observations  of  the  great  event,  that 
the  grand  moment  had  come.  The  cords  were  withdrawn,  and,  to  the 
vast  delight  and  wonder  of  the  crowd  assembled,  the  balloon  shot  up 
with  such  rapidity  that  in  two  minutes  it  had  ascended  four  hundred 
and  eighty-eight  fathoms.  At  this  height  it  was  lost  in  a  cloud  for  an 
instant,  and,  reappearing,  rose  to  a  great  height,  and  was  again  lost  in 
higher  clouds.  The  ascent  was  a  splendid  success.  The  rain  that  fell 
dampened  neither  the  balloon  nor  the  ardor  of  the  spectators. 

The  fall  of  the  balloon  was  caused  by  the  expansion  and  consequent 
explosion  of  the  hydrogen  gas.  This  event  took  place  some  distance 
out  in  the  country,  close  to  a  number  of  peasants,  whose  terror  at  the 
sight  and  the  sound  of  this  strange  monster  from  the  .skies  was  beyond 
description.  The  people  assembled,  and  two  monks  having  told  them 
that  the  burst  baloon  was  the  hide  of  a  monstrous  animal,  they  imme- 
diately began  to  assail  it  vigorously  with  stones,  flails,  and  pitchforks. 
The  cure  of  the  parish  was  obliged  to  walk  up  to  the  balloon  to  reassure 
his  terrified  flock.  They  finally  attached  the  burst  envelope  to  a  horse's 
tail,  and  dragged  it  far  across  the  fields. 

A  somewhat  humorous  result  of  all  this  was  the  issue  of  a  communi- 
cation from  government  to  the  people,  entitled,  "Warning  to  the  People 
on  Kidnapping  Air-balloons."  This  document,  duly  signed  and  ap- 
proved, describes  the  ascents  at  Annonay  and  at  Paris,  explains  the 
nature  and  the  causes  of  the  phenomena,  and  warns  the  people  not  to 
be  alarmed  when  they  see  something  like  a  "black  moon"  in  the  sky, 
nor  to  give  way  to  fear,  as  the  seeming  monster  is  nothing  more  than 
a  bag  of  silk  filled  with  gas. 

The  most  remarkable  excursion  ever  known  was  that  superintended 
by  Green,  from  London  to  Germany.  This  journey,  twelve  hundred 
miles  in  length,  is  the  longest  that  has  been  yet  accomplished.     Not 


WONDERS    OF    THE   ATMOSPHERE.  485 

Tcnowing^  to  what  quarter  of  the  globe  he  might  be  blown,  Green  pro- 
vided himself  with  passports  to  all  the  states  of  Europe,  and  with  a 
quantity  of  provisions  sufficient  to  last  him  for  some  time,  should  he 
be  driven  by  the  wind  over  the  sea.  Shortly  after  mid-day  the  balloon 
rose  with  great  grandeur,  and,  urged  by  a  light  breeze,  floated  to  the 
south-east  over  the  plains  of  Kent.     Later  the  voyagers  sighted  the  sea. 

In  an  hour  the  Straits  of  Dover  were  cleared,  the  lights  of  Calais 
shone  out  toward  the  voyagers,  and  the  sound  of  the  town  drums  rose 
up  toward  them.  Darkness  was  now  complete,  says  the  writer,  and  it 
was  only  by  the  lights,  sometimes  isolated,  sometimes  seen  in  masses, 
and  showing  themselves  far  down  on  the  earth  beneath  us,  that  we 
could  form  a  guess  of  the  countries  we  traversed,  or  of  the  towns  and 
villages  which  appeared  before  us  every  moment.  The  whole  surface 
of  the  earth  for  many  leagues  round  showed  nothing  but  scattered 
lights,  and  the  face  of  the  earth  seemed  to  rival  the  vault  of  heaven 
with  starry  fires.  Those  on  the  horizon  gave  us  the  notion  of  a  distant 
conflagration.  In  proportion  as  v.'c  approached  them,  these  masses  of 
lights  appeared  to  increase,  and  to  cover  a  greater  space,  until,  when 
right  over  them,  they  seemed  to  divide  themselves  into  different  parts, 
to  stretch  out  in  long  streets,  and  to  shine  in  starry  quadrangles  round 
the  squares,  so  that  we  could  see  the  exact  plan  of  each  city,  given  as 
on  a  small  map.  At  midnight  a  black  profound  abyss  surrounded  us 
on  all  sides,  and,  as  we  attempted  to  penetrate  into  the  mysterious 
deeps,  it  was  with  difficulty  we  could  beat  back  the  idea  and  the  appre- 
hension that  we  were  making  a  passage  through  an  immense  mass  of 
black  marble,  in  which  we  were  inclosed,  and  which,  solid  to  within  a 
few  inches  of  us,  appeared  to  open  up  at  our  approach. 

Until  three  o'clock  the  voyagers  were  in  this  state.  The  height  of 
the  balloon,  as  calculated  by  the  barometer,  was  two  thousand  feet. 
They  had  not  then  anything  to  fear  from  a  disastrous  encounter,  when 
all  at  once  a  sudden  explosion  was  heard,  the  silk  of  the  balloon 
quivered,  the  car  received  a  violent  shock,  and  seemed  to  be  shot 
suddenly  into  the  gloomy  abyss.  A  second  explosion  and  a  third 
succeeded,  accompanied  each  time  by  this  fearful  shock  to  the  car.  The 
travelers  soon  found  out  that,  owing  to  the  great  altitude,  the  gas  had 
expanded,  and  the  rope  which  surrounded  it,  saturated  with  water,  and 
frozen  with  the  intense  cold,  had  yielded  to  the  pressure,  in  jerks  which 
caused  the  report  and  the  shock. 

At  seven  in  the  morning  the  voyagers  made  their  descent  in  the 
Duchy  of  Nassau.  They  received  a  most  flattering  reception,  and,  in 
memory  of  the  event,  they  placed  the  flag  which  they  had  borne  in 
their  car  during  their  adventurous  excursion  in  the  ducal  palace.     Thus 


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^IM, 


WONDERS    OF    THE    ATMOSPHERE.  487 

terminated  an  expedition  which,  whether  we  regard  the  extent  of  the 
journey,  the  length  of  time  occupied  in  it,  or  the  results  which  were 
the. objects  of  the  experiment,  may  justly  be  considered  as  one  of  the 
most  interesting  and  most  important  ever  undertaken  After  having 
traversed  without  hindrance,  without  either  danger  or  difficulty,  so  large 
a  portion  of  the  European  continent,  they  arrived  at  their  destination 
still  in  possession  of  as  much  force  as  might  have  carried  them  round 
the  whole  world.     This  shows  that  very  long  voyages  may  be  made. 

Repeatedly  the  balloon  has  been  turned  to  practical  account,  and  has 
been  made  useful  in  warfare.  In  the  Franco-German  war  Gambetta 
ascended  from  Paris  when  it  was  so  surrounded  by  the  enemy  that  there 
were  no  other  means  of  escape,  and  landing  outside,  attempted  to 
afford  relief  to  the  beleaguered  city. 

During  the  late  Civil  War,  the  part  which  the  balloon  played  was  a 
more  important  one.  The  Government  conferred  the  title  of  aeronautic 
engineer  upon  Mr.  Allan,  of  Rhode  Island,  who  originated  the  idea 
of  communicating  by  a  telegraphic  wire  from  the  balloon  to  the 
camp.  The  first  telegraphic  message  which  was  transmitted  from 
the  aerial  regions  is  that  of  Professor  Love,  at  Washington,  to  the 
President  of  the  United  States.  The  following  is  this  despatch  :  "  Sir. — 
The  point  of  observation  commands  an  extent  of  nearly  fifty  miles  in 
diameter.  The  city,  with  its  girdle  of  encampments,  presents  a  superb 
scene.  I  have  great  pleasure  in  sending  you  this  despatch — the  first 
that  has  been  telegraphed  from  an  aerial  station."  In  the  month  of 
September,  1861,  one  of  the  most  hardy  aeronauts  furnished  important 
information  to  General  McClellan.  The  balloon  of  La  Mountain, 
which  arose  from  the  northern  camp  upon  the  Potomac,  passed  above 
Washington.  La  Mountain  then  cut  the  cord  that  connected  his 
■balloon  with  the  earth,  and  rising  rapidly  to  the  height  of  a  mile  and 
a  half,  he  found  himself  directly  above  his  enemy's  lines.  There  he 
was  able  to  observe  perfectly  their  position  and  their  movements.  He 
then  threw  over  ballast,  and  ascended  to  the  height  of  three  miles.  At 
this  height  he  encountered  a  current  which  carried  him  in  the  direction 
of  Maryland,  where  he  descended  in  safety.  General  McClellan  was 
so  much  satisfied  with  the  observations  taken  in  the  balloon,  that,  at 
his  request,  the  order  was  given  to  the  War  Department  to  construct 
four  new  balloons,  to  be  used  in  conducting  military  campaigns. 

THE    TERRIBLE   CYCLONE. 

Cyclone  is  the  name  given  to  a  revolving  storm  of  wind.  A  revolv- 
ing storm  is  simply  this  : — A  stratum  of  hot  air,  made  hot  by  contact 
with  the  hot  earth,  and  by  the  power  of  the  sun,  is  overlaid  by  a  stratum 
of  cold  air.     From  the  greater  weight  of  the  cold  air  the  natural  ten- 


488  WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 

dency  of  the  hot  air  to  rise  is  restrained  ;  some  cause,  local  or  general^ 
forces  an  intermixture  of  the  two  strata  at  a  particular  point,  and  es- 
tablishes the  nucleus  of  the  storm.  The  intermingling  of  the  unwilling 
elements  gives  rise  to  considerable  atmospheric  disturbance,  and  the 
particles  of  air  rubbing  against  one  another  get  whirled  round  in  a  di- 
rection suggested  by  the  motion  of  the  earth  at  the  place  of  disturbance; 
the  example  set  is  followed  by  adjacent  blocks  of  air  ;  and  great  bodies 
of  wind,  co-extensive  with  the  masses  of  hot  and  cold  air,  are  set  in 
motion,  taking  their  revolving  rate  and  direction  from  the  heat  or 
nucleus  of  the  storm.  The  storm  acquires  strength  in  rolling,  until  the 
whole  attains  a  circular  velocity  in  severe  hurricanes  of  one  hundred 
miles  an  hour.  But  the  storm  travels,  that  is  to  say  it  has  two  motions, 
its  own  circular  motion  at  the  rate  just  mentioned,  and  also  the  direct 
motion  of  the  wind  prevailing  outside  its  circumference  at  the  time. 
The  whole  body  of  the  storm  is  moved  along,  still  gyrating,  at  the  rate 
of  the  general  wind,  and  is  borne  onward  always  in  its  direction. 

TREMENDOUS    POWER    OF    THE   WIND. 

Cyclones  last  only  from  fifty  to  sixty  or  seventy  seconds,  their 
breadth  varies  from  a  few  rods  to  several  hundred  yards,  and  it  is  prob- 
able that  the  length  of  their  track  rarely  exceeds  twenty-five  miles. 
This  phenomenon  is  usually  preceded  by  a  calm  and  sultry  state  of  the 
atmosphere,  when  suddenly  the  cyclone  appears,  traversing  the  earth 
with  great  \elocity,  and  .sweeping  down  by  its  tremendous  power  the 
mightiest  products  of  nature,  and  the  strongest  works  of  man.  Pon- 
derous bodies  are  whirled  aloft  into  the  air ;  trees  of  large  dimensions 
twisted  off  or  torn  up  by  the  roots ;  buildings  of  the  firmest  con.struc- 
tion  prostrated,  and  streams  whirled  from  their  beds  and  their  channels 
laid  bare.  A  cyclone  that  occurred  in  Silesia,  carried  a  mass  weighing 
more  than  six  hundred  and  fifty  pounds  fifty  feet  above  the  top  of  a 
house,  and  deposited  it  on  the  other  side  in  a  ditch,  one  hundred  and 
fifty  paces  distant. 

In  one  which  happened  at  Maysville,  Ohio,  a  barn  containing  three 
tons  of  hay  and  four  horses,  was  lifted  entirely  from  its  foundations. 
And  such  was  the  force  of  the  wind  during  a  tornado  which  occurred 
at  Calcutta  that  a  bamboo  was  driven  quite  through  a  wall  five  feet 
thick,  covered  with  masonry  on  both  sides;  an  effect  which  was  esti- 
mated, by  a  person  on  the  spot,  to  be  equal  to  that  produced  b\'  a 
cannon  carrying  a  six-pound  ball.  By  the  action  of  a  tornado,  fowls 
are  often  entirely  stripped  of  their  feathers,  and  light  substances  carried 
to  a  distance  varying  from  two  to  twenty  miles.  In  the  West  Indies 
hurricanes  almost  always  begin  from  some  point  eastward  of  Barbadoes, 
whence  they  proceed  in  a  north-westerly  course  till  the  resistance  of 


WONDERS    OF    THE    ATMOSPHERE.  489* 

the  land  and  their  own  exhaustion  cause  them  to  flaf^.  Their  track  is 
marked  by  ravages  the  most  terrible  and  desolating  it  is  possible  to 
imagine.  The  great  hurricane  which  swept  the  West  Indies  in  August, 
1 83 1,  destroyed,  in  the  space  of  seven  hours,  in  Barbadoes  alone,  no 
less  than  one  thousand  four  hundred  and  seventy-seven  lives  and  many 
thousand  of  dollars  worth  of  property ;  it  carried  destruction  the  most 
complete  along  a  course  extending  many  hundreds  of  miles,  and  was 
not  clrecked  till  it  had  made  its  way  some  distance  inland  on  the  con- 
tinent of  this  country.  Trees  of  seventy  feet  in  height  were  uprooted, 
houses  were  blown  down  as  if  made  of  cardboard,  men  were  blown 
through  the  air  to  some  distance,  and  guns  in  the  fort  were  dismounted 
and  flung  down  many  yards  away  from  where  their  carriages  stood. 
The  tremendous  force  of  the  wind  piled  up  the  waters  so  that  they 
stood  in  a  heap  in  Carlisle  Bay,  and  ships  that  had  been  anchored  half 
a  mile  (wm.  the  landing-place  were  floated  and  driven  half  a  mile  inland 
and  put  down  in  cane-fields,  or  in  what  had  been  cocoa-nut  groves. 
Storms  of  some  violence  are  not  unfrequent  in  the  West  Indies,  but 
hurricanes  of  great  fury  are  specially  remembered,  and  people  take 
them  for  chronological  guides,  speaking  of  what  happened  in  such  a 
year  after  the  "wind." 

One  remarkable  fact  in  connection  with  these  circle-going  storms  is 
the  shifts  of  wind  which  occur  at  the  places  over  which  they  pass.  The 
wind  that  has  been  blowing  furiously  from  south-west  suddenly  drops,, 
there  is  a  treacherous  lull  for  a  few  minutes,  and  then,  just  as  the  inex- 
perienced in  such  things  fancy  that  the  tyranny  is  overpast  there  comes 
a  dreadful  blast  from  the  noith-east,  with  power  equal  to  that  which  so 
lately  made  signs  of  giving  up  its  wild  sport.  A  cross  sea  is  set  up, 
in  which  it  is  scarcely  possible  for  a  ship  to  live,  and  in  the  trough  of 
which,  if  she  be  allowed  to  fall  into  it,  she  must  inevitably  be  drowned^ 

THE    REMARKABLE    TRADE    WINDS. 

That  there  should  be  a  wind  ever  constant  from  the  same  quarter  all 
the  year  round,  is,  apart  from  the  causes  of  it,  a  wonderful  fact.  Col- 
umbus first  discovered  the  full  extent  of  the  trade  winds,  when  he  made 
his  first  voyage  to  this  country.  Previously  he  had  observed  in  the 
neighborhood  of  the  Canaries  the  frequency  of  the  winds  from  the  same 
quarter,  but  it  was  not  till  he  set  out  on  his  first  American  voyage  that 
he  ascertained  the  extent  over  which  they  regularly  prevail.  The  story 
is  well  known  about  the  anxiety  of  Columbus's  crew,  how  they  noticed, 
when  well  to  the  westward  of  .Grand  Canary,  the  perpetual  breeze  from 
north-east ;  how  they  expressed  their  fears  about  getting  back  to  Europe, 
declaring  that  God  was  angry  with  them  for  presuming  to  pry  into  His 
secrets  in  the  west,  and  had  given  them  over  to  the  power  of  the  devil. 


"490  WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 

who  caused  a  wind  to  blow  which  should  ever  prevent  their  return  to 
Spain.  Columbus,  while  he  succeeded  in  overcoming  the  fears  of  his 
sailors,  and  taught  his  successors  how  to  sail  round  the  wind  which  he 
could  not  sail  against,  never  seems  to  have  understood  the  cause  of  the 
phenomenon,  which,  since  his  time,  has  been  fully  discovered. 

So  far  as  the  name  is  concerned,  it  may  be  pretty  safely  concluded 
that  it  was  given  because  the  wind  was  the  sure  promoter  of  commerce, 
a  wind  upon  which  the  merchant  might  certainly  count  to  carry  his 
ships  over  a  known  distance  of  the  voyage.  As  regards  the  direction 
from  which  it  blows,  when  the  sun  is  south  of  the  equator  the  wind  has 
a  little  more  north  in  it,  and  is  variable  between  N.  E.  and  N.  N.  E. 
When  the  sun  is  north  of  the  line  the  wind  is  more  easterly. 

EXPLANATION    OF    THE    WONDERFUL   TRADE   WINDS. 

The  extent  of  the  trade  wind  region  depends  entirely  upon  the  sun. 
When  the  sun  has  a  southern  declination,  the'trade  wind  is  often  not 
found  till  the  twenty-seventh  degree  of  north  latitude ;  but  with  a 
northern  declination  of  the  sun  the  wind  gets  as  far  north  as  thirty-two 
degrees.  Its  influence  is  perceived  at  from  two  to  seven  degrees  north 
of  the  equator,  so  that  the  district  over  which  the  wind  blows  may  be 
estimated  at  about  twenty-two  degrees  of  latitude.  The  force  of  the 
wind  is  sufficient  to  propel  a  ship  regularly  at  the  rate  of  seven  to  eight 
miles  an  hour.     It  is  the  capital  of  conmierce,  and  never  fails. 

The  trade  wind  theory  now  accepted  may  be  thus  explained  : — At 
either  pole  is  a  region  of  calms,  estimated  at  from  one  to  one  and  a  half 
degrees  in  extent.  Outside  this  is  a  district  extending  for  many  degrees 
over  which  prevail  winds  running  from  all  directions  towards  the  pole. 
Beyond  this  are  the  calms  of  Cancer  and  Capricorn,  in  the  northern  and 
southern  hemispheres  respectively  ;  then  the  north-east  and  south-east 
trade  winds,  and  between  them  the  belt  of  equatorial  calms  and  rains. 
Such  are  the  facts.  Now  the  rotary  motion  of  the  earth  from  west  to 
ea.st  being  kept  in  mind,  it  will  be  readily  understood  that  a  current  of 
air  coming  from  the  north  pole,  where  the  earth's  motion  is  scarcely 
felt,  towards  the  equator,  would,  the  further  it  traveled  south,  find  itself 
more  and  more  affected  by  the  rotatory  motion.  The  earth  would  be, 
as  it  were,  slipping  from  under  it,  going  from  west  to  east,  so  that  the 
current  which  was  flying  south  would  find  that  it  did  not  go  in  a  straight 
line,  but  would  get  sent  away  westward,  and  would  blow,  therefore,  from 
the  north-cast ;  in  the  same  way,  the  south  wind  coming  north  would 
be  converted  into  a  south-east  wind. 

Now  the  prevailing  winds  between  the  Polar  calms  and  the  calms  of 
Cancer  are  winds  which  blow  towards  the  pole,  so  that  the  current  of 
air  which  blows  towards  the  equator  must  overrun  them — as,  in  fact,  it 


WONDERS    OF   THE    ATMOSPHERE.  491 

does  till  it  reaches  the  thirtieth  parallel  of  north  latitude.  There  it 
meets  with  a  counter-current  of  equal  strength,  and  the  two  irresistible 
bodies  meeting,  cause  a  pressure  or  stagnation  in  the  air  at  the  point 
of  contact,  the  stagnation  produced  being  the  calms  of  Cancer,  which 
stretch  over  five  or  six:  degrees  of  latitude.  ICithcr  opponent  being 
unable  to  conquer,  both  descend — the  north  wind  to  pursue  its  southerly 
course  to  the  equator,  the  south  wind  to  fly  onwards  to  the  north  pole. 
The  wind  which  the  northern  giant  met  at  parallel  thirty  was  a  south- 
west wind,  which  had  blown  above  and  across  the  extent  traversed  by 
the  north-east  trade.  Its  history  does  not  differ  materially  from  that 
of  its  rival,  except  that  at  parallel  thirty  it  has  nearly  done  its  travels, 
whereas  the  north  wind  is  only  just  beginning.  One  wind  has  made 
the  circuit  of  the  globe,  as  the  wind  it  meets  will  have  to  make  the  cir- 
cuit. It  has  started  from  the  south  pole  along  the  upper  road  (the 
phenomena  of  the  southern  hemisphere  are  like  those  of  the  northern), 
has  encountered  the  strong  north-east  wind  which  overlies  and  over- 
blows the  south-east  trades,  has  pushed  against  it  so  hard  as  to  repeat 
at  Capricorn  what  was  done  at  Cancer,  and  has  swept  resistlessly  over 
thirty  degrees  of  latitude  as  the  south-east  trade  wind.  At  so  near  the 
•equator  it  has  been  met  by  the  north-east  trade  wind.  The  two  winds 
have  been  hurled  at  one  another  with  a  momentum  acquired  in  a  run 
over  thirty  degrees  of  latitude  apiece,  and  have  been  forced  to  scale  the 
heavens  in  order  to  avoid  each  other.  Away  they  rush  northward  and 
southward  respectively. 

The  conflict  which  takes  place  between  the  winds  at  the  equator,  if 
not  more  fierce  than  that  which  occurs  at  Cancer  and  Capricorn,  has 
more  visible  effects.  To  it  must  be  attributed  those  strange  convulsions 
which  often  make  the  equatorial  region  anything  but  a  calm  one  ;  those 
fierce  deluges  of  rain  which  sweep  down  from  the  clouds  in  sheets,  that 
lightning  and  that  thunder,  which  are  the  concomitants  of  the  mighty 
battle  that  is  being  perpetually  fought  for  the  supremacy  of  north  and 
south.  The  wind  goeth  towards  the  south  and  turneth  about  unto  the 
north  ;  it  whirleth  about  continually,  and  the  wind  returneth  ao-ain 
according  to  his  circuits.  It  is  the  great  purifier  of  the  earth.  It  is  the 
foe  of  pestilence  and  all  forms  of  disease,  the  source  of  life  and  health. 

COLORED   SNOW    AND    RAIN. 

Red  snow  is  a  phenomenon  which  is  frequently  observed  in  the 
Polar  regions,  and  has  occasionally  been  met  in  the  Alps  and  in  Scot- 
land. Captain  Ross  discovered,  on  the  shore  of  Bafifin's  Bay^  a  rano-e 
of  cliffs  extending  for  eight  miles,  which  were  covered  with  a  red  snow 
of  a  brilliant  hue,  and  sometimes  as  much  as  twelve  feet  in  depth.  The 
cause  of  the  appearance  was  a  puzzle  to  men  of  science  as  well  as  to 


493 


WONDERS    OF   THE    ATMOSPHERE.  493 

the  observers,  until  careful  examination  with  the  microscope  revealed 
that  it  was  due  to  the  presence  anionic  the  snow  of  a  very  minute  plant, 
Avhose  cells  were  filled  with  animalcules. 

There  are  on  record  several  incontestable  instances  of  black  rain 
having  fallen,  among  which  the  following  may  be  mentioned  :  Pro- 
fessor Barker  laid  before  the  Royal  Dublin  Society  some  observations 
on  a  shower  of  black  rain  which  had  fallen  around  Carlow  and 
Kilkenny,  and  extended  over  an  area  of  more  than  four  hundred  square 
miles.  He  presented  to  the  society  a  specimen  which  had  been 
forwarded  to  him,  the  person  who  had  collected  it  mentioning  that  at  the 
time  that  it  fell  it  was  uniformly  black,  and  resembling  ordinary  writing 
ink.  Barker  found,  however,  that  after  allowing  it  to  stand  for  a  short 
period,  the  black  C(~iloring  matter  separated  from  the  water  with  which 
it  had  been  mixed,  rendering  the  color  of  the  rain  much  lighter  than 
at  first.  This  shower  was  preceded  by  such  darkness  that  it  was 
impossible  to  read  except  by  candle-light.  After  this  darkness  had 
continued  for  some  time,  a  hail-storm  occurred,  attended  with  \ivid 
lightning,  but  without  thunder,  and  when  this  subsided  the  black  rain 
fell.  On  examination  of  the  rain  just  after  it  had  fallen,  it  was  found 
to  have  an  extremely  fcetid  smell,  and  a  very  disagreeable  taste;  it  left 
a  stain  upon  some  clothes  on  which  it  had  fallen,  and  cattle  refused  to 
drink  it.  It  fell  in  the  afternoon,  rendering  quite  black  the  people's 
clothes  on  the  hedges,  and  those  spread  on  the  grass  to  dry ;  also 
giving  to  the  water  caught  in  tubs  and  vessels  from  slated  and  tiled 
houses,  almost  the  color  of  ink.  Some  rain  which  had  fallen  in  the 
morning  had  been  perfectly  clear,  and  the  black  rain  appeared  to  fall 
from  one  particular  cloud. 

The  material  that  mingles  with  these  extraordinary  rains  is  of  a  dark 
color,  and  imparts  an  inky  blackness  to  the  shower.  A  rain  of  this 
kind  occurred  at  Montreal,  in  Lower  Canada,  on  two  several  days.  A 
dense  gloom  enveloped  the  city,  while  the  whole  atmosphere  was 
obscured  by  a  thick  haze,  of  a  dusky  orange  color,  and  at  this  time 
rain  descended  of  a  dark  inky  hue.  The  weather  soon  after  became 
pleasant,  and  continued  so  until  the  following  day,  when  at  noon  the 
whole  cit\^  was  again  shrouded  in  a  heavy,  damp  vapor,  so  dense  that 
it  became  necessary  to  light  candles  in  all  the  houses.  Soon  after, 
when  the  darkness  was  the  deepest,  the  gloom  was  dispelled  by  a  vivid 
flash  of  lightning,  which  was  followed  at  once  by  a  crashing  peal  of 
thunder ;   and  this  was  succeeded  by  a  heavy  shower  of  thick,  black,  rain. 

A  storm  of  red  hail  is  stated  by  Baron  Humboldt  to  have  once 
occurred  at  Paramo,  in  South  America,  between  Bogota  and  Popayan. 
There  likewise  fell  over  all  Tuscany  in    1813,  a  shower  of  hail  of  an 


494  WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 

orange  hue.  A  hail-storm  happened  in  Ireland  in  1849,  which  deposited 
upon  the  ground  a  black,  inky  substance.  Some  of  this  dark  matter 
was  collected  and  examined,  and  found  to  be  of  the  same  nature  as  the 
coloring  material  of  red  rains.     The  air  around  us  has  its  mysteries. 

EXTRAORDIN.'\RY    SHOWERS. 

From  time  to  time,  and  in  regions  of  the  globe  widely  separated 
from  each  other,  dust  in  large  quantities  has  descended  from  the 
heights  of  the  atmosphere,  not  only  upon  the  land,  but  also  far  out  on 
the  ocean,  hundreds  of  miles  from  the  shore.  It  is  entirely  distinct 
from  that  which  is  disseminated  through  the  air  by  the  winds,  during 
the  eruption  of  volcanoes,  and  for  many  years  has  been  described,  by 
observers  and  writers,  under  the  various  names  of  dust-storms,  dust- 
rain,  red  fogs.  Sirocco  dust,  African  dust,  sea-dust,  Atlantic  dust,  and 
trade  wind-dust.  This  dust  not  only  falls  dry,  in  the  form  of  a  fine, 
impalpable  powder,  but  is  occasionally  mingled  with  rain,  hail  and 
snow,  which  it  dyes  with  its  own  hue.  As  it  is  usually  of  a  reddish 
color,  these  showers  of  rain  and  storms  of  hail  and  snow  have  received 
the  appellation  of  blood-rains. 

A  shower  of  dust  fell  at  Malta  in  1830,  and  at  the  same  time  a  similar 
fall  occurred  in  the  bay  of  Palmas,  in  Sardinia,  while  a  Sirocco  wind 
was  blowing  from  a  south-easterly  quarter.  The  Maltese  dust  was  of 
a  brownish-red  hue.  Some  of  it  was  collected  and  forwarded  to  Mr. 
Charles  Darwin,  the  eminent  naturalist,  for  examination.  In  the  year 
1 83 1 ,  the  ship  *'  Beagle  "  was  despatched  by  the  British  government  on  a 
voyage  of  scientific  discovery  around  the  world.  Mr.  Darwin  accom- 
panied the  expedition,  and  during  the  voyage  observed  a  dust-shower, 
near  St.  Jago,  the  chief  of  the  Cape  de  Verd  Isles.  He  collected  a 
little  package  of  impalpable  brown-colored  dust,  which  appeared  to 
have  been  filtered  from  the  wind  by  the  gauze  of  the  vane  at  the  mast- 
head. In  speaking  of  this  phenomenon,  he  remarks,  that  the  atmosphere 
in  this  region  is  usually  filled  with  a  haze,  caused  by  the  falling  of  this 
fine,  brown-colored  dust.  By  the  kindness  of  a  friend,  Mr  Darwin 
received  four  parcels  of  dust  which  fell  upon  the  deck  of  a  vessel,  a 
few  hundred  miles  north  of  the  Cape  de  Verd  Isles. 

Much  valuable  information  respecting  dust-showers  on  the  ocean  has 
been  gathered  by  this  gentleman,  who  has  found  fifteen  different 
accounts  of  the  descent  of  dust  upon  ships  when  far  out  on  the 
Atlantic.  It  has  often  fallen  upon  them  when  they  were  several 
hundred,  and  even  a  thousand  miles  from  the  coast  of  Africa,  and  at 
points  sixteen  hundred  miles  distant  in  a  north  and  south  direction.  In 
some  of  the  dust  collected  upon  a  vessel  three  hundred  miles  from 
land,  particles  of  stone  were  discovered,  more  than  the  thousandth  of 


WONDERS    OF    THE    ATMOSPHERE.  495 

an  inch  square,  mixed  with  finer  matter.  It  falls  in  such  quantities  as 
to  soil  ever\'  thing  upon  which  it  descends,  and  to  irritate  the  eyes  of 
persons  exposed  to  it.  Ships  have  even  been  known  to  run  ashore, 
owing  to  the  obscurity  of  the  atmosphere  resulting  from  the  presence 
of  this  dust,  widely  dilTused  through  the  surrounding  atmosphere. 

During  a  voyage  from  Richmond,  Virginia,  to  Rio  Janeiro,  in  the 
winter  of  1845-6,  Mr.  Thomas  Ewbank,  of  the  United  States  Patent 
Office,  met  with  many  instances  of  the  falling  of  sea-dust,  and  traced 
the  rich  and  peculiar  hues,  that  at  times  adorned  the  clouds  and  sky, 
to  the  diffusion  of  this  fine  powder  throughout  the  intermediate  atmos- 
phere. Once  he  observed  a  narrow  belt  of  slate-colored  sky  skirting 
the  horizon,  while  upon  this  rested  a  broad  band  of  vermilion,  inter- 
spersed with  soft  dashes  of  India  ink,  shaded  with  umber.  These 
hues  changed,  by  insensible  degrees,  into  a  bright,  cream-color,  and 
this  again  into  a  pale,  delicate  green,  which  deepened  in  tint  as  it 
approached  the  zenith,  while  over  all  floated  amber-colored  clouds^ 
growing  richer  in  hue  and  smaller  in  size  as  they  sunk  towards  the 
horizon,  painting  the  sky  with  the  most  delicate  tints. 

During  the  two  following  days  the  heavens  presented  scenes  of 
gorgeous  and  surpassing  beauty,  the  colors  of  the  sky  and  clouds 
ranging  through  emerald  green,  pink,  purple,  crimson,  yellow,  choc- 
olate, umber,  and  slate  ;  while  beneath  this  rich  and  varied  combination 
a  groundwork  of  the  purest  cream-color  extended,  giving  tone  to  the 
whole,  and  changing  in  tint  from  a  fawn-color  to  a  pale  white. 

BRILLIANT    PHENOMENA  IN    THE   SKY, 

The  wonderful  sunsets  noticed  within  the  last  few  years  have  been 
attributed  to  causes  similar  to  those  just  mentioned.  Tremendous 
volcanic  action,  especially  in  the  island  of  Java,  whereby  immense 
quantities  of  dust  have  been  thrown  up,  has  been  thought  to  account 
for  the  vivid  colors  of  the  heavens,  the  diffused  substance  acting  as  a 
reflector  for  the  light. 

Not  merely  have  showers  of  dust  and  inorganic  matter  excited  the 
wonder  of  men  of  science,  but  there  have  been  showers  of  living  organ- 
isms. In  1833,  at  Lake  Gwynant,  in  the  county  of  Caernarvon,  a 
woman  was  engaged  washing  a  pail  at  the  edge  of  the  lake,  and  a 
number  of  children  were  with  her.  While  she  was  thus  employed,  a 
shower  of  small  fishes  fell  partly  into  the  lake,  partly  upon  the  land, 
close  to  where  the  woman  was.  The  fish  resembled  herrings,  but  were 
much  smaller.  A  heavy  shower  of  rain  had  preceded  the  descent  of 
these  fishes,  and  the  day  following  there  was  much  rain  and  thunder. 
Soon  after  a  most  violent  storm  of  rain  and  wind,  three  small  crabs 
were  found  in  the  area  of  the  workhouse  at  Reigate  ;  and  a  fourth  was 


496  WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 

afterwards  found  at  a  little  distance  the  following  morning.  One  of 
them  appeared  to  be  still  liv^ing.  In  the  morning  of  the  day  previous 
to  the  storm  the  area  of  the  workhouse  had  been  thoroughly  swept  and 
cleaned ;  consequently  they  must  have  been  seen  had  they  been  there 
then.  They  were  found  by  a  boy,  who  told  the  go\'ernor  that  he  had 
found  a  comical  sort  of  a  frog.  The  inhabitants  of  the  island  of  Isla, 
Argyleshirc,  after  a  day  of  heavy  rain,  were  surprised  to  find  numbers 
of  small  herrings  strewed  over  their  fields,  perfectly  fresh,  and  some  of 
them  exhibiting  signs  of  life.  Similar  instances  of  showers  of  small  fish 
are  well  authenticated.  In  a  pasture-field  in  the  parish  of  Stansted, 
which  is  a  considerable  distance  from  the  sea  or  any  branch  of  it,  and  a 
place  where  there  are  no  fish-ponds,  there  were  found  fish  in  quantity 
about  a  bushel,  supposed  to  have  been  rained  down  from  a  cloud,  there 
having  been  at  that  time  a  great  tempest  of  thunder,  hail  and  wind. 
These  fish  were  about  the  size  of  a  man's  little  finger  ;  some  were  small 
whitings,  others  like  sprats,  and  some  rather  like  smelts.  Sev'eral  of 
these  fish  were  shown  publicly  at  Maidstone  and  Dartford,  Kent. 

WONDERFUL    METEOROLOGICAL    INSTRUMENTS. 

The  pressure  of  the  atmosphere  is  ascertained  by  the  barometer. 
This  instrument  is  of  the  highest  importance  in  meteorology.  Into  a 
glass  tube,  about  three  feet  in  length,  open  at  one  end  and  closed  at  the 
other,  mercury  is  poured  until  it  is  full ;  the  open  end  being  now  closed 
by  the  finger,  or  any  other  means,  the  tube  is  inverted,  and  the  lower 
end  immersed  in  a  vessel  of  mercury.  When  beneath  the  surface  of  the 
fluid  the  end  is  unstopped,  and  the  column  of  mercury  within  the  tube 
then  settles  down,  until  its  summit  is  about  thirty  inches  above  the  level 
of  that  within  the  vessel.  The  space  above  the  column  in  the  tube  is 
a  void,  and  is  called  the  Torricellian  vacuum,  from  Torricclli,  the  name 
of  the  Italian  philosopher,  who  first  constructed  this  instrument.  The 
column  of  mercury  within  the  tube  is  supported  above  the  level  of  that 
in  the  vessel,  by  the  upward  pressure  of  a  column  of  the  atmosphere, 
having  the  same  base  as  itself.  Any  increase  in  the  density  of  the  at- 
mosphere will  be  denoted  by  an  elevation  of  the  mcrcuiy,  and  a  de- 
crease by  its  depression. 

As  the  approach  or  departure  of  storms  is  always  indicated  by 
•changes  in  the  density  of  the  atmosphere,  the  barometer  becomes  a 
sure  indicator  of  the  weather,  the  mercury  rising  or  falling  according 
to  the  atmospheric  pressure.  Density  indicates  humidity,  and  hence 
rain  and  storm  ;  rarity,  the  opposite. 

Since  the  constant  changes  in  the  weight  of  the  atmosphere  produce 
•corresponding  fluctuations  in  the  height  of  the  barometer,  a  scale  is 
placed  near  the  top  of  the  tube,  extending  from  twenty-seven  to  thirty- 


WONDERS    OF   THE    ATMOSPHERE.  497 

one  inches,  a  space  which  includes  at  the  surface  of  the  earth,  all  the 
fluctuations  of  the  column.  This  scale  is  divided  into  tenths  of  an  inch ; 
but,  as  the  variations  of  the  barometer  are  exceedingly  minute,  a  con- 
trivance called  a  vernier  is  annexed,  by  which  a  change,  to  the  extent 
of  one-five  hundredth  of  an  inch,  can  be  easily  measured. 

The  temperature  of  the  atmosphere  is  indicated  by  the  thermometer. 
It  consists  of  a  small  glass  tube,  terminated  by  a  bulb,  and  is  partially 
filled  with  mercury.  This  fluid  is  usually  preferred  for  several  reasons, 
the  most  important  of  which  are,  its  uniform  dilation,  its  quick  suscepti- 
bility to  any  change  in  temperature,  and  the  great  range  of  its  expansion 
in  the  fluid  state.  If  the  instrument  is  to  be  exposed  to  extreme  cold, 
alcohol  must  be  used.  As  mercury,  like  other  fluids,  expands  by  heat, 
and  contracts  by  cold,  its  alternate  elevations  and  depressions  within 
the  tube  can  be  made  to  indicate  the  corresponding  changes  in  the  state 
of  the  air,  if  two  fixed  temperatures  can  be  found,  whence  to  reckon  the 
changes.  These  have  been  discovered.  If  a  thermometer  is  immersed 
at  different  times  in  melting  snow,  the  column  of  mercury  invariably 
sinks  to  the  same  place  in  the  tube,  though  many  months  may  have 
elapsed  between  the  experiments  ;  and,  when  exposed  to  the  steam  of 
boiling  water,  the  mercury  always  ascends  to  the  same  height  under  the 
same  atmospheric  pressure,  vibrating  with  remarkable  uniformity. 

FLYING   MACHINES ATTEMPTS    TO    TRAVEL   WITH    WINGS. 

The  first  attempt  at  flying  occurred  early  in  the  sixteenth  century, 
when  an  Italian  adventurer  visited  England.  He  '  as  very  favorably 
received  by  James  IV.  of  Scotland,  and  having  promised  to  gratify  the 
Court  with  the  exhibition  of  a  plan  which  would  enable  any  person  to 
visit  the  most  distant  regions  in  a  few  hours,  he  had  an  apparatus  made 
consisting  of  huge  wings,  to  be  propelled  by  cords.  Thus  equipped, 
the  adventurer  leaped  from  the  wall  of  Stirling  Castle,  and,  as  might 
have  been  expected,  speedily  reached  the  ground.  His  reasoning  on 
this  unlucky  result  is  worthy  of  being  preserved  :  My  wings,  said  he, 
were  composed  of  various  feathers  ;  among  them  were  the  feathers  of 
a  dunghill  fowl,  and  they,  by  a  certain  sympathy,  were  attracted  to  the 
dunghill  on  which  I  fell ;  whereas,  had  my  wings  been  composed  of  the 
feathers  of  eagles  alone,  as  I  proposed,  the  same  sympathy  would  have 
attracted  my  machine  to  the  higher  regions  of  the  air.  This  sophistry 
is  at  least  ingenious. 

A  newspaper  in  1709  contains  a  curious  description  of  a  Flying  Ship, 
stated  to  have  been  invented  by  a  Brazilian  priest,  of  which  we  give  an 
illustration,  copied  from  an  old  cut.  The  ship,  which  at  both  ends  was 
scallop-wise,  had  sails  which  turned  as  they  were  directed  ;  there  were 
two  wings  to  keep  the  ship  upright,  and  a  stern  to  govern  it.  In  the 
'.]2 


A98 


WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 


body,  at  each  end,  was  a  pair  of  bellows,  to  be  blown  when  there  was 
no  wind  ;  two  globes  of  metal,  to  cover  two  loadstones  to  draw  the  ship 
after  them ;  the  body  was  of  thin  iron  plates  covered  with  straw  mats 
for  ten  or  twelve  men  besides  the  constructor.  Above  the  body  was  a 
network  of  iron  wire,  on  which  were  fastened  large  amber  beads, 
which,  by  a  secret  operation,  would  help  to  keep  the  ship  aloft ;  also 
by  the  sun's  heat  the  mats  that  lined  the  ship  would  be  drawn  towards 
the  amber  beads.  The  artist,  by  the  help  of  the  celestial  globe,  a  sea- 
map  and  compass,  was  to  take  the  height  of  the  sun,  thereby  to  find  out 
the  spot  of  land  over  which  they  were  on  the  globe  of  the  earth. 
There  were  pulleys  and  ropes  to  hoist  or  furl  the  sails ;  but  we  do  not 
find  that  the  design  was  at  all  practicable.    The  inventor  was  a  visionary. 


THE   FAMOUS    FLYING   SHIP. 

Doctor  Darwin  proposed  to  use  wings  similar  to  those  of  a  bird,  and 
to  those  motion  was  to  be  given  by  a  gigantic  power  worked  by  high- 
pressure  steam.  The  details  of  his  plan  were  not  fully  drawn  out ;  but 
a  few  years  afterwards  Sir  George  Cayley  attempted  to  show,  by  refer- 
ence to  mathematical  data,  that  a  flying  chariot  might  readily  be  con- 
structed so  as  to  rise  in  the  air.  We  believe  this  ingenious  inventor 
expended  a  large  sum  of  money  in  endeavoring  to  mature  his  plans,  but 
they  ended  in  failure. 

The  Abbe  Deforgcs,  of  Etampes,  announced  in  the  journals  in  1772 
that  he  would  perform  the  great  feat.  On  the  appointed  day  multitudes 
of  the  curious  flocked  to  Etampes.  The  abbe's  machine  was  a  sort  of 
gondola,  seven  feet  long  and  about  two  feet  deep.  Gondola,  conduct(ir, 
and  baggage  weighed  in  all  two  hundred  and  thirteen  pounds.    The 


WONDERS    OF   THE    ATMOSPHERE. 


499 


pious  man  believed  that  he  had  provided  against  everything.  Neither 
tempest  nor  rain  should  mar  his  flight,  and  there  was  no  chance  of  his 
being  upset ;  whilst  the  machine,  he  had  decided,  was  to  go  at  the  rate 
of  thirty  leagues  an  hour.     All  his  calculations  were  fully  made. 

The  great  da}'  came,  and  the  abbe,  entering  his  air-boat  amidst  the 
applause  of  the  spectators,  began  to  work  the  wings  with  which  it  was 
provided  with  great 
rapidity.  But,  says  one 
who  witnessed  the  feat, 
the  more  he  worked,  the 
more  his  machine  clea\  cd 
to  the  earth,  as  if  it  u  ei  e 
part  and  parcel  of  it 

Retif  de  la  Bretonnc 
in  his  work  upon  thi-^ 
subject,  gives  the  pictuic 
of  a  flying  man,  furnish 
ed  with  very  artisticalK 
designed  wings,  fittmg 
exactly  to  the  shoulders 
and  carrying  a  basket 
of  provisions  suspended 
from  his  waist.  To  wings 
aerial  adventurers  most- 
ly adhered.  The  Marquis 
de  Racqueville  flew  from 
a  window  of  his  hotel, 
on  the  banks  of  the 
Seine,  and  fell  into  a  boat 
full  of  washerwomen  on 
the  river.  All  these  un- 
fortunate attempts  m  ere 
lampooned,  burlesqued  f 
on  the  stage,  and  pur- 
sued with  the  mockciy 
of  the  public.  Up  to  this 
time  the  efforts  of  man  to  conquer  the  air  had  miscarried.  They  were 
conducted  on  a  wrong  principle,  the  machinery  employed  being  heavier 
than  the  air  itself  But,  even  before  the  time  of  Montgolfier,  the  principles 
of  aerostation  began  to  be  recognized,  though  nothing  was  actually  done 
in  the  way  of  acting  upon  them.  Thus,  in  1767,  Professor  Black,  of 
Edinburgh,  announced  in  his  class  that  a  vessel,  filled  with  hydrogen. 


THE    WONDERFUL    FLYING    MAN. 


500  WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 

would  rise  naturally  in  the  air ;  but  he  never  made  the  experiment, 
regarding  the  fact  as  capable  of  being  employed  only  for  amusement. 
Finally,  Cavallo,  in  1782,  communicated  to  the  Royal  Society  of 
London  the  experiments  he  had  made,  and  which  consisted  in  filling 
soap-bubbles  with  hydrogen.  The  bubbles  rose  in  the  atmosphere,  the 
gas  which  filled  them  being  lighter  than  air. 

In  the  higher  regions  of  the  atmosphere,  the  union  of  warm  and  cold 
air,  when  the  combining  volumes  are  over  saturated,  will  appear  in  the 
form  of  clouds.  During  the  daily  process  of  evaporation,  warm,  humid 
currents  of  air  are  continually  ascending  from  the  earth ;  the  higher 
they  ascend,  the  colder  is  the  atmosphere  into  which  they  enter ;  and, 
as  they  continue  to  rise,  a  point  at  length  will  be  attained,  where,  in 
union  with  the  colder  air,  their  original  humidity  can  no  longer  be  re- 
tained ;  a  cloud  will  then  appear,  which  increases  in  bulk  with  the  up- 
ward progress  of  the  current  into  colder  regions.  If  the  cloud,  however, 
in  its  ascent,  either  meets  with  a  warmer  stratum  of  air,  or  descends  to- 
wards the  earth  into  a  region  of  a  higher  temperature,  a  portion  of  the 
minute  globules  of  water  which  compose  it,  perhaps  all,  will  be  re-dis- 
solved, and  the  cloud  will  either  contract  in  size,  or  completely  vanish, 
according  to  the  increase  of  heat  to  which  it  is  subjected. 

The  effect  of  a  screen  in  checking  radiation,  and  thus  preventing  frost, 
has  been  finely  illustrated  by  experiments  in  India.  Throughout  the 
whole  region  of  Upper  India,  ice  is  artificially  procured  by  placing  upon 
a  layer  of  dry  straw,  in  the  bottom  of  small  pits,  and  fully  exposed  to 
the  clear  sky,  broad,  shallow  earthen  pans,  filled  with  water.  Such  is 
the  radiation  during  the  night,  that  a  thin  crust  of  ice  will  sometimes 
form  upon  the  water,  when  the  temperature  of  the  air  on  a  level  with 
the  pits  is  ten  degrees  above  the  freezing  point. 


CHAPTER  XV. 
WONDERS  OF  THE  OCEAN. 


The  Ocean  a  World  in  Itself— Wonderful  Sea-Plants — Mermen  and  Maids — The  Famous 
Nautilus — The  Devil  Fish — Immense  Poulpe— Crabs  that  Seem  to  Reason — Nest- 
Building  Fishes — Curious  Barnacles — Sponges — The  Saw-Fish — The  Toi-pedo— Rain- 
bow Beauty  of  the  Sea— Colored  Waters— The  Flying-Fish— Dolphins— The  Sea-Ser- 
pent — Ocean  Flowers — Sea  Anemones — A  Crab  with  a  Pack  on  his  Back— The  Won- 
derful Star- Fish— The  Medusa — The  Coffre-Fish — Creatures  in  Armor — A  Thieving 
Crab — Marvelous  Corals— A  Strange  Fan— The  Brain  Stone— Singular  Fishes— The 
Sea- Porcupine —A  Fish  that  Travels  on  Land— Gems  of  the  Ocean — The  Gulf  Stream 
— Bay  of  Naples  and  Vesuvius — Wonderful  Depth — Sea-Cucumber 
— Female  Pirates — Strange  Tales  of  the  Ocean. 

ONDERS  abound  in  the  ocean.  It  is  a  world  in  it- 
self, and  is  subject  to  its  own  laws.  "  In  this  great 
and  wide  sea  are  creeping  things  innumerable,  both 
small  and  great."  Animals,  plants  and  insects  have 
a  home  within  its  waters,  far  beyond  the  domain  or 
even  the  reach  of  man.  The  fantastic  forms  and 
shining  creatures  that  people  the  recesses  of  the  deep 
are  here  placed  before  the  reader,  and  the  sea  is  made 
to  give  up  its  marvelous  creations. 
The  sea  is  full  of  plants  that  float  about  in  the  water,  or  else  are 
attached  to  some  rock  at  the  bottom  of  the  ocean.  For  a  long  time 
nobody  cared  about  sea-weeds,  or  took  the  trouble  to  examine  them, 
but  now  they  are  as  carefully  studied  as  the  plants  that  grow  on  the 
land.  Many  of  them  are  of  delicate  formation,  and  very  beautiful.  They 
make  gardens  at  the  bottom  of  the  ocean.  Their  colors  are  red,  and 
green,  and  yellow,  and  purple.  All  manner  of  living  creatures  dart 
about  among  them.  The  scene  is  as  varied  and  as  gay  as  if  it  were  on 
land.  Indeed,  it  is  almost  like  fairy-land.  When  night  comes,  millions 
of  tiny  creatures  shine  and  sparkle  like  the  glow-worm  or  the  fire-fly. 
The  depth  of  the  ocean  is  full  of  beauty  by  night  and  by  day.  Sea- 
weeds are  quite  different  from  land  plants,  though  they  have  leaves  and 
a  root.  The  root  holds  the  sea-weed  to  its  place  on  the  rock.  But  it 
does  not  suck  up  the  moisture  as  the  root  of  the  land  plant  does. 
There  are  no  little  cells  in  the  leaf  of  the  sea-weed  to  carry  the  moisture 
all  over  it.  It  must  be  plunged  entirely  in  water,  if  it  is  wanted  to 
live,  but  it  will  retain  its  color  when  taken  from  its  briny  home,  and 
preserve  its  beauty  a  long  time. 

(501) 


502 


WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 


Mermaidens  and  mermen  have  from  early  ages  been  reckoned  among 
the  wonders  of  the  sea.  Poets  have  sung  of  their  wondrous  beauty 
and    power,    historians    of    the    most    irreproachable    veracity    have 


chronicled  their  appearance  ;  writers  of  natural  history  have  asserted 
most  decidedly  a  belief  in  their  existence,  and  even  in  the  present  day 
there  are  men  of  education  and  science  who  believe  that  if  Nature  has 
not  produced  a  mermaid,  she  has  been  wanting  in  her  duty,  as  not 


WONDERS    OF    THE    OCEAN.  503 

ha\'ing  completed  the  chain  of  vertebrate  animals.  It  will  not  be 
thought  surprising  that  the  idea  of  the  poet  differed  considerably  from 
that  of  the  man  of  science.  There  is  an  old  story  extant  of  the  fishing- 
up  of  a  merman  on  the  Sussex  coast  in  1187.  This  creature,  who 
acted  like  a  man  in  every  respect  but  that  of  speech,  was  kept  by  the 
governor  for  six  months,  when  we  are  left  to  infer  that  it  died,  but  the 
chronicle  sayeth  not. 

A  singular  story  is  told  by  Captain  Richard  Whitbourne,  of  Exmouth, 
in  Devonshire,  of  the  appearance  of  a  mermaid  in  the  harbor  of  St.  John's, 
in  the  year  1610.  From  the  description  he  gives  of  it,  he  must  have 
been  favored  with  a  sight  of  a  very  near  approach  to  the  poet's  ideal ; 
around  the  head  he  thought  he  saw  many  blue  streaks  resembling  hair; 
fear,  however,  prevented  his  examining  it  more  minutely,  for  on  seeing 
it  approach  him  swiftly,  he  fled  with  precipitation.  Subsequently,  it 
went  to  a  boat  wherein  the  captain's  servant  was  with  several  others, 
put  its  hands  upon  the  side  of  the  boat,  much  to  the  terror  of  the  men, 
one  of  whom  struck  it  a  blow  on  the  head,  which  caused  it  to  loose  its 
hold ;  it  afterwards  swam  to  other  boats,  the  men  in  which  fled  ashore 
and  watched  it  from  there.  The  latest  mermaid  known  was  that  exhibited 
by  Barnum,  a  few  years  ago,  and  was  a  singularly  ugly  object.  It 
proved,  on  examination,  to  be  an  ingenious  combination  of  the  head 
of  a  monkey  with  the  tail  of  a  fish,  and  was  a  transparent  humbug. 

The  sea,  however,  produces  inhabitants  sufficiently  wonderful  without 
our  manufacturing  from  imagination  any  such  curiosities  as  mermen 
and  mermaids,  which  are  simply  freaks  of  fancy,  and  nothing  more. 

THE  WONDERFUL  ARGONAUT. 

One  of  the  families  of  cuttle-fish  lives  in  the  most  beautiful  dwelling 
that  was  ever  formed  by  the  hand  of  Nature,  a  dwelling  that  has 
been  the  wonder  of  mankind  in  all  ages,  the  shell  of  the  paper  nautilus, 
or  argonaut.  Only  one  of  this  tribe  is  possessed  of  an  outward  shell ; 
and,  certainly,  it  makes  up  for  the  ugliness  of  its  race,  that  is,  as  far  as 
the  shell  is  concerned.  The  creature  itself  is  a  mere  cuttle-fish  with 
long  arms.  It  sits  quite  loosely  in  its  shell,  and  is  only  joined  to  it 
by  a  pair  of  muscles.  It  had  the  name  of  argonaut  given  to  it,  for  it 
was  once  thought  to  be  a  first-rate  sailor.  The  Argonauts  were  a  band 
of  heroes,  who  went  in  search  of  the  Golden  Fleece.  It  was  even 
fancied  that  the  first  idea  of  a  ship  was  taken  from  the  shell  of  the 
nautilus  as  it  glided  over  the  sea,  using  its  arms  for  sails.  A  great  deal 
of  poetry,  and  of  prose  too,  was  written  on  the  subject,  but  it  has  all 
turned  out  to  be  a  mere  romance.  The  argonaut  is  not  often  seen  to 
sail.  It  creeps  at  the  bottom  of  the  sea,  using  its  arms  as  feet.  If  it 
swims,  it  is  by  forcing  the  water  through  its  air-tube,  as  the  cuttle-fish 


THE    MARVELOUS  ARGONAUT  IN  THE  OPEN  SEA. 


WONDERS    OF   THE   OCEAN. 


505 


does.  It  is,  now  and  then,  found  on  the  surface  of  the  waves  ;  but  the 
moment  it  is  alarmed,  it  hides  itself  in  the  shell,  drawing  in  the  whole 
of  its  body.  Then  the  shell  loses  its  balance,  turns  over,  and  sinks  to 
the  bottom.  It  is  therefore  no  easy  matter  to  catch  sight  of  the  paper 
nautilus,  much  more  to  get  possession  of  it. 

The  two  arms  of  the  creature,  which  were  thought  to  be  used  as  sails, 
end  each  in  a  broad  membrane.  The  broad  membranes  do  indeed  look 
a  little  like  sails,  but  they  are  never  used  for  any  such  purpose.  The 
creature  often 
keeps  them 
folded  over  its 
shell,  as  if  to 
protect  it.  Then 
the  shell  is  quite 
hidden  from 
sight.  But  what 
is  the  use  of 
these  two  sail- 
shaped  arms  ? 
This  has  been 
found  out  by 
careful  study. 
They  are  the 
organs 
which 
beautiful 
is  made,  and  by 
which  it  is  kept 
in  good  repair. 

The  vela  or 
arms  of  the 
argonaut  have 
the  faculty  of 
depositi  n  g 

earthy  matter  wherever  it  is  wanted.  This  was  found  out  by  a  lady  who 
devoted  herself  to  the  study  of  the  argonaut.  She  was  determined  to 
begin  at  the  beginning,  and  she  reared  some  little  argonauts  from  the 
time  they  came  out  of  the  egg.  As  they  grew  up,  she  watched  them 
very  narrowly.  She  saw  the  process  of  depositing  the  shell,  and  its 
gradual  growth.  When  the  shell  was  fully  formed,  she  made  an  experi- 
ment. She  broke  a  shell,  and  then  left  it,  to  see  what  would  happen. 
The  next  day  she  went  to  look.     She  found  a  thin  cobweb-like  sub- 


by 
the 

shell  5 


SHELLS    OF   THE    WONDERFUL    NAUTILUS. 


"^1. 


506  WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 

Stance  spread  over  the  edges  of  the  broken  pieces  and  joining  them 
together.  The  next  day  she  looked  again.  The  substance  had 
thickened,  and  the  edges  were  much  firmer.  Day  after  day  the  repair 
went  on.  The  substance  grew  harder  and  thicker,  until  at  length  the 
edges  were  firmly  joined  and  the  shell  mended.  The  lady  had  watched 
the  whole  proceeding,  and  she  declared  that  the  argonaut  applied  its 
vela  to  the  outside  of  the  shell.  And  she  felt  certain  that  the  glutinous 
substance  which  mended  the  shell  came  from  the  vela. 

There  is  a  relation  of  the  argonaut  that  makes  a  shell  with  chambers 
in  it.  This  is  a  shell  which  no  doubt  you  have  seen  many  times,  for 
it  may  be  met  with  in  every  collection  of  shells.  It  is  called  the  pearly 
nautilus.  The  creature  that  lives  in  the  shell  is  so  timid  and  keeps  in 
such  deep  water,  that  it  is  very  rarely  caught  sight  of  Only  once 
has  the  shell  been  taken  with  the  animal  in  it. 

The  shell  of  the  pearly  nautilus  is  as  curious  as  it  is  beautiful.  It 
has  a  number  of  chambers  in  it,  one  after  the  other.  The  last  formed 
is  the  largest ;  and  here  the  creature  lives,  the  empty  rooms  being- 
behind  it.  At  first  there  was  but  one  room  ;  the  creature  lived  in  it. 
But  its  wonderful  membrane  went  on  secreting  shelly  matter,  until  it 
had  formed  another.  When  all  the  chambers  were  finished,  and  as  it 
were  shut  up,  the  nautilus  had  attained  to  its  full  size.  Then  it  lived 
in  the  last  cell  of  all,  having  crept  to  it  through  the  rest.  A  fleshy 
tube  unites  all  these  chambers  together,  from  one  end  of  the  shell  to 
the  other.  This  tube  ends  in  the  body  of  the  animal,  and  increases 
with  its  growth.  Ages  and  ages  ago,  when  the  lily  stars  were  in  their 
beauty,  a  kind  of  nautilus  that  is  now  extinct  lived  in  the  sea.  The 
remains  of  the  shells  are  found  in  a  fossil  state,  and  are  called 
ammonites.     They  show  what  fine  forms  of  life  once  existed. 

THE    CUTTLE-FISH. 

The  mollusks,  or  soft-bodied  animals,  compose  a  very  large  class. 
Creatures  of  different  shapes  and  sizes  belong  to  it.  The  fiercest,  ugliest, 
and  most  dreaded  of  the  whole  tribe  is  the  cuttle-fish.  The  name  of 
the  order  to  which  he  belongs  is  called  Cephalopoda.  The  word  is  taken 
from  two  Greek  words  meaning  "head,"  and  "feet."  And,  as  you  per- 
ceive, his  feet  grow  out  of  his  head.  You  can  call  them  arms,  if  you 
like.  He  can  not  only  creep  on  them  at  the  bottom  of  the  sea,  but  he 
can  seize  his  prey  with  them.  In  some  parts  of  the  world,  the  cuttle- 
fish grow  to  a  monstrous  size,  and  are  frightful  objects. 

Notice  the  deadly  apparatus  in  the  arms  of  the  cuttle-fish.  There  are 
rows  of  suckers  down  each  arm,  as  every  specimen  will  show.  These 
do  not  suck  the  blood  of  the  victim,  as  is  sometimes  stated.  They  are 
so  many  wonderful  machines  to  enable  the  arms  to  cling  closer  to  the 


WONDERS    OF   THE    OCEAN. 


507 


prey  :  so  close  indeed  do  they  cling,  that  no  power  can  force  them 
away.  Each  sucker  is  a  kind  of  cup,  composed  of  a  muscular  mem- 
brane, and  with  a  thick  fleshy  rim.  The  creature  has  the  power  of  ex- 
hausting the  air  within  the  cup.  When  the  arms  have  seized  upon  an 
object,  the  rims  of  all  the  numerous  cups  at  once  adhere  or  stick  to  its 
surface.  The  cuttle-fish  will  rather  have  his  arms  chopped  off  than  quit 
his  hold,  and  no  object  within  his  grasp  can  possibly  escape. 

In  some  kinds  of  cuttle-fish  there  are  two  arms  longer  than  the  rest. 


THE   SINGULAR    CUTTLE-FISH. 

From  the  middle  of  each  sucker  there  is  a  sharp  strong  hook,  which 
can  be  plunged  into  the  slippery  surface  of  the  prey  and  help  to  secure 
it.  The  prey,  thus  seized,  is  hurried  to  the  mouth.  If  it  has  a  shell, 
the  shell  is  soon  crushed  by  a  hard,  horny  beak,  like  that  of  a  parrot, 
and  with  which  it  comes  in  contact.  The  jaws  are  literally  imbedded 
in  muscle,  and  open  and  shut  with  the  utmost  force.  Thus  a  victim, 
once  dragged  to  this  terrible  mouth,  is  very  soon  devoured.  A  number 
of  sharp  horny  hooks  are  placed   on   one  part  of  the  tongue.     These 


608 


WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 


hooks  bend  backwards,  and  so  when  the  cuttle-fish  swallows,  they  help 
to  drag  the  pieces  of  food  down  its  throat.  The  creature  has  two  eyes, 
of  a  remarkably  unpleasant  expression.  In  one  species  the  eyes  are 
placed  on  little  stems  or  stalks  made  of  muscles.  They  can  thus  move 
about,  and  see  all  ways  at  once. 

The  cuttle-fish  cannot  be  admitted  into  the  rank  of  the  vertebrated 
animals — that  is,  animals  with  a  bony  skeleton.  Like  the  polyps  and 
the  star-fishes,  it  secretes  a  hard  substance  within  its  body.  But  these 
secreted  pieces  are  quite  different  from  the  bones  of  animals.  They 
have  no  connection  with  the  body,  and  do  not  possess,  in  themselves, 
the  means  of  growing,  as  our  bones  do.  They  are  mere  dead  shells  or 
pieces  of  stony  substance,  formed  layer  by  layer,  and  laid  on  from 


THE  iMMiiXi;L:  i'uLi.ri;  nsH. 
without.  The  cuttle-fish  is  formed  to  live  in  the  sea,  and  it  breathes  as 
the  fish  does,  through  gills,  or,  as  they  are  called,  branchiae.  These 
gills  are  hidden  in  a  hollow  of  the  body.  This  hollow  or  tube  expands 
and  contracts,  as  our  lungs  do.  It  is  open  to  the  water  by  two  slits  ; 
one  lets  the  water  in,  and  the  other  allows  it  to  flow  out.  Sometimes 
the  cuttle-fish  will  suddenly  and  violently  expel  the  water  in  its  tube. 
This  sudden  movement  will  cause  the  creature  to  shoot  through  the 
water  like  an  arrow.  Sometimes  it  will  even  spring  up  into  the  air,  as 
the  flying-fish  does,  and  reach  out  its  long  arms  for  the  prey. 

The  sea  is  full  of  cuttle-fishes,  as  it  is  of  star-fishes.  They  are  found 
everywhere.  There  is  one  hideous  creature  called  the  poulpe  or  polypus. 
It  leads  a  solitary  life  on  some  rocky  coast.     It  lies  in  a  hole  or  cleft  of 


WONDERS    OF   THE    OCEAN.  509 

the  rock,  its  arms  stretched  out  ready  to  seize  a  victim.  But,  as  a  rule, 
the  cuttle-fish  likes  society.  Except  the  poulpe,  all  the  other  tribes 
wander  in  flocks  or  troops.  They  are  so  greedy  that  they  make  havoc 
among  the  smaller  inhabitants  of  the  sea.  When  they  are  near  the  shore 
they  eat  up  all  the  fish  they  can  find,  so  that  there  are  none  left  for  the 
fishermen  to  catch.  And  they  are  cruel  as  well  as  greedy  ;  like  the  tiger 
on  land,  they  will  kill  for  the  mere  sake  of  killing. 

As  the  cuttle-fish  has  so  many  enemies,  Nature  has  given  it  a  means 
of  defence  besides  its  suckers  and  long  arms.  There  is  a  bag  in  the 
body  full  of  a  black  fluid  like  ink.  If  the  creature  is  alarmed,  it  throws 
out  a  quantity  of  this  ink,  and  makes  the  water  so  black  that  no  one 
can  see  where  it  is.  Under  cover  of  the  black  cloud  it  escapes.  This 
ink  is  called  sepia.  It  is  very  useful  to  artists  in  painting  their  pictures  ; 
and  when  dried,  it  can  be  kept  any  length  of  time  without  spoiling. 
The  ink-bag  taken  from  a  fossil  cuttle-fish  had  ink  in  it  just  as  good  as 
if  it  had  been  fresh.  Cuttle-fishes  multiply  themselves  in  a  wonderful 
manner,  so  there  is  no  fear  of  the  race  being  destroyed.  The  eggs  are 
in  a  great  bunch,  something  like  grapes,  and  are  fastened  to  the  stem 
of  a  sea-weed.  But  if  the  cuttle-fish  liv^es  a  long  way  from  the  shore, 
its  bunches  of  eggs  are  not  fastened  to  anything.  They  float  on  the 
surface  of  the  sea.  The  warmth  of  the  sun  hatches  them.  Then  out 
come  the  little  cuttle-fishes,  and  begin  at  once  to  wander  about  in  troops, 
and  to  lead  a  life  of  plunder,  nor  do  they  need  much  teaching. 

WONDERFUL    INSTINCT    OF   THE    CRAB. 

In  the  mountains  of  some  of  the  West  India  Islands  live  what  are 
called  "  violet  crabs,"  which  hide  themselves  for  a  great  part  of  the  year 
either  in  holes  of  the  rocks  or  in  the  hollows  of  trees.  Scarcely  anything 
is  either  seen  or  heard  of  them.  All  at  once  the  rainy  season  sets  in 
with  great  violence,  and  then  a  commotion  takes  place  among  the  crabs. 
They  are  seized  with  a  wnsh  to  go  to  the  sea-side.  The  mother  crabs 
want  to  lay  their  eggs  on  the  sea-shore. 

So  the  vast  host  of  crabs  set  out  on  a  journey  thither,  and  the  com- 
pact line  sometimes  extends  for  three  miles.  They  literally  cover  the 
roads,  woods  and  gardens  on  the  route,  and  their  noise  may  be  heard  a 
long  distance.  They  travel  by  night,  because  this  is  the  safest  time, 
and  the  strongest  go  first,  as  it  were  to  clear  the  way.  Then  come  the 
mother  crabs,  and  last  of  all,  those  that  are  old  and  feeble.  No  obstruc- 
tions on  the  road,  such  as  fences  or  ditches,  can  stop  them,  and  if  any- 
one meets  them  they  rattle  their  claws  and  try  to  frighten  him  away 
with  a  great  noise.  If  a  door  of  a  house  be  open,  they  are  very  likely 
to  march  in.  Instinct  has  taught  them  the  nearest  way  to  the  sea,  and 
they  never  turn  from  it.    Should  a  poor  crab  get  hurt,  the  others  eat  him 


510  WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 

After  the  army  reaches  the  sea  a  great  deal  of  business  has  to  be  done. 
First  of  all,  the  crabs  take  a  bath  in  the  waves.  Then  the  mother  crabs 
lay  their  eggs.  When  this  is  over,  all  the  crabs  retire  into  holes  and 
snug  corners,  to  cast  off  their  armor.  After  the  wriggling  and  strug- 
gling has  been  gone  through,  the  crabs  come  out  weak  and  faint,  and 
have  to  wait  a  little  time  before  they  can  do  anything  more.  As  soon 
as  they  have  recovered  strength  enough,  and  their  new  armor  has  begun 
to  appear,  they  set  off  home  again.  But  the  journey  back  is  not  quite 
so  pleasant.  The  crabs  are  tired  and  feeble,  and  a  great  many  of  them 
are  caught  and  killed  by  the  way.  Indeed,  but  a  small  remnant  of  the 
host  gets  safe  back.  After  a  time  the  little  crabs  come  out  of  the  shell, 
but  they  are  not  in  the  least  like  their  parents.  The  young  crab  is  the 
most  absurd  looking  creature  in  the  world.  Its  head  is  like  a  helmet 
with  a  long  spike  sticking  out  of  it.  Then  it  has  a  long  beak,  and  a 
pair  of  great  eyes.  At  this  period  of  its  history  it  swims  merrily  about 
in  the  water.  It  takes  some  little  time  before  the  young  crab  grows  to 
be  at  all  like  its  parents.  But,  by  degrees,  it  undergoes  a  series  of 
changes,  and  leaves  off  swimming.  It  is  now,  in  fact,  a  true  crab,  and 
is  ready  to  set  off  to  the  mountains.  Then  the  roads,  far  and  near,  are 
sprinkled  over  with  little  crabs  scrambling  along  as  fast  as  they  can,  and 
led  by  that  wonderful  guide — Instinct.  Dangers  beset  them  on  every 
side,  and  birds  and  animals  alike  feast  upon  them.  But  the  little  army 
still  pushes  bravely  on,  and  at  length  a  remnant  of  it  reaches  the 
mountains  in  safety. 

Fishes  do  not  care  about  their  young  ones.  They  lay  their  eggs  in 
the  water,  and  leave  them  to  hatch,  without  taking  any  trouble.  This 
is  their  usual  habit ;  but  there  are  a  few  exceptions  to  the  common  rule. 
There  is  a  fish  called  the  hassar.  It  lives  in  America,  in  pools  and 
streams.  And  when  its  pool  dries  up,  it  sets  out  to  find  another.  It  has 
the  sac  of  water  under  its  gills,  so  it  can  travel  on  dry  land,  and  bear 
the  heat  of  the  sun.  It  builds  a  nest  for  its  young.  In  the  fine  spring 
weather,  it  begins  to  make  its  little  house  which  is  like  a  hollow  ball, 
flat  at  the  top.  It  is  made  of  the  fibres  of  the  rushes  and  the  water- 
plants.  It  has  a  hole,  through  which  the  fish  can  get  in.  People  who 
wish  to  catch  the  fish  hold  a  basket  to  the  hole,  and  begin  to  beat  the 
nest  with  a  stick.  The  fish  gets  very  angry  at  being  disturbed.  It 
spreads  out  its  hard  fins,  with  their  sharp  points,  and  gives  a  spring 
forward.     Then  it  falls  at  once  into  the  basket,  and  is  caught. 

There  is  an  active  little  fish  that  lives  on  our  own  shores,  and  has 
fins  on  his  back.  He  is  called  the  stickleback,  and  also  the  thornback. 
He  takes  all  the  trouble  from  his  partner,  for  he  makes  the  nest  him- 
self.    He  twists  bits  of  sea-weed  and  corallines  together,  and  glues 


512  WONDERS    OF    THE    WHOLE    WORLD. 

them  with  a  gummy  matter,  that  Nature  has  given  him,  and  that  comes 
out  hke  a  thread.  The  nest  is  in  the  shape  of  a  pear,  and  has  a  way 
out  and  a  way  in.  It  might  be  said  to  have  a  front  door  and  a  back. 
The  fish  takes  a  great  deal  of  pains  with  his  nest,  and  will  alter  it  over 
and  over  again  before  he  gets  it  to  his  mind. 

When  the  eggs  have  been  laid  by  the  mother  fish,  he  keeps  guard 
over  them.  And  when  an  enemy  comes  near,  and  wants  to  devour 
them,  he  darts  out  and  pushes  him  over.  Naturalists  are  very  fond  of 
watching  the  stickleback  taking  care  of  his  young.  They  say  it  re- 
minds them  of  a  hen  and  her  brood.  If  a  young  fish  ventures  too  far 
from  home,  the  stickleback  swims  after  it,  seizes  it  in  his  mouth,  and 
carries  it  back  again. 

It  requires  a  good  deal  of  faith  to  believe  that  barnacles  are  related 
to  crabs,  for  they  are  not  the  least  alike,  and  the  first  is  fixed  like  a 
shell-fish  on  to  pieces  of  timber  floating  about  in  the  sea,  or  to  the 
rocks  washed  by  the  tide;  whilst  the  last  has  legs,  cla\\^s,  eyes,  and 
the  power  of  moving  and  swimming.  Yet  it  is  quite  true  that  the  bar- 
nacle belongs  to  the  same  class  of  animals  that  includes  the  crabs, 
shrimps,  and  lobsters.  If  a  piece  of  rock  is  put  into  a  large  glass  full 
of  sea-water,  many  things  may  be  seen  on  it  which  are  of  a  white  color, 
and  whose  shape  is  something  like  that  of  a  thimble  with  the  top  bat- 
tered in.  If  they  are  examined,  it  becomes  evident  that  the  conical 
outside  is  formed  of  several  little  bits  of  hard  shell  joined  together  very 
carefully,  and  that  the  top  has  a  valve  in  it.  When  the  water  is  quite 
clear  and  quiet,  a  small  flapper  is  poked  out  through  the  valve,  and  is 
moved  to  and  fro  with  a  motion  like  that  of  opening  and  shutting  the 
fingers.  The  flapper  has  some  long  bristles  attached  to  it,  and  they  are 
beautiful,  feathery-looking  things  when  examined  under  a  microscope. 
The  movement  goes  on  for  hours,  and  ceases  upon  the  least  alarm. 
Then  the  flappers  are  withdrawn,  the  valve  closes,  and  the  barnacle — 
for  such  is  the  creature — looks  again  like  a  conical  piece  of  stone.  The 
flappers  are  the  lungs  as  well  as  the  hands  of  the  barnacle,  and  minute 
living  creatures  are  entangled  by  them  and  passed  by  a  current  of  water 
into  the  mouth,  which  is  within  the  shell.  When  the  barnacle  produces 
its  eggs,  it  ejects  them  with  a  stream  of  water,  and  they  float  about  in 
the  sea,  being  very  minute  things.  They  soon  become  hatched,  and 
then  it  is  that  the  reason  becomes  clear  why  barnacles  and  crabs  are 
placed  by  zoologists  in  the  same  class. 

The  young  barnacle  is  just  like  a  shrimp,  with  a  long  body,  many 
long  legs  close  to  its  head,  and  a  large  tail ;  it  has  eyes,  and  swims 
about  most  vigorously.  It  appears  to  be  constantly  in  movement,  and 
although  actively  employed  in  swimming  and  in  crawling,  it  does  not 


WONDERS    OF    THE    OCEAN. 


513 


care  to  seek  for  food.     After  awhile,  the  young  free-swimming  creature 
rests  upon  a  piece  of  rock,  or  wood,  or  even  on  the  back  of  a  fish,  and 


THE    CURIOUS    BARNACLES. 

then  a  wonderful  alteration  takes  place.     The  long  legs  and  feelers  near 
the  head  grasp  the  substance  on  which  the  creature  is  to  live  for  the 
future,  and  a  gummy  substance  comes  from  a  gland  which  has  been 
33 


514  WONDERS    OF    THE   WHOLE    WORLD. 

growing  for  some  time  close  to  the  head.  The  gum  sticks  the  legs  and 
the  feelers  to  the  substance,  the  eyes  diminish  in  size  and  are  no  longer 
seen,  the  tail  and  the  hind  legs  grow  into  the  feathery  flappers  already 
noticed,  and  the  shell  of  many  pieces  encloses  all.  The  barnacle  is  then 
fixed  for  life,  head  downwards,  and  it  loses  its  organs  of  sight  and  re- 
ceives a  mouth  and  stomach,  which  it  had  not  before,  when  in  the  free- 
swimming  state.  All  barnacles  do  not  undergo  this  change,  for  the 
males  of  some  kinds  live  inside  the  conical  house  which  holds  the  fe- 
male, and  never  have  houses  of  their  own,  for  they  remain  in  the  free- 
swimming  form.  All  the  animals  of  the  crab  class  have  to  undergo  a 
change  of  form  before  arriving  at  maturity,  and  the  common  shore  crab, 
when  it  is  first  hatched,  is  a  long  thing  with  a  great  head,  and  legs  fitted 
for  swimming,  and  not  for  crawling.  As  it  grows,  the  body  shortens 
by  curling  the  tail  end  underneath,  and  the  legs  and  claws  grow  out  of 
the  swimming  apparatus.  Some  of  the  barnacles  that  live  on  coral  reefs 
are  very  beautiful,  and  their  shells  are  ornamented  in  imitation  of  the 
flower-like  polypes  of  the  stony  madrepores,  which  they  resemble. 

THE   SPONGE    AN    ANIMAL. 

Among  the  wonders  of  the  sea  there  is  none  more  remarkable  than 
the  common  sponge.  For  a  long  while  it  was  disputed  whether  the 
creature  belonged  to  the  animal  or  vegetable  world,  and  until  quite 
lately  the  opinion  prevailed  that  it  was  a  subject  of  the  vegetable 
kingdom.  Modern  science  has  ascertained  that  sponge  is  beyond  all 
question  an  animal  production — not  the  work  of  any  highly  organized 
animal,  but  still  of  creatures  distinctly  animal.  Sponge,  as  we  com- 
monly see  it,  is  an  intricate  network  of  filaments  of  a  horny  substance, 
and  solid,  having  here  and  there  in  their  midst  caverns  or  cells,  into 
which  the  passages  that  honey  comb  the  sponge  converge.  Imbedded 
in  these  filaments  are  numerous  tiny,  needle-shaped  pieces  of  calcareous 
matter,  with  a  knob  at  one  end  and  a  point  at  the  other. 

Here  is  an  abode  in  which  dwell,  not  crabs  or  fish,  or  anything  of 
their  respective  kinds,  but  an  infinity  of  small  gelatinous  cells,  each 
one  possessing  a  perfectly  independent  existence,  and  able,  when 
detached  from  its  fellows,  to  move  onwards  by  the  extension  of  its 
substance.  There  are  many  different  sorts  of  sponge ;  some  of  them 
inhabit  our  own  coasts,  some  live  in  fresh  water,  but  the  finest  speci- 
mens of  the  best  kinds  of  sponge  are  to  be  found  in  Tropical  waters,  in 
the  Mediterranean,  in  the  Grecian  Archipelago,  in  the  East  and  West 
Indies.  The  most  valued  sorts  are  found  at  some  depth  below  the 
water,  and  must  be  dived  for,  as  they  never  allow  themselves  volun- 
tarily to  appear  above  the  surface.  They  anchor  themselves  to  any 
good  holding-ground  that  comes  in  their  way — a  branch  of  coral,  a 


WONDERS    OF   THE    OCEAN, 


515 


jutting  piece  of  rock,  anything  that  happens  to  be  convenient.  Men- 
tion is  made  of  a  large  sponge  being  found  attached  to  the  back  of  a 
hving  crab.  Sponges  resemble  coral  in  this,  that  when  exposed  to  the 
action  of  a  rough  sea  they  become  larger  and  thicker,  and  grow  more 
rapidly  than  when  in  situations  where  the  conditions  are  gentler — a 
fact  which  is  perhaps  due  to  the  frequently-changing  medium  which 
brings  at  every  turn  and  roll  a  fresh  supply  of  food  for  the  gelatinous 
aggregation  of  cells  which  is  the  true  sponge,  and  a  fresh  supply  of 
material  to  strengthen  the  horny  fibres  and  spicula  which  are  the 
skeleton  and  framework  of  the  sponge  animal,  requiring  nourishment. 


A    FISH    WITH    AN    EXTRAORDINARY   WEAPON. 

Some  sponges  have  a  regular  shape,  as  a  cup,  globe,  or  tree  ;  while 
others  grow,  as  it  were,  anyhow,  covering  the  rock,  shell,  or  whatever 
else  it  may  be  to  which  they  are  attached  with  a  formless  cover  of  soft 
spongy  material.  If  two  sponges  of  different  kinds  meet  in  their  wide 
home  in  the  depths  of  the  sea,  it  is  not  found  that  they  ever  unite,  nor 
do  they  ever  cross  the  breed.  A  mechanical  union  there  may  be,  nay, 
there  often  is  ;  but  so  far  from  any  disposition  to  unite  having  been 
seen,  experience  declares  that  disunion  is  the  invariable  rule.  No 
matter  how  much  the  sponges  may  be  interlaced  and  intertwined,  they 
remain  ever  distinct  and  distinguishable,  preserving  their  own  individ- 
uality as  closely  as  any  of  the  higher  forms  of  life. 


516 


WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 


Certain  sponges  have  the  faculty  of  boring  into  substances  of  which 
the  hardness  would  seem  to  defy  any  but  the  best  mechanical  contriv- 
ances. Shells,  coral,  rock,  are  pierced  with  surprising  facility.  The 
sponges  bore  their  way  into  the  rocky  substance,  maintaining  their 
communication  with  the  water,  and  by  continuous  attacks  disintegrate 
the  mass,  so  furnishing  rubble  and  small  stones  for  the  building  which 
other  handicraftsmen  of  the  ocean  are  perpetually  rearing. 

There  is  a  fish  related  to  the  sharks,  that  has  a  terrible  weapon.  It 
is  called  the  saw-fish.     It  is  furnished  with  a  long  saw,  jagged  at  both 


THE    REMARKABLE   ELECTRIC   FISH. 

edges.  Its  body  is  covered  on  the  upper  surface  with  sharp  spiny, 
knobs,  a  little  like  the  rays.  It  is  as  savage  as  its  relation  the  shark, 
only,  happily,  it  is  not  so  often  met  with.  It  attacks  the  whale,  as  the 
sword-fish  does,  and  will  bury  its  weapon  in  the  huge  animal  up  to  the 
very  roots.  It  will  also  plunge  its  saw  into  the  side  of  a  ship.  You 
would  wonder  how  the  edges  of  the  saw  could  be  forced  through  either 
the  whale  or  the  ship.  But  the  fish  comes  to  the  attack  with  such 
violence  that  nothing  can  resist  the  shock,  or  withstand  its  fury. 

There  is  a  fish  that  has  a  mysterious  and  powerful  weapon  of  defence. 


WONDERS    OF    THE   OCEAN.  517 

It  lives  in  the  Mediterranean  Sea,  and  is  called  the  torpedo.  The 
electrical  eel  can  give  shocks  as  powerful  as  an  electrifying  machine. 
The  torpedo  has  the  same  power  of  giving  a  shock,  but  it  is  much  more 
feeble.  The  torpedo  has  a  clumsy  body,  in  shape  a  little  like  a  musical 
instrument.  The  machine  Nature  has  given  it,  and  that  produces  the 
shock,  is  very  curious.  It  consists  of  a  number  of  tubes,  and  is  not 
unlike  a  piece  of  a  honeycomb.  The  tubes  take  up  the  whole  length 
of  the  body,  between  the  upper  and  under  surface,  and  a  secretion  of 
thick  mucus  is  found  in  them. 

The  torpedo  is  very  much  dreaded  by  its  neighbors  in  the  sea.  It 
feeds  upon  fishes,  and  whatever  it  can  find,  and  uses  its  machine  to  stun 
its  prey.  In  the  warm  seas  of  the  Tropics  very  large  torpedoes  are 
found.  If  you  were  to  touch  one  it  would  give  you  a  curious  sensation. 
You  would  feel  as  you  do  when  you  give  your  elbow  a  blow  against 
some  sharp  corner.  The  torpedo  is  a  sluggish  creature,  and  likes  to 
bury  itself  in  the  sand.  This  is  just  the  time  when  it  is  most  to  be 
dreaded.  If  an  unlucky  person  were  to  disturb  it  by  accident,  it  would 
give  him  one  of  its  most  angry  shocks.  In  these  days  a  great  deal  is 
said  about  electricity,  and  the  doctors  are  trying  to  make  use  of  it  to 
cure  many  complaints.  But  so  long  ago  as  the  days  of  Antony  and 
Cleopatra,  the  torpedo  was  used  as  medicine  too.  Its  shocks  were 
thought  to  cure  pains  in  the  head,  and  various  other  maladies.  And  in 
later  times,  if  a  man  had  the  gout,  he  was  told  to  put  his  foot  on  the 
torpedo,  and  to  keep  it  there,  until  he  felt  a  sensation  of  being  numbed, 
as  high  up  as  his  knee.     Electricity  is  a  very  ancient  remedy. 

RAINBOW    COLORS    OF    THE    SEA. 

There  is  a  very  beautiful  sight  often  visible  at  sea.  Ships  appear  to 
sail  through  an  ocean  of  color.  There  are  streaks  of  red,  and  blue,  and 
crimson.  When  the  vessel  moves,  there  seems  to  be  fire  issuing  from 
her  sides,  and  rolling  along  the  water.  Sometimes  a  troop  of  dolphins 
are  seen  playing  about  among  the  waves.  The  effect  of  the  shower  of 
light  which  falls  from  their  shining  scales,  is  very  beautiful  indeed. 
Each  drop  of  water  sparkles  like  a  gem.  What  occasions  all  this 
glorious  show  of  light  ?  The  presence  of  a  substance  which  is  widely 
spread  through  the  regions  of  nature,  called  phosphorus.  Phosphorus 
is  a  deadly  poison,  and  when  it  is  seen  by  itself,  separated  from  the 
bodies  in  which  it  lives,  it  looks  like  a  little  white  stick  of  a  waxy  nature. 
People  who  sell  it  keep  it  in  water  to  prevent  accident.  When  it  is 
taken  out  of  the  water  it  begins  to  smoke,  and  after  a  time  to  burn. 
The  slightest  friction  makes  it  burst  out  into  a  flame.  Now,  this  burn- 
ing, inflammable  substance  shines,  in  the  dark,  like  fire,  and  it  is  this 
which  makes  the  sea  shine.     But  how  came  it  in  the  sea  ?     Because  it 


518 


WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 


exists  in  the  bodies  of  millions  of  creatures  that  live  in  the  water. 
Some  of  these  creatures  are  so  tiny,  that  you  could  not  see  them  except 
through  a  microscope.  But  when  myriads  of  them  are  together,  they 
have  a  splendid  effect.  They  make  streaks  and  bands  of  light.  Indeed, 
they  seem  as  if  they  had  set  the  waves  on  fire. 

The  waters  of  the  sea,  in  different  places  and  at  different  times,  present 
almost  every  hue  of  the  rainbow.  Apart  from  the  influence  of  the 
condition  of  the  atmosphere  on  the  light  reflected  by  the  ocean,  there 
are  seas  which  always  present  one  shade  of  unusual  color.  Thus  there 
are  the  Yellow  Sea  of  China,  the  Vermilion  Sea  of  California,  the  Red 
Sea,  the  Black  Sea,  and  others.  The  hue  of  the  last  named  is  attributed 
to  the  frequent  storms  which  agitate  its  surface,  and  the  quantit\-  of 


FISHES    THAT    FLY DOLPHINS    IN    PURSUIT. 

earthy  matter  brought  into  its  bosom  by  the  Danube  and  other  rivers. 
But  the  tinge  of  the  Red  and  other  colored  seas  is  due  to  the  presence 
of  myriads  of  animalcules,  while  to  the  same  cause  is  ascribed  the 
•'white  water"  of  the  Pacific  Ocean.  Seamen  generally  admit  one 
conclusion  with  regard  to  color — that  a  green  hue  is  a  general  indication 
of  soundings,  and  indigo-blue  a  token  of  profound  depth. 

One  of  the  surprising  wonders  of  the  ocean  is  a  fish  that  can  fly  and 
give  great  jumps  out  of  the  water.  The  air-bladder  of  the  flying-fish 
is  very  large.  When  it  is  filled  with  air,  it  takes  up  nearly  the  whole 
of  the  body.  Its  fins  are  very  large,  and  almost  like  wings.  They  do 
not  hinder  it  from  swinmiing  ;  when  it  is  in  the  water,  they  are  folded 
close  to  its  body,  and  quite  out  of  the  wa}-.     When  the  fish  takes  its 


WONDERS    OF   THE    OCEAN. 


519 


jumps,  it  not  only  expands  its  fins  but  its  tail.  It  skims  along  a  little 
like  a  swallow.  Indeed,  the  ancient  writers  called  it  hirundo,  which 
means  a  swallow.  It  can  fly  about  fifty  or  sixty  yards  at  a  time,  then 
it  drops  into  the  water,  and  moistens  its  gills.  After  that  it  can  take 
another  spring.  The  fish  gives  these  jumps  to  get  out  of  the  way  of 
its  enemies.  In  the  Tropics,  a  shoal  of  flying-fish  is  often  seen  springing 
out  of  the  water.  Their  silvery  fins,  and  blue  bodies,  glitter  in  the  sun, 
and  look  very  beautiful.  But  this  plan  of  flying  is  not  always  a  safe 
one.  There  are  a  number  of  sea-birds  ready  to  pounce  on  the  fish  when 
it  gets  out  of  water. 
The  gull  and  the  great 
albatross  are  always 
on  the  watch.  For, 
in  Tropical  seas,  the 
birds  abound  in  great 
numbers.  Flying 
fishes  are  often  pur- 
sued by  dolphins.  In 
vain  they  give  their 
flying  leaps  out  of  the- 
water.  Onboard  ship, 
people  amuse  them- 
selves by  watching 
the  flying-fish.  If  a 
light  is  brought,  a 
shoal  of  them  will 
drop  on  deck,  attract- 
ed by  it.  The  sailors 
think  them  a  great 
delicacy,  and  say  they 
are  as  good  to  eat  as 
the  best  mackerel. 

There  is  an  inhabi-  "^"^  world-renowned   sea-serpent. 

tant  of  the  ocean  which  is  of  such  a  size  and  so  closely  resembles  a 
serpent,  that  it  is  not  surprising  it  should  be  a  perpetual  sensation  and 
source  of  wonder  and  fiction.  Its  body  is  as  thick  as  a  man's  arm, 
about  six  feet  long,  and  it  has  a  kind  of  snout.  Its  colors  are  brown 
on  the  upper  part,  and  a  silver-white  beneath.  It  lives  in  the  Med- 
iterranean Sea,  but  has  relatives  in  other  waters.  It  does  not  approach, 
in  any  degree,  to  the  fabled  monster  which  goes  by  the  name  of  the 
Great  Sea-Serpent.  Yet,  in  form,  it  is  as  much  like  a  snake  as  can  be. 
There  is  an  eel  in  the  Mediterranean  Sea  which  the  old  Romans  had  a 


520 


WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 


great  fancy  for.  They  used  to  keep  it  in  fish-ponds  near  the  sea-beach, 
and  prize  it  as  we  do  gold  and  silver  fish ;  only  that  we  do  not  eat  the 
gold  and  silver  fish.  But  the  Romans  used  to  eat  the  murey.  They 
thought  its  flesh  a  great  delicacy.  Julius  Caesar,  at  one  of  his  ban- 
quets, had  six  thousand  mureys  given  away  to  his  friends. 

We  who  live  on  land,  far  away  from  the  deep  recesses  of  the  ocean, 
can  form  little  idea  of  its  hidden  beauty.  Branching  corals,  and  fantas- 
tic shrubs,  and  brilliant  sponges,  are  on  every  side.  Sea-weeds  cling  to 
^^     j^  the    corals,    and 

wreathe  them  with 
gold  and  purple. 
The  rocks  are  gay 
with  flowers  of 
ocean,  that  vie  in 
loveliness  with  the 
lily  and  the  rose. 
Bell-shaped  jelly- 
fishes  float  amid 
the  fairy  scene, 
dressed  in  violet 
and     crimson. 


Ribbon-like  creat- 
ures   glide    about, 


=^^=^        and 


^^f=' 


cross  and  re- 
cross  each  other, 
while  brilliant-col- 
ored ones  flash 
among  the  plants 
and  corals,  as  hum- 
ming-birds do  in 
the  groves  of  the 
Tropics.  When 
night    comes,   the 


TREE-LIKK     ACTINL-^. 

ocean-garden  is  still  more  beautiful.  Millions  of  tiny  creatures  sparkle 
like  stars.  The  larger  animals  look,  many  of  them,  like  bodies  of  fire. 
In  the  day-time,  they  had  no  especial  beauty.  But  now,  they  shine 
with  gold  or  emerald.  The  ancients,  who  were  very  fanciful,  might  well 
people  these  fairy-like  spots  with  sea-nymphs,  and  mermaids,  and 
imaginary  beings!  They  are  not  real  flowers,  but  animals.  They  have 
been  called  plant-animals,  because  they  are  so  like  plants  growing  in 
the  gardens  of  the  sea.  Their  proper  name  is  zoophytes,  and  they 
belong  to  the  large  family  of  polyps.     The  polyps  that  were  makers  of 


WONDERS    OF    THE    OCEAN. 


521 


islands,  lived  each  in  his  cell,  and  did  not  roam  about.  These  ocean- 
flowers  can,  and  do  move,  though  slowly.  They  grow  each  on  •  its 
stalk,  and  are  called  sea-anemones,  a  very  remarkable  production. 

Though  it  is  in  one  of  the  lowest  ranks  of  the  animal  world,  you  will 
find  a  great  deal  about  the  sea-anemone  that  is  very  interesting.  Its 
body  has  six  parts,  or,  if  you  like  to  call  them  so,  members.  First,  there 
is  the  stem,  or  column.  It  rises  like  the  stem  of  a  plant,  or  the  trunk 
of  a  tree.  At  the  top,  it  is  cut  off,  as  it  were,  and  there  is  a  thick 
margin,  or,  as  it  is  sometimes  called,  parapet  or  wall.  Sometimes  this 
wall  is  plain,  and  sometimes  notched,  or  the  outer  row  of  feelers  may 
grow  to  it.  Sometimes  the  column  is  smooth,  or  marked  with  lines  or 
furrows,  or  else  wrinkled  like  the  bark  of  a  tree.     Or  it  may  be  Hcshy, 


SEA-FLOWERS HERMIT    CRAB    CARRYING    ONE    ON    HIS    B.-VCK. 

or  else  like  leather,  or  soft  as  pulp.  There  is  no  end  to  its  varieties.  It 
may  be  covered  with  little  knots  or  warts.  These  warts  are,  in  fact, 
suckers,  by  which  it  can  stick  fast  to  any  substance  it  chooses.  The 
lowest  end  of  the  column  is  the  base.  It  is  a  broad  plate,  forming  a  flat 
surface,  by  which  the  creature  fixes  itself.  The  upper  end  of  the  column 
is  called  the  disk.  It  is  round,  and  sometimes  its  edge  has  a  frill,  or 
number  of  frills,  round  it.  The  feelers  grow  out  of  the  disk.  These  are 
hollow,  and  are  arranged  in  circles,  round  the  edge  of  the  disk.  Each 
feeler  has  a  foot,  and  a  tip.  A  great  deal  of  work  is  done  by  these 
feelers.  The  anemone  has  neither  eyes  nor  ears ;  but  it  has  a  mouth 
and  a  lip.     The  mouth  is  placed  in  the  middle  of  the  disk.     The  thick 


522  WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 

lip  goes  round  it.  From  the  mouth,  there  descends  a  hole  or  cavity 
like  a  sac,  only  gathered  into  folds.  It  is  open  at  the  end  and  forms  the 
stomach.  Indeed,  the  stomach  takes  up  the  whole  space  within  the 
column,  and  is  divided  into  rude  kinds  of  chambers  or  spaces. 

Thus  the  structure  of  the  sea-anemone  is  very  simple.  It  has  a 
column,  a  base,  a  disk,  a  mouth,  a  lip,  a  stomach,  and  a  number  of 
feelers,  yet  there  is  scarcely  the  appearance  of  organization.  It 
likes  to  live  among  the  rocks  in  some  hole  or  crevasse.  Here,  it 
will  unfold  its  crown  of  feelers,  as  a  flower  does  its  petals,  and  wave  to 
and  fro  in  the  water.  Its  crown  will  not  always  be  of  the  same  color 
as  the  stem.  It  will  be  pale  orange,  or  red,  or  white,  or  pink,  or  yellow. 
In  fact,  the  anemone  will  be  variegated,  and  wear  all  these  colors  at 
once.  How  beautiful  it  looks  when  fully  expanded  !  How  brilliant  are 
its  colors !  But  touch  it  ever  so  lightly,  and  all  its  beauty  is  gone.  It 
draws  in  its  feelers,  and  shrinks  down  to  a  button,  or  little  knob  of  jelly. 
It  is  now  ugly  and  disagreeable  to  look  at.  But  let  it  alone,  and  its 
courage  will  begin  to  revive.  It  gradually  rises,  and  its  body  gets  filled 
with  watei.  The  column-like  stem  swells  out,  and  the  frilled  disk  un- 
folds like  a  crown  of  leaves.  It  will  soon  become  as  beautiful  as  ever. 
It  is  not  merely  going  to  display  its  beauty,  in  this  pleasant  nook  it  has 
chosen.  It  is  a  hungry  creature,  and  is  watching  for  its  prey.  A  foolish 
worm  comes  swimming  by.  The  anemone  has  no  eyes  to  see  it ;  but 
its  feelers  have  been  moving  about,  in  the  hope  of  meeting  with  some- 
thing which  is  likely  to  serve  for  a  dinner.  They  quickly  close  round 
the  worm,  and  the  anemone  feasts  like  a  king,  then  seeks  another  meal. 

THE    WONDERFUL    STAR-FISH. 

The  brittle  star-fish,  one  of  the  most  marvelous  creatures  that  floats 
in  the  sea,  has  long  arms  which  are  like  the  tails  of  serpents.  These 
arms  are  so  easy  to  bend  about  in  all  directions  that  the  creature  can 
use  them  as  legs  to  crawl,  or  as  fins  to  support  itself  in  the  water. 
When  its  prey  happens  to  come  near,  the  branches  hook  it,  and  draw 
it,  as  in  a  net,  to  the  mouth.  The  arms  are  long  and  thin,  and  each 
springs  from  the  body  quite  separately  from  its  neighbor. 

The  body  is  made  from  a  number  of  pieces  fitted  close  together,  with 
the  utmost  nicety.  The  mouth  is  surrounded  by  furrows  or  grooves,  in 
which  are  some  tiny  holes.  Through  these  holes,  minute  bodies,  called 
suckers,  can  be  pushed.  They  can  take  hold  of  any  object,  and  keep 
it  in  a  firm  grasp,  or  they  can  help  to  retain  the  food  of  the  animal 
while  it  is  being  digested.  These  star-fishes,  with  their  snake-like  arms, 
are  very  beautiful.  Their  bodies  are  all  kinds  of  tints  and  hues,  and  it 
is  very  seldom  that  two  of  them  are  alike.  But  the  whole  race  of 
brittle  .star-fishes  give  the  naturalist  a  great  deal  of  trouble.     The  creature 


WONDERS    OF   THE   OCEAN. 


523 


has  the  art  of  breaking  itself  up  into  pieces.  The  moment  it  is  touched, 
or  even  approached,  it  begins  to  fling  off,  first  one  arm,  and  then 
another,  till  scarcely  anything  is  left.  Often  the  fisherman  will  bring 
up  a  number  of  these  creatures  in  his  net.  They  will  twist  about  and 
put  themseives  into  such  strange  attitudes,  and  fling  their  arms  about 
them  in  so  reckless  a  manner,  that  he  will  shovel  them  back  into  the 
sea.     The  naturalist,  who  wants  to  save  a  specimen  for  his  collection,  has 


THE    WONDERFUL    OCEAN    STAR-FISH. 

but  one  way  of  proceeding.  He  must  plunge  the  brittle  star-fish  into  a 
vessel  of  cold  fresh  water.  This  will  kill  it  at  once,  before  it  has  time 
to  get  rid  of  any  part  of  its  body,  and  circumvent  his  efforts. 

But  even  then  the  creature  will  often  be  too  quick  for  him.  He  will 
slowly  and  cautiously  approach,  and  lower  his  bucket  of  fresh  water. 
But  before  he  has  time  to  do  more,  the  brittle  star  will  begin  to  break  itself 
up.     First  will  go  one  arm,  and  then  another,  till   the  naturalist  will 


624 


WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 


seize  hold  of  such  parts  as  he  can  get,  and  carry  them  away,  in  despair 
of  obtaining  a  more  perfect  specimen. 

It  is  rather  inappropriate  to  give  the  name  Medusae  to  the  lovely 
fairy-like  creatures  bearing  that  name.  For  Medusa  was  one  of  the 
Gorgons.  She  was  said,  in  the  Greek  mythology,  to  be  a  beautiful 
woman,  with  snakes  growing  round  her  head  instead  of  hair.  And, 
according  to  the  same  old  story,  whoever  looked  at  her  was  turned  into 

stone.  The  Med- 
usae here  spoken 
of  are  a  tribe  of 
creatures  that 
have  all  kinds  of 
shapes,  and  wear 
all  kinds  of  col- 
ors. They  float 
about  in  the  sea, 
and  are  as  trans- 
parent, some- 
times, as  the 
water.  Most  of 
them,  if  not  the 
whole  of  the 
family,  have  the 
power  of  shining 
in  the  dark,  and 
they  help  as 
much  as  any 
other  creatures 
to  make  the  sea 
shine.  When 
they  arc  thrown 
on  shore,  they 
look  like  a  mass 
of  jelly  or  blub- 
ber. As  the  Medusas  have  the  disagreeable  art  of  stinging  very 
sharply,  they  are  often  called  "sea-nettles."  There  is  something  very 
extraordinary  in  the  history  of  these  creatures.  What  animal  life  or 
structure  can  there  be  in  a  creature  so  imperfect  ?  Let  us  look  at  it 
more  closely,  before  we  decide  that  question.  Its  body  has  nearly 
drained  away.  What  is  there  left  ?  A  little  quantity  of  transparent 
matter,  almost  like  cobwebs,  and  full  of  cells.  This  is  the  framework 
or  h'ody  of  the  creature,  the  only  kind  of  skeleton  it  has.     From  the 


THE  FINE-HAIRED    MEDUSA. 


WONDERS    OF    THE    OCEAN.  525 

inside  of  the  top  disk  there  hangs  down  what  might  be  a  stem, 
divided  into  parts,  and  looking  a  httle  like  the  roots  of  a  plant.  The 
stomach,  a  very  hungry  one,  is  placed  in  the  centre  of  this  stem.  The 
edge  of  the  disk  or  umbrella  is  provided  with  long  streamers  of  its  own, 
that  float  about  in  the  water,  and  are  a  little  like  the  snakes  of  the  Gor- 
gon's hair.  The  opening  to  the  stomach  is  the  mouth,  which  is  ready 
to  receive  whatever  comes  in  its  way.  But  the  Medusa  itself  serves  as 
food  to  the  larger  animals  that  live  in  the  sea.  The  great  whale  feeds 
upon  some  species,  for  the  family  is  very  large  indeed,  and  includes  all 
kinds  of  varieties,  in  size,  and  shape,  and  structure. 

One  of  the  globe  fishes  is  called  Pennant's  globe-fish,  because  it  was 
discovered  by  a  famous  traveler  of  the  name  of  Pennant.  It  has  a  crop 
a  little  like  the  crop  of  a  fowl,  which  is  one  of  its  stomachs.     When  the 


THE    STRAXGE    COFFRE-FISH. 

fish  is  alarmed,  or  in  a  passion,  it  pufts  out  this  crop  like  a  balloon. 
Then  it  turns  over  and  floats  on  its  back.  While  it  is  in  this  distended 
state  it  loses  all  power  of  guiding  itself,  and  is  drifted  about  at  the 
mercy  of  the  waves.  But  its  prickles  all  stand  up,  so  that  it  is  really 
fully  armed,  and  dangerous  to  any  creature  that  approaches  it. 

When  it  wants  to  empty  the  air  from  its  crop,  it  lets  it  off  by  degrees 
through  the  mouth  and  gills,  making,  as  it  does  so,  a  rushing  kind  of 
noise.  The  fish  puffs  its  body  out  and  makes  it  a  very  odd  shape,  a 
little  like  a  box  with  a  lid  to  it.  This  is  why  it  is  called  by  the  French 
the  "cofire-fish."  And  it  does  not  swim  with  its  fins,  as  other  fishes 
do.  It  seems  rather  to  balance  itself,  and  move  from  side  to  side,  like 
a  boat  on  the  sea.  The  horny  spines  over  its  eyes  and  upon  its  back 
have  a  touch  of  poison  in  them.     And  in  many  instances  the  flesh  of 


526  V/ONDERS    OF    THE   WHOLE   WORLD. 

the  fish  will  be  poisonous  as  well.  The  natives  of  the  countries  where 
the  globe-fishes  are  found,  are  careful  never  to  eat  them,  and  they  warn 
strangers  of  their  poisonous  nature. 

There  is  a  story  told  of  a  sailor  who  was  resolved  to  try,  at  all  risks, 
and  taste  what  the  flesh  of  the  fish  was  like.  He  thought  it  was  only 
the  curious  shape  of  the  fish  that  made  it  disliked.  But  when  he 
had  had  the  creature  cooked,  and  had  eaten  it,  he  was  taken  ill  and 
died,  paying  the  penalty  of  his  rashness  and  curiosity. 

WONDERFUL    CREATURES   THAT    WEAR    ARMOR. 

Nature  does  her  work  more  skilfully  than  man.  And  she  has  made 
a  whole  race  of  creatures,  who  wear  armor — armor  that  she  has 
herself  fitted  upon  them.  Here  we  find  shields,  and  bucklers,  and 
lances,  and  spears  ;  weapons,  you  perceive,  as  well  as  armor.  It  is  a 
good  thing  these  creatures  are  not  very  large,  or  else  they  would  be 
dreadful  monsters,  and  as  dangerous  as  dreadful.  They  belong  to  a 
class  in  the  animal  world  which  is  called  crustaceae.  The  name  comes 
from  a  Latin  word  which  means  "to  harden."  They  have  rings  round 
their  bodies,  as  the  annelides  have.  But  the  rings  of  these  armed 
creatures  are  made  of  lime,  and  there  is  no  soft  flesh  between  them. 
There  is  either  a  piece  of  tough  skin,  or  else  the  rings  are  close 
together,  and  form  a  compact  case  or  shell. 

One  of  the  most  familiar  of  these  creatures  is  our  friend,  the  lobster. 
He  has  a  soft  body  under  his  hard  shell,  for  we  have  eaten  it,  and 
know  that  it  is  rather  a  dainty  to  all  those  who  have  a  taste  for  it. 
He  has  a  famous  shield  on  his  back,  and  his  legs  are  cased  in  armor, 
like  the  rest  of  his  body,  but  there  are  joints  or  hinges,  so  that  he  can 
move  them  easily.  His  armor  is  neither  too  heavy  or  two  clumsy  for  him. 
It  fits  him  like  a  glove,  and  allows  him  to  go  about  just  as  he  pleases. 
The  lobster's  coat  of  mail  is  possessed  by  the  creature  soon  after  his 
birth  ;  and  here,  rather  a  difficulty  arises.  As  the  lobster  keeps  on  grow- 
ing, in  process  of  time  the  body  of  the  animal  becomes  too  large  for  his 
house.  He  is  bound,  and  pent  in,  on  every  side.  He  leaves  off  eating,  a 
sure  sign  that  something  is  the  matter.  And  he  goes  away  and  hides 
himself  in  some  hole  or  corner.  Here,  he  gets  very  thin,  which  is  just  the 
best  thing  he  can  do.  His  body  shrinks  away  from  the  shell,  and  this 
makes  what  he  is  going  to  do  more  easy.  Now  begins  the  struggle 
The  creature  swells  itself  and  wriggles  about,  till  the  old  shell  splits 
down  the  back  and  makes  an  opening.  Then  the  claws  burst  at  theii 
hinges,  and  the  lobster  draws  them  off,  as  you  would  draw  off  a  pair 
of  boots.  Next,  the  head  throws  off  its  covering  or  helmet,  and  then 
the  body  creeps  quite  out  of  the  shell.  The  old  shell  lies  complete  in 
all  its  parts,  and  you  might  think  the  lobster  was  yet  inside  it.     But 


WONDERS    OF    THE    OCEAN. 


52T 


the  lobster,  with  his  armor  gone,  creeps  into  some  safe  place.  His 
brother  lobsters  would  soon  eat  him  up,  if  they  met  with  him  in  this 
defenceless  state.  So  he  takes  care  to  keep  out  of  their  way.  He  is 
very  tired  and  weak,  and,  now  and  then,  a  lobster  dies  during  the 
struggle  of  getting  rid  of  his  shell.  Nature  will  soon  provide  him 
with  a  new  suit  of  armor.  His  thick  skin  becomes  covered  with  a  kind 
of  glue,  and  forms  a  new  shell.  All  he  has  to  do,  is  to  fill  his  body 
with  water,  and  swell  it  out  as  much  as  he  can.  The  skin  directly 
begins  to  get  hard,  and  the  new  armor  forms  itself  into  the  same  shape 
as  the  old.  The  lobster  recovers  his  appetite,  and  comes  forth  with  new 
strength  and  vigor,  apparently  none  the  worse  for  his  transformation. 


THE   ARMOR-PLATED    LOBSTER. 

There  is  a  family  of  crabs  that  nature  seems  to  have  neglected.  The 
fore  part  of  the  body  is  armed,  and  has  claws,  but  the  hinder  part  has 
no  covering  at  all.  It  ends  in  a  soft  tail.  This  creature  cannot  swim, 
like  the  rest  of  his  tribe ;  and  he  cannot  run.  He  seems  to  know  that 
he  is  helpless,  for  he  looks  about  to  find  some  place  of  shelter.  There 
are  a  great  many  shells  on  the  beach.  He  picks  out  one  that  will  do, 
and  thrusts  his  tail  into  it.  This  serves  him  for  armor.  At  first,  he 
takes  empty  shells ;  but  as  he  grows  older,  he  gets  more  daring.  If 
he  sees  a  shell  to  his  mind,  he  will  not  care  whether  it  is  empty  or  not 
Indeed,  he  wishes  for  food  as  well  as  shelter. 

As  he  prowls  about,  he  will  catch  sight  of  a  snail  that  has  just  put 
out  its  feelers.     It  draws  them  back  in  a  hurry,  the  moment  it  sees  the 


528 


WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 


crab,  and  tries  to  get  into  its  house  again.  But  the  crab  seizes  it  with 
his  sharp  claws,  and  drags  it  out  and  eats  it.  Then  he  marches  into 
the  snail's  house,  and  takes  it  for  his  own.  When  the  crab  outgrows 
his  house,  he  casts  it  aside,  and  sets  about  looking  for  another. 

This  hermit  crab  is  very  fierce  and  rapacious.  But  in  spite  of  his 
fierceness,  he  often  carries  another  creature  on  his  back,  and  cannot  get 
rid  of  it.  The  creature  is  one  of  those  curious  plant-animals,  which 
are  called  zoophytes.     The  crab  does  not  like  to  bear  this  burden,  and 

makes      great 

efforts   to  shake 

it   off     But   the 

y  ■.,^«y.«____^^__^^l^.     ,,  zoophyte      has 

^UPKiPII^H'Pv  «'  ^M'^       ^^^^  itself  firmly 

on  the  shell  of 
the  hermit-crab, 
and  sits  there, 
quiet  and  con- 
tented until  it 
pleases  him  to 
dismount  and 
dismiss  his  steed. 
When  a  polyp 
lives  alone  in  the 
sea,  it  is  a  feeble 
creature.  United 
with  its  fellows, 
it  is  strong 
enough  to  build 
an  island.  Yes, 
and  more  than 
one  island. 
Whole  groups 
of  islands  have 
been    made     by 

the  polyps.  In  the  great  Pacific  Ocean  there  is  a  vast  belt  of  sea,  five 
thousand  miles  long,  and  fifteen  hundred  broad.  This  wide-spreading 
tract  of  ocean  is  studded  with  groups  of  the  most  lovely  islands.  They 
are  called  the  South  Sea  islands.  But  another  name  is  given  them — 
Polynesia — a  word  meaning  "  many  islands."  By  far  the  greater  number 
have  been  built  by  the  polyps.  Norampartof  the  firmest  rock  could  resist 
the  action  of  the  waves.  It  would  in  time  be  swept  away  and 
destroyed.     Yet  age  after  age  the  coral  reef  stands  unhurt.     It  is,  in 


THE   HERMIT    CRAB    WITH    HIS    RIDER. 


WONDERS    OF   THE    OCEAN. 


529 


fact,  a  living  barrier.     Millions  of  little  architects  are  always  at  work, 
and  at  hand  to  repair  an  injury. 

The  coral-making  polyp  has  a  vast  number  of  relations.  And  these 
are  at  work,  in  their  own  way,  in  the  fields  of  ocean.  This  lovely  fan- 
shaped  coral  is  a  marvel  of  its  kind.  The  lower  end  is  fast  to  some 
rock  under  the  water,  and  the  fan  itself  is  stretched  out,  as  though 
some  sea-nymph  were  about  to  use  it.  The  fan  is  but  another  kind  of 
living  house,  or  houses,  where  hundreds  of  polyps  dwell.  Like  a 
beautiful  leaf,  it  waves  gently  in  the  water ;  its  surface  covered  with 
star-like  polyps,  whose  bright  heads  are  gay  with  all  kinds  of  colors. 


THE   MARVELOUS  SEA-FAN. 

When  the  sea-fan  is  alive,  and  is  waving  about  in  the  sea,  a  thick 
jelly  covers  it,  the  polyps  make  their  cells  in  the  jelly.  But  when  it  is 
taken  out  of  the  water,  and  the  jelly  and  the  polyps  are  gone,  only  the 
framework  or  skeleton  is  left.  It  looks  then  like  a  dessicated  leaf,  and 
even  in  what  is  left  it  is  a  most  wonderful  construction. 

There  is  a  dull,  yellow-looking  thing,  like  a  piece  of  sponge,  or  of 
sea-weed,  that  is  often  thrown  on  shore.  You  might  easily  pass  it  by, 
as  though  it  had  no  beauty  or  interest.  But  put  the  ugly  thing  into  a 
vessel  of  sea-water,  and  it  becomes  alive  with  starry-headed  polyps ! 
They  push  their  tiny  heads  through  numbers  of  holes.  In  fact,  the 
34 


530 


WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 


rough,  Ugly  thing  blossoms  all  over  with  these  minute  flowers.  Each 
flower  is  a  separate  animal.  If  you  touch  the  little  heads,  the  polyps 
are  frightened,  and  draw  them  in  at  once.  Then  the  starry  flower.s 
vanish,  and  the  coralline  on  which  they  live  contracts,  and  has  again 
the  dull  leathery  look  it  had  before.  But  when  the  little  polyps  have 
recovered  from  their  fright,  they  push  out  their  heads  and  suck  in  a 
quantity  of  water.     Then  the  coralline  swells  out  to  more  than  double 


A    LIVING    TREE — ALCVONIAN. 

its  size,  and  becomes  quite  soft  and  almost  like  a  sponge.     Its  name  is 
alcyonian,  and  it  waves  its  streamers  as  .ships'  masts  wave  theirs. 

Sometimes  a  ship,  as  she  sails  among  the  islands  of  the  Tropics, 
meets  with  a  terrible  danger ;  the  little  workers  in  the  sea  have  been 
doing  mischief.  They  have  been  making  a  great  stem,  or  trunk,  like  a 
tree.  On  the  top  of  the  stem  are  a  number  of  lumpy  knobs,  and  that 
is  called  a  brain  stone.     The  brain  stones  are  covered  with  thick  flesh 


WONDERS    OF   THE    OCEAN. 


531 


like  jelly,  in  which  the  polyps  live.  The  polyps  are  called  madrepore 
polyps,  and  are  only  met  with  in  the  hot  seas  of  the  Tropics.  They 
work  so  fast,  and  their  stony  houses  are  so  strong,  that  it  is  not  at  all 
pleasant  to  meet  with  them.  They  fill  up  many  a  space  over  which  a 
ship  is  going  to  sail.  On  comes  the  ship,  and  before  the  captain  is 
aware,  it  drives  upon  a  rock. 

The  brain  stone  has  twisted  lines,  or  ridges,  all  over  its  surface.  The 
polyps  have  their  cells  between  these  lines,  and  live  in  them  as  in 
so  many  valleys.  They  throw  out  the  lime  that  makes  their  cells,  in 
thin  plates  almost  like  sheets  of  paper.  These  plates,  or  layers,  are 
arranged  in  a  ray-like  form  round  the  middle  of  the  cell,  so  that  the 
madrepore  head  has 

a   very    curious  <_=?^WMfe!?^.MiM»i  / '    i?  w^^^-'^^ 

effect.  But  it  can 
only  be  seen  when 
the  structure  has 
been  raised  to  the 
surface  of  the  water, 
and  the  polyps  and 
the  flesh-like  jelly 
are  gone.  Then, 
the  chalky  ray-like 
heads  are  clearly 
visible.  While  the 
polyps  are  alive  and 
at  work,  the  madre- 
pore rock  or  tree  is 
gay  with  little  rose- 
colored  heads,  that 
keep  moving  about, 
like  flowers  in  the 
breeze  of  summer.  The  madrepore  polyps  build  all  kinds  of  fantastic 
shapes  in  these  warm  Tropical  seas.  Besides  walls,  and  rocks,  and  trees, 
the  structure  will  resemble  a  sheaf  of  corn,  or  a  leaf,  or  a  flower.  There 
is  no  end  to  the  strange  devices  of  the  little  architects.  The  traveler 
on  board  a  ship,  will  often  gaze  at  these  whimsical  forms  in  wonder  and 
admiration,  as  they  glow,  in  all  their  beauty,  beneath  the  waters. 

The  jaculator  fish  of  Java  is  a  fine  marksman.  A  traveler  saw  sev- 
eral of  these  fishes  in  the  possession  of  a  Javanese  chief.  They  were 
placed  in  a  small  circular  pond,  from  the  centre  of  which  rose  a  pole 
upwards  of  two  feet  in  height.  On  the  top  of  the  pole,  on  sharp-pointed 
pieces  of  wood,  were  placed  insects  of  the  beetle  tribe.     When    the 


THE    CURIOUS   BRAIN    STONE. 


532  WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 

slaves  had  placed  the  beetles,  the  fish  came  out  of  their  holes  and  swam 
round  the  pond.  One  of  them  came  to  the  surface  of  the  water,  resting 
there ;  and  after  steadily  fixing  its  eyes  for  some  time  on  a  beetle,  it 
discharged  from  its  mouth  a  small  quantity  of  water,  with  such  force 
and  precision  of  aim  as  to  strike  it  off  the  twig  into  the  water,  and  in  an 
instant  swallowed  it.  After  this  another  fish  came  and  performed  a 
similar  feat,  and  so  the  sport  continued  until  they  had  secured  all  the 
beetles.  If  a  fish  failed  in  bringing  down  its  prey  at  the  first  shot,  it 
swam  round  the  pond  till  it  came  opposite  the  same  object,  and  fired 
again.  The  fish,  in  a  state  of  nature,  frequents  the  shores  and  sides  of 
the  rivers  in  search  of  food.  When  it  spies  a  fly  on  the  plants  that 
grow  in  shallow  water,  it  swims  to  the  distance  of  five  or  six  feet  from 
them,  and  then,  with  surprising  dexterity,  it  ejects  out  of  its  tubular 
mouth  a  single  drop  of  water. 

A  few  years  ago,  there  was  exhibited  a  wonderful  "talking  fish," 
as  it  was  called,  but  it  was,  in  reality,  a  seal.  It  measured  twelve  feet 
in  length,  and  weighed  eight  hundredweight.  It  could  stand  on  its  tail, 
and  overtopped  its  keeper.  It  was  amphibious,  and  was  a  female  seal. 
It  was  stated  to  have  been  captured  on  the  coast  of  Africa.  It  had  a 
fine  dog-like  head,  and  beautiful  eyes,  sparkling  with  intelligence,  show- 
ing that  what  you  said  to  it  was  understood,  and  seeking  to  communi- 
cate its  reply.  It  was  very  docile,  and  would  dance  when  bidden,  rolling 
itself  with  great  vehemence  in  its  bath.  It  could  say  "Mamma"  and 
"Papa,"  and  could  call  its  keeper  by  his  name — "John."  It  could  use 
its  fins  as  hands  and  arms,  and  clasp  them  together  in  the  attitude  of 
supplication.  At  command,  it  presented  either  the  right  or  left  hand 
to  the  keeper.  It  was  an  Antartic  species,  and  rare  in  museums.  At 
night  it  reposed  on  damp  boards,  and  the  species  can  exist  for  days  out 
of  water ;  yet  this  specimen  did  not  live  long,  and  died  much  regretted. 

WONDERFUL    GRATITUDE    OF    A    FISH. 

When  the  late  Dr.  Warwick  resided  at  Durham,  the  seat  of  the  Earl 
of  Stamford  and  Warrington,  he  was  walking  one  evening  in  the  park, 
and  came  to  a  pond  where  fish  intended  for  the  table  were  temporarily 
kept.  He  took  particular  notice  of  a  fine  pike,  of  about  six  pounds 
weight,  which,  when  it  observed  him,  darted  hastily  away.  In  so  doing 
it  struck  its  head  against  a  tenter-hook  in  a  post  (of  which  there  were 
several  in  the  pond,  placed  to  prevent  poaching),  and  as  it  afterwards 
appeared,  fractured  its  skull  and  turned  the  optic  nerve  on  one  side. 
The  anguish  evinced  by  the  animal  appeared  most  horrible.  It  rushed 
to  the  bottom,  and  boring  its  head  into  the  mud,  whirled  itself  round 
with  such  velocity,  that  it  was  almost  lost  to  sight  for  a  short  interv^al. 
It  then  plunged  about  the  pond,  and  at  length  threw  itself  completely 


WONDERS   OF   THE   OCEAN. 


533 


out  of  the  water  on  to  the  bank.  The  doctor  went  and  examined  it, 
and  found  that  a  very  small  portion  of  the  brain  was  protruding  from 
the  fracture  in  the  skull.  He  carefully  replaced  this,  and  with  a  small 
silver  toothpick,  raised  the  indented  portion  of  the  skull.     The  fish  re- 


mained still  for  a  short  time,  and  he  then  put  it  again  into  the  pond. 
It  appeared  at  first  a  good  deal  relieved,  but  in  a  few  minutes  it  again 
darted  and  plunged  about  until  it  threw  itself  out  of  the  water  a  second 
time.     A  second  time  Dr.  Warwick  did  what  he  could  to  relieve  it,  and 


534 


WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 


again  put  it  into  the  water.  It  continued  for  several  times  to  throw  it- 
self out  of  the  pond,  and  with  the  assistance  of  the  keeper,  the  doctor  at 
length  made  a  kind  of  pillow  for  the  fish,  which  was  then  left  in  the  pond 
to  its  fate.  Upon  making  his  appearance  at  the  pond  on  the  following 
morning,  the  pike  came  towards  him  to  the  edge  of  the  water  and  actu- 
ally laid  its  head  upon  his  foot.  The  doctor  thought  this  most  extra- 
ordinary ;  but  he  examined  the  fish's  skull  and  found  it  going  on  all 
right.     He  then  walked  backwards  and  forwards  along  the  edge  of  the 


THE   WONDERFUL   SEA-PORCUPINE 

pond  for  some  time,  and  the  fish  continued  to  swim  up  and  down,  turn- 
ing whenever  he  turned;  but  being  blind  on  the  wounded  side  of  its 
skull,  it  always  appeared  agitated  when  it  had  that  side  towards  the 
bank,  as  it  could  not  then  see  its  benefactor.  On  the  next  day  he  took 
some  young  friends  down  to  see  the  fish,  which  came  to  him  as  before, 
and  at  length  he  actually  taught  the  pike  to  come  to  him  at  his  whistle 
and  feed  out  of  liis  liands.  With  other  persons  it  continued  as  shy  as 
fish  usually  arc. 


WONDERS    OF    THE    OCEAN.  535 

There  is  a  singular  race  of  fishes  chiefly  inhabiting  tropical  waters. 
They  are  eminently  noticeable  objects,  if  for  nothing  else,  for  the  horns 
they  carry,  and  for  the  numerous  horny  spines  with  which  their  bodies 
are  studded.  There  is  one  family  of  them  which  has  teeth  arranged  in 
the  jaw  like  those  of  human  beings,  but  the  special  class  now  under  no- 
tice has,  in  lieu  of  fangs,  a  horny  covering  to  its  lips  and  palate  ena- 
bling it  with  special  facility  to  grind  the  sea- weeds,  crustaceans  and, 
small  molluscs,  upon  which  it  is  thought  to  feed.  The  color  varies  in 
different  sub-genera.  The  commonest  is  black  on  the  back  and  on  the 
greater  part  of  the  body,  with  yellowish  belly,  the  horny  spines,  both 
distinct  and  associated  as  fins,  being  of  the  latter  hue.  Some  of  the 
fish  have  a  large  air-bladder,  which  they  can  inflate  at  will.  This  power 
of  distension,  forcing  the  fish  into  a  large  globular  form,  furnishes  a 
formidable  means  of  repelling  attack.  The  body  being  so  blown  out, 
the  spines  stand  forth  stiff  and  bayonet-like,  before  which  many  an  en- 
emy quails.  When  distended,  the  fish  floats  belly  upwards,  and  looks 
one  of  the  most  helpless  things  imaginable.  Mr.  Darwin  met  one  on 
the  coast  of  Brazil  which  was  able  to  bite  very  severely,  and  to  throw 
water  from  its  mouth  to  a  considerable  distance.  Darwin  adds  that  it 
emitted  from  the  skin  of  its  belly,  when  handled,  a  most  beautiful  car- 
mine-red secretion,  which  stained  ivory  and  paper  in  so  curious  a 
manner  that  the  tint  is  retained  with  all  its  brightness  to  the  present 
day.  Some  of  these  fishes  are  known  as  sea-porcupines,  and  a  few  are 
taken  occasionally  on  the  south-western  coasts  of  England.  Their  flesh, 
however,  is  worthless.     They  are  valuable  only  as  curiosities. 

A    MARVELOUS    TRAVELING    FISH. 

Some  fishe-s  are  endued  with  the  faculty  of  living  out  of  water — of 
being  literally  fishes  out  of  water — -with  apparently  the  greatest  ease. 
Some  species  bury  themselves  in  the  mud  of  the  ponds  in  which  they 
have  their  local  habitation,  but  which  are  apt,  in  the  dry  season,  to 
become  waterless.  Others  have  been  met  going  in  troops  from  the  dry 
bed  of  their  late  pond  to  some  other  pond  in  the  neighborhood.  The 
most  remarkable  specimen  of  the  kind,  however,  is  the  climbing  perch. 
This  curious  creature  has  a  peculiar  formation  of  the  upper  part  of  its 
head,  by  which,  in  a  number  of  cells,  a  supply  of  water  is  retained  to' 
moisten  the  gills  of  the  fish  when  absent  on  its  travels.  Frequently  it 
quits  its  wonted  pond  for  a  considerable  ramble  inland  ;  and  it  has  been 
found  so  remote  from  water  as  to  induce  the  belief  that  it  must  have 
fallen  from  the  skies  in  a  shower.  The  conjurers  of  India  and  China  ex- 
hibit it,  of  course  attributing  to  their  own  magical  influence  the  natural 
powers  of  the  fish,  thus  practising  an  easy  deception  on  the  credulous. 

The  pearl  is  nothing  more  than  a  pellet,  varying  in  size,  composed  of 


536 


WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 


the  same  shining,  hard,  calcareous  matter,  called  mother-of-pearl,  which 
lines  the  shells  of  many  molluscs,  especially  those  of  the  oyster  and 
mussel  tribes.  They  are  found  sticking  fast  to  the  lining  whence  they 
spring,  or  distinct  in  the  bodies  of  the  animals  which  produce  them, 
lying  loose  in  the  substance  of  the  animal  itself,  commonly  in  its  thickest 
and  most  fleshy  part.  The  cause  of  the  production  of  the  pearl  is,  in 
either  case,  some  irritating  influence  acting  upon  the  oyster  itself.     A 


i 


■■^^^^f 


NATIVES    OF   CEYLON    DIVING   FOR    PEARLS. 

grain  of  sand  has  insinuated  itself  between  the  soft  mantle  of  the  oyster 
and  the  shell,  and  to  get  rid  of  the  annoyance  the  animal  throws  over 
it  some  of  the  calcareous  secretion  which  it  has  power  to  exude,  adding 
thereto  in  proportion  to  the  amount  of  incon\cniencc  it  continues  to 
feel.  The  pearls  found  in  the  body  of  the  oyster  or  mussel  are  supposed 
to  be  abortive  eggs  which  the  creature  has  tried  to  throw  out,  but  which, 
remaining,  have  been  coated  with  additional  nacre  in  order  to  render 
them  less  uncomfortable.     The  Chinese  have  several  ingenious  methods 


WONDERS    OF    THE    OCEAN.  537 

for  making  the  pearl  yielders  produce  artificial  pearls.  They  introduce 
into  the  shell  of  the  creature  small  irritating  objects — beads,  nuclei  of 
mother-of-pearl,  metal  knobs,  any  small  thing,  indeed,  which  the  oyster 
cannot  by  any  means  get  rid  of,  but  finding  it  there  proceeds  to  coat 
over  with  pearl.  In  the  course  of  a  year  the  secretion  has  been  so 
considerable  as  to  sufificiently  remunerate  those  whose  labor  has  been 
expended  upon  it. 

The  deep  water  fishery — that  is  to  say,  the  fishery  in  about  twelve 
fathoms — is  conducted  now  pretty  much  as  it  was  conducted  in 
Columbus'  time.  Men  accustomed  from  their  infancy  to  an  amphibious 
sort  of  life,  and  trained  to  be  expert  divers,  go  down  naked  into  the  sea 
in,  order  to  pick  up  the  marvelous  pearl-breeders  which  lie  at  the  bottom. 
In  Ceylon  the  pearl-fishers  go  out  in  company  in  their  boats.  The 
■divers  take  turn  and  1<urn  about  at  plunging,  and  remain  under  water 
for  a  minute  and  a  half  to  two  minutes.  Some  of  them  are  said  to  be 
able  to  stay  down  as  long  as  five  minutes,  but  this  power  is  exceptional^ 
and  only  to  be  acquired  by  long  practice.  Trained  to  the  work  from 
childhood,  the  divers  go  down,  with  the  greatest  intrepidity,  to  a  depth 
of  from  four  to  ten  fathoms.  To  assist  them  in  their  descent,  they  use 
a  large  stone  of  red  granite,  having  the  smaller  end  bored  so  as  to  admit 
a  rope,  which  is  thrust  through  it.  When  about  to  dive,  the  diver  seizes 
this  rope  with  the  toes  of  his  right  foot,  and  with  the  left  foot  secures  a 
network  bag  for  his  oysters.  He  then  takes  hold  of  another  rope  with 
his  hands  and  is  let  down  from  the  boat  to  his.  diving-ground,  the  stone 
helping  to  sink  him.  When  at  the  bottom,  he  casts  himself  loose  from 
the  stone,  picks  up  his  oysters,  and  when  ready  to  return,  jerks  the 
rope  by  which  he  was  let  down,  and  he  is  then  hauled  up,  leaving  the 
stone  to  be  recovered  by  its  own  rope,  while  he  is  safe  at  the  top. 

THE    GULF    STREAM. 

Among  the  wonders  of  physical  geography,  few  are  more  interesting 
in  their  relation  to  this  country  than  what  is  known  as  the  gulf  stream. 
This  is  an  oceanic  current  of  great  extent,  which  takes  its  rise  in  the 
•Gulf  of  Mexico,  whence  it  derives  its  name.  The  peculiar  formation 
and  position  of  this  gulf  renders  it  a  receptacle  for  the  waters  of  the 
Atlantic,  which  sweep  across  the  north-eastern  coast  of  South  America  ; 
and,  on  arriving  in  the  gulf,  they  become  warmed  to  a  much  higher 
temperature  than  is  anywhere  found  in  the  surrounding  ocean.  The 
•summer  temperature  of  the  waters  in  the  gulf  is  about  eighty-eight 
degrees,  while  in  the  open  Atlantic,  in  the  same  latitude,  it  is  only  sev- 
enty-eight degrees. 

Thus  warmed,  the  waters  pass  out  of  the  gulf  northward,  in  a  deep 
and  strong  current,  through  the  coast  of  Florida  on  the  one  side,  and 


538  WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 

the  islands  of  Cuba  and  the  Bahamas  on  the  other.  The  stream  pro- 
gresses here  with  a  velocity  of  five  miles  an  hour.  It  rolls  like  a 
mighty  river  along  the  shore  of  North  America,  widening  as  it  flows, 
until  it  nears  the  banks  of  Newfoundland,  where  it  is  turned  aside, 
partly  by  the  formation  of  the  coast,  which  here  projects  boldly  out,  and 
partly  by  the  encounter  with  strong  and  adverse  currents  from  the 
North  Atlantic.  At  the  point  where  it  is  turned  aside,  it  stretches  al- 
most across  the  Atlantic  ;  the  current  itself,  according  to  some,  being 
about  two  hundred  miles  in  width,  and  the  warm  waters  of  the  stream 
extending  in  all  more  than  twice  that  distance. 

Crossing  the  Atlantic  eastward,  towards  the  islands  of  the  Azores, 
the  main  stream  gradually  becomes  lost  and  its  current  spent ;  but  a 
portion  of  it  continues  northward  towards  the  British  Islands.  The 
waters  of  the  stream  often  bring  cocoa-nuts  a.n9  other  tropical  fruits  to 
the  shores  of  Europe.  These  warm  waters  mitigate  the  severity  of 
climate  to  a  considerable  degree.  While  places  situated  in  •  the  same 
latitudes,  both  to  the  east  and  to  the  west,  are  frozen  and  comparatively 
uninhabitable  during  a  large  portion  of  the  year,  the  British  Islands,  as 
a  rule,  enjoy  a  temperate  climate ;  and  this  fact  is  attributed  in  a  great 
measure  to  the  beneficent  influence  of  the  warm  waters  brought  down 
by  the  gulf  stream.  The  peculiar  verdure  of  the  Emerald  Isle,  and 
the  mildness  of  the  seasons  in  its  latitude,  when  Labrador  and  the  re- 
gions round  the  Baltic  are  locked  in  ice,  are  the  effects  of  an  oceanic 
current  which  sets  out  more  than  four  thousand  miles  away.  And  but 
for  this,  the  river  Mersey,  which  floats  the  commerce  of  England,  would 
be  frozen  over  during  eight  months  of  the  year,  shut  against  the  world. 

VOLCANOES    UNDER    WATER. 

In  November,  1867,  a  volcano  suddenly  began  to  show  signs  of  ac- 
tivity beneath  the  deep  sea  of  the  Pacific  Ocean,  There  are  some 
islands  nearly  two  thousand  miles  to  the  east  of  Australia  called  the 
Navigator's  Group,  and  there  had  been  no  history  of  an  eruption 
amongst  them,  nor  had  such  an  event  been  handed  down  by  tradition. 
Most  of  the  islands  in  the  Pacific  Ocean  are  old  volcanoes,  or  are  made 
up  of  rocks  cast  forth  from  extinct  burning  mountains.  They  rise  up 
like  peaks  through  the  great  depths  of  the  ocean,  and  the  top,  which 
just  appears  above  the  sea-level,  is  generally  encircled  by  a  growth  of 
the  coral  insect.  Hence  they  are  termed  coral  islands.  These  islands 
every  now  and  then  rise  higher  than  the  sea-level,  owing  to  some  deep 
upheaving  force,  and  then  the  coral  is  lifted  up  above  the  water,  and 
becomes  a  solid  rock.  But  occasionally  the  reverse  of  this  takes  place, 
and  the  islands  begin  to  sink  into  the  sea,  owing  to  a  force  which  causes 
the  base  of  the  submarine  mountain  to  become  depressed.     Sometimes 


iHaiB'ii:., 


i!iitei":i'K':E'iiiiiki.iii„;s.:;ii  «-i3»"^ 

539 


540  WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 

they  disappear.  All  this  shows  that  some  great  disturbing  forces  are  in 
action  at  the  bottom  of  the  sea,  and  just  within  the  earth's  crust,  and 
that  they  are  of  a  volcanic  nature.  For  some  time  before  the  eruption, 
earthquakes  shook  the  surrounding  islands  of  the  Navigator's  Group, 
and  caused  great  alarm,  and  ^\•hen  the  trembling  of  the  earth  was  very 
great,  the  sea  began  to  be  agitated  near  one  of  the  islands,  and  vast 
circles  of  disturbed  water  formed.  Soon  the  water  began  to  be  forced 
upwards,  and  dead  fish  were  seen  floating  about.  After  a  while,  steam 
rushed  forth,  and  jets  of  mud  and  volcanic  sand.  Moreover,  when  the 
steam  began  to  rush  up  out  of  the  water,  the  violence  of  the  general 
agitation  of  the  land  and  of  the  surface  of  the  sea  increased.  When  the 
eruption  was  at  its  height,  vast  columns  of  mud  and  masses  of  stone 
rushed  into  the  air  to  a  height  of  two  thousand  feet,  and  the  fearful 
crash  of  masses  of  rock  hurled  upwards  and  coming  in  collision  with 
others  which  were  falling,  attested  the  great  volume  of  ejected  matter 
which  accumulated  in  the  bed  of  the  ocean,  although  no  trace  of  a  volcano 
could  be  seen  above  the  surface  of  the  sea.  Similar  submarine  volcanic 
action  has  been  observed  in  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  and  crews  of  ships  have 
reported  that  they  have  seen  in  different  places  sulphurous  smoke, 
flame,  jets  of  water  and  steam,  rising  up  from  the  sea,  or  they  have  ob- 
served the  waters  greatly  discolored  and  in  a  state  of  violent  agitation, 
as  if  boiling  in  large  circles,  with  a  tremendous  fire  beneath. 

During  eruptions  of  Mount  Vesuvius,  the  waters  of  the  bay  of  Naples 
are  sometimes  greatly  agitated.  The  usually  placid  bay  is  made  to  boil, 
and  throw  up  great  clouds  of  mist  and  steam.  This  is  a  remarkable 
phenomenon  attending  volcanic  action,  showing  its  great  power. 

A    WONDERFUL    SOUNDING. 

"They  who  go  down  to  the  sea  in  ships"  do  indeed  "see  the  works 
-of  the  Lord,  and  his  wonders  in  the  deep."  Here  is  the  narrative  of  a 
wonder  told  by  one  of  those  who  was  engaged  for  many  years  in  a  pro- 
fessional examination  of  the  wonders  of  the  ocean,  and  whose  daily 
business  it  was  to  pry  into  the  secrets  of  the  great  and  mighty  deep. 

It  seemed  desirable  to  Captain  Denham,  when  in  command  of  the 
Herald  ow  surveying  service,  to  ascertain  for  himself  whether  he  could 
not  find  a  bottom  to  the  bottomless  sea.  He  chose  a  day  when  sea  and 
air  combined  to  produce  such  a  calm  as  is  seldom  seen  in  the  midst  of 
the  Atlantic,  where  he  then  was,  half-way  between  Buenos  Ayres  and 
Tristan  d'Acunha.  Upon  a  great  reel,  rigged  winch-fashion  in  the  bow 
of  the  sounding  boat,  was  the  very  deep  sea  lead  line,  one-tenth  of  an 
inch  in  diameter,  and  weighing,  when  dry,  one  pound  per  hundred 
fathoms.  The  plummet  weighed  nine  pounds,  was  eleven  inches  and  a 
half  long,  and  one-seventh  of  an  inch  broad.     Everything  being  ready, 


WONDERS    OF   THE    OCEAN.  541 

the  plummet  was  let  go.  The  first  hundred  fathoms  of  line  cleared  out 
in  a  minute  and  a  half;  the  second  in  two  minutes  five  seconds ;  and 
the  time  for  every  succeeding  hundred  fathoms  increased  gradually ;  s6 
that,  whereas  the  first  thousand  fathoms  ran  off  in  twenty-seven  min- 
utes fifteen  seconds,  one  hour  forty-nine  minutes  and  fifteen  seconds  was 
the  time  required  to  get  out  the  seventh  thousand.  After  seven  thousand 
seven  hundred  and  six  fathoms,  or  eight  and  three-quarters  English 
miles,  had  run  off,  bottom  was  reached;  the  operation  having  lasted  nine 
hours  twenty-five  minutes.  That  bottom  was  reached  there  could  not 
be  any  doubt,  the  extreme  stillness  of  the  water  enabling  the  sounders 
to  perceive  the  same  indications  of  touch  as  would  have  manifested 
themselves  with  casts  in  much  shallower  water.  Again  and  again  the 
line  ^\•as  tried,  and  stopped  always  at  the  same  mark ;  several  sets  of 
hands  tried  the  line,  and  each  verified  the  report  of  their  predecessors. 
The  beat  of  the  lead  on  the  bottom  was  as  distinctly  felt  as  if  an  electric 
shock  had  been  passed  through  the  line. 

\\"e  marvel  at  the  hen,  which  will  lay  two  hundred  eggs  in  the  year, 
but  the  eggs  of  a  fish  must  be  counted  by  hundreds  of  thousands.  In 
every  mouthful,  the  whale  swallows  thousands  of  the  tiny  mollusk, 
which  forms  its  chief  nourishment.  Frequently  on  the  coast  of  Green- 
land, the  sea  is  colored  for  ten  or  fifteen  miles  in  breadth,  and  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  to  two  hundred  miles  in  length,  with  tiny  medusae.  A 
single  cubic  foot  contains  one  hundred  and  ten  thousand  of  these  ani- 
mals, and  such  a  streak  of  color  must  contain  at  least  sixteen  hundred 
billion  of  them  !  Among  specimens  of  the  animal  and  vegetable  life  at 
the  bottom  of  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  in  soundings  along  the  telegraph 
plateau,  were  found  beings  which  secrete  many  chambered  shells,  each 
the  habitation  of  a  group  of  individuals  so  minute  as  to  require  the 
highest  powers  of  the  microscope  to  perceive  and  describe  them. 

THE   EXTRAORDINARY   SEA-CUCUMBER. 

The  sea-cucumbers  are  extraordinary  looking  creatures,  which  vary 
in  size  from  two  or  three  inches  in  length,  to  more  than  a  yard.  They 
bear  some  resemblance  to  a  cucumber,  being  a  long  worm-like  cylinder 
open  at  one  end.  Their  exterior  is  ruffled  with  little  projections,  which 
are  usually  armed  with  minute  sharp  hooks,  by  which  the  animal  can 
hang  on  to  foreign  bodies  for  a  few  seconds. 

Many  of  the  species  are  able  to  produce  from  their  external  pores  a 
most  irritating  fluid,  which  causes  the  hand  that  touches  them  to  itch 
intolerably.  But  the  creature  posseses  a  most  wonderful  power  ;  when 
from  any  cause  it  fears  death,  it  can  eject  all  its  teeth,  its  stomach,  its 
digestive  apparatus,  and  reduce  itself  to  a  simple  membranous  sac. 
Doctor  Johnston  kept  one  of  these  animals  in  an  aquarium ;  for  some 


542  WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 

reason  or  other  he  neglected  to  feed  it,  and  when  after  some  days  he 
visited  it,  he  found  all  its  external  apparatus  thrown  out  on  the  floor  of 
the  vessel,  and  the  holothuria  itself  was  a  shrunken,  dilapidated  and 
empty  tube.  Yet  it  was  alive,  and  in  three  months  had  reproduced  all 
its  organs  anew.  Another  singular  property  they  possess  is  that  of  be- 
ing able  to  divide  themselves  into  two  parts,  each  part  becoming  a  sep- 
arate creature.  When  this  phenomenon  is  in  progress,  the  middle  of 
the  animal  begins  to  contract,  and  the  extremities  enlarge.  This  goes 
on  until  the  centre  is  but  a  thread  ;  at  last  it  snaps,  and  forms  two  dis- 
tinct creatures,  which  in  time  furnish  themselves  with  all  the  necessary 
■organs,  and  thus  this  curious  creature  is  reproduced  and  multiplied. 

WATERSPOUTS    AND    THEIR    FREAKS    AND    DEVASTATIONS. 

Waterspouts  are  among  those  curious  phenomena  of  nature  which 
have  long  been  the  subject  of  discussion  with  scientific  observers,  with- 
out any  definite  conclusion  being  arrived  at  as  to  their  origin.  Appear- 
ing in  all  countries  of  the  world,  they  have  attracted  much  attention  and 
speculation,  but  no  theory  yet  started  to  account  for  them  has  met  gen- 
•eral  acceptance.  Some  have  ascribed  them  to  whirlwinds,  others  to 
■electrical  origin,  and  others,  again,  to  a  combination  of  both  these 
causes.  They  are  usually  seen  at  sea  in  windy  and  cloudy  weather,  but 
occasionally  appear  in  inland  districts.  In  the  latter  case,  however, 
there  is  generally  water  in  the  locality  in  the  form  of  lakes  and  rivers. 

Waterspouts  at  sea  are  usually  formed  in  the  following  manner : — A 
dense  cloud  is  seen  to  project  from  its  centre  a  body  of  vapor,  in  form 
something  like  a  sugar-loaf,  with  the  apex  pointing  downward.  This 
cone  is  agitated  by  the  wind  until  it  sometimes  assumes  a  spiral  form,  and 
it  gradually  dips  more  and  more  toward  the  sea.  As  it  approaches  the 
water,  a  similar  cone  is  seen  to  form  upon  the  surface  of  the  latter,  with 
the  point  directed  upwards,  and  both  the  clouds  above  and  the  waters 
below  are  evidently  violently  agitated  by  the  influence  at  work  to  pro- 
duce the  phenomenon.  Suddenly  the  descending  and  the  ascending 
cones  of  water  or  vapor  meet  in  mid-air,  and  form  one  united  pillar, 
which  traverses  the  sea  with  great  velocity.  The  junction  of  the  two 
cones  is  generally  accompanied  by  an  electrical  flash. 

After  continuing  in  this  form  a  short  time,  the  waterspout  bursts,  in 
some  cases  with  terrific  violence,  and  to  the  destruction  of  anything  in 
the  vicinity.  Many  a  ship  has  been  overwhelmed  in  this  manner,  and 
sunk  in  a  moment,  with  all  on  board.  In  1855,  five  vessels  were  thus 
sunk  by  a  waterspout  in  the  harbor  of  Tunis. 

The  number  of  pirates  who  infested  the  Spanish  Main  in  the  early 
part  of  last  century  was  so  large  that  it  can  hardly  appear  wonderful 
that  two  women  should  be  found  among  them,  of  the  same  lawless  and 


WONDERS    OF    THE    OCEAN. 


543 


daring  character.  Yet  the  story  of  the  two  female  pirates — Mary- 
Read,  and  Anne  Bonny,  is  sufficiently  remarkable  to  claim  a  place  in 
our  pages,  and  especially  as  we  are  able  to  give  portraits  of  them, 
copied  from  an  engraving  published  at  the  time  they  lived. 

Mary  Read  was  born  in  England.  Her  mother,  who  was  married 
to  a  sailor,  gave  birth  to  a  son  soon  after  her  husband  had  departed  on 
a  voyage,  from  which  he  never  returned.  When  the  child  was  about 
a  year  old,  his  mother  left  her  husband's  relations,  and  went  to  reside 
for  a  time  with  her  own  friends.  The  boy  soon  afterwards  died,  but 
his  mother  finding  herself  in  need  of  assistance,  took  a  little  girl,  the 


THE   NOTORIOUS    FEMALE    PIRATES.       (fROM    AN    OLD    PRINT.) 

heroine  of  our  story,  dressed  her  up  in  boy's  clothes,  and  passed  her 
off  on  her  husband's  mother  as  her  son.  The  deception  was  successful, 
and  the  widow  was  assisted  with  a  weekly  allowance,  to  ensure  the 
continuance  of  which  it  was  necessary  that  the  girl,  whose  name  was 
Mary,  should  pass  for  a  boy  so  long  as  the  old  woman  lived. 

Mary  was  thirteen  years  of  age  when  the  old  woman  died,  and  being 
accustomed  to  *her  attire,  she  was  not  disposed  to  change  it  for  the 
apparel  proper  to  her  sex.  She  first  took  a  situation  as  foot-boy  to 
wait  on  a  French  lady,  then  entered  herself  on  board  a  man-of-war ; 
after  quitting  which,  she  went  to  Flanders  and  carried  arms  in  a  regi- 


544  WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 

ment  of  foot  as  a  cadet.  Failing  to  get  a  commission,  she  changed  to 
the  cavahy,  and  displayed  such  courage  as  to  win  the  esteem  of  her 
officers.  Her  promising  career,  however,  was  now  cut  short  by  a 
circumstance  which  has  often  changed  the  fate  of  men  and  kingdoms 
— she  fell  in  love  with  her  comrade,  and  having  made  him  acquainted 
with  the  secret  of  her  life,  they  pledged  troth,  and  when  the  campaign 
was  over,  were  publicly  married.  Her  husband,  however,  lived  only 
a  short  time,  and  on  his  death,  finding  herself  penniless,  she  resolved 
to  resume  her  old  manner  of  life ;  so  putting  on  man's  apparel,  she 
went  to  Holland  and  joined  a  regiment  of  foot.  But  she  was  impatient 
of  promotion,  and  finding  herself  one  day  near  the  coast,  she  seized 
the  opportunity  of  embarking  in  a  ship  bound  for  the  West  Indies.  It 
happened  that  this  ship  was  taken  by  English  pirates,  who  kept  Mary 
amongst  them,  but  soon  afterwards  took  advantage  of  a  Royal 
proclamation  to  surrender  themsclves.and  live  quietly  ashore.  This  they 
did  so  long  as  money  was  plentiful ;  but  after  awhile,  hearing  that  Captain 
Woods  Rogers,  governor  of  the  island  of  Providence,  was  fitting  out 
privateers  to  cruise  against  the  Spaniards,  Mary,  with  several  of  her 
comrades,  embarked  for  that  island,  resolved  to  make  a  fortune  one 
way  or  other. 

We  now  come  to  the  most  extraordinary  part  of  Mary's  story. 
Some  of  the  privateer  crews,  who  had  been  pardoned  for  piracy,  rose 
against  their  commanders  almost  as  soon  as  they  had  sailed  from  port, 
and  took  to  their  old  trade.  In  this  number  was  Mary  Read,  though 
she  afterwards  declared  that  she  had  always  abhorred  the  life  of  a 
pirate,  and  had  resolved  to  quit  it  whenever  the  opportunity  should 
offer.  If  she  really  felt  this  repugnance,  it  was  not  for  want  of  courage, 
as  no  man  in  the  crew  with  which  she  sailed  was  ever  more  ready  to 
seize  the  boarding-pike,  or  undertake  any  hazardous  adventure. 

Anne  Bonny  was  born  in  the  County  Cork,  where  her  father  was  an 
attorney.  He  deserted  his  home,  and  emigrated  to  Carolina,  taking 
Anne  with  him.  Here  she  incurred  his  displeasure  by  marrying 
against  his  will  ;  and  being  turned  out  of  doors,  found  her  way  to  the 
island  of  Providence,  where  she  made  the  acquaintance  of  a  pirate 
captain  named  Rackam.  On  board  his  ship  she  fell  in  with  Mary 
Read,  who  soon  found  it  necessary  to  reveal  to  her  the  secret  of  her 
hfe.  It  was  natural,  after  this,  that  the  two  women  should  be  often 
together,  and  this  intimacy  excited  the  jealousy  of  Captain  Rackam, 
who  was  so  violent  that  he  would  have  killed  Mary  if  her  secret  had 
not  been  discovered  to  him  also.  Then  they  continued  their  cruise  in 
harmony,  and  captured  a  great  number  of  ships  belonging  to  Jamaica, 
and  other  parts  of  the  West  Indies,  bound  to  and  from  England. 


WONDERS    OF   THE   OCEAN.  545 

Between  this  period  and  the  capture  of  the  pirate  ship,  an  incident 
occurred  which  shows  in  a  striking  manner  the  courage  and  devotion 
of  which  Mary  Read  was  capable.  Among  the  captives  taken  by  the 
pirate  captain  was  a  gentleman  of  such  attractive  manners  that  Mary 
could  not  help  falling  in  love  with  him.  It  happened  that  he  had  a 
quarrel  with  one  of  the  crew,  when  the  ship  was  lying  at  anchor,  and 
a  time  was  appointed  for  the  two  men  to  go  ashore  and  fight  it  out. 
Mary  would  not  on  any  account  have  seen  the  man  she  loved  shrink 
from  danger,  yet  she  could  hardly  doubt  that  his  chance  against  her 
shipmate  would  be  very  slight.  She  accordingly  made  an  occasion  for 
quarreling  with  the  pirate,  some  two  hours  before  the  time  appointed 
for  his  duel,  and  fighting  him  with  sword  and  pistol  left  him  dead. 

When  the  pirate  ship  was  attacked  by  one  of  His  Majesty's  ships, 
and  came  to  close  quarters,  only  one  besides  Mary  Read  and  Anne 
Bonny  kept  the  deck.  So  gallant  was  Mary,  that  she  called  down  to 
Rackam  and  his  crew,  when  they  fled  to  the  hold,  to  come  up  and  fight 
like  men;  and  finding  no  response, she  fired  down  amongst  them,  killing 
one  and  wounding  others.  On  being  asked  by  one  of  Rackam's 
prisoners  what  pleasure  she  could  have  in  being  concerned  in  such 
enterprises,  when  her  life  was  continually  in  danger  by  fire  or  sword, 
and  not  only  so,  but  she  must  be  sure  of  dying  an  ignominious  death 
if  she  should  be  taken  alive,  she  answered  that  as  to  hancfing-,  she 
thought  it  no  great  hardship  ;  for  were  it  not  for  that,  every  cowardly 
fellow  would  turn  pirate,  and  so  infest  the  seas  that  men  of  courage 
must  starve.  Anne  Bonny  also  showed  her  courage  to  the  last.  The 
pirate  captain  having  been  admitted  to  see  her,  by  special  favor,  on  the 
■day  he  was  to  be  executed,  she  told  him  contemptuously  that  "if  he 
had  fought  like  a  man  he  need  not  have  been  hanged  like  a  dog." 

About  their  ultimate  fate  there  is  great  uncertainty.  They  were  both 
condemned  to  be  hung,  but  Mary  Read  died  in  prison,  and  Anne  Bonny, 
having  been  respited  from  time  to  time,  also  escaped  execution  ;  but 
what  punishment  she  received,  and  what  became  of  her  afterwards,  is 
not  on  record.  In  taking  leave  of  them,  one  can  but  wonder  and 
lament  that  qualities  so  admirable  in  all,  but  more  particularly  in  a 
woman,  as  courage  and  endurance,  should  be  capable  of  the  perversion 
which  this  story  illustrates,  among  the  many  wonderful  things  pertain- 
ing to  the  ocean  and  the  life  of  its  navigators. 
35 


CHAPTER  XVI. 


SUBTERRANEAN   WONDERS. 

The  Inside  World — The  Earth  a  Mass  of  Fluid  Crusted  Over — Marvelous  Caves— Bone 
Relics — The  Famous  Mammoth  Cave — Mysterious  Caverns — The  Splendid  Star- 
Chamber — A  Cave  with  Human  Bones — The  Celebrated  Luray — A  Strange  Bridal 
Chamber — Various  Compartments — Astounding  Limestone  Formations — Exquisite 
^ir-v/T^  C\  Flowers  in  Stone — Fingal's  Cave — Wonderful  Coal-Beds — A  Man  Fifty 
O  0  <m    ^—/C      Years  in  a  Swedish  Mine — Water  Under  Ground — Artesian  Wells. 

HERE  is  abundant  scope  for  speculative  philosophers  in 
the  matter  of  the  condition  of  the  interior  of  the  globe, 
and  there  are  a  few  facts  which  will  assist  any  one 
in  the  investigation  and  in  the  effort  of  obtaining  a 
correct  notion  on  the  subject.  The  crust  of  the  earth, 
as  far  as  is  known  to  geologists,  consists  of  the  oceans 
and  continents,  with  their  seas  and  islands.  The  highest 
mountain  may  perhaps  be  nearly  thirty  thousand  feet, 
but  it  is  not  larger  than  a  grain  of  sand  on  a  globe  three 
feet  across,  and  the  deepest  sea  would  be  a  very  slight  depression  on  the 
outside.  If  all  the  mountains  and  hills  were  levelled,  and  the  whole  of 
the  land  made  flat,  it  would  be  one  thousand  feet  above  the  level  of  the 
sea.  But  if  all  the  deep  oceans,  shallow  seas,  and  lakes  were  upon  a 
level  bottom,  the  water  of  the  earth  would  just  be  fifteen  times  deeper 
than  the  land  is  high.  There  would  be  one  thousand  feet  of  dry  land^ 
and  fifteen  thousand  feet  deep  of  water. 

When  a  thermometer  is  taken  down  very  deep  mines,  and  the  tem- 
perature or  heat  of  the  top  is  noticed  first  of  all,  it  will  be  found  that  as 
a  rule  the  heat  increases  one  degree  for  every  fifty  feet  of  depth.  The 
deep  wells  of  Grenelle,  near  Paris,  which  reach  down  eighteen  hundred 
feet,  are  much  hotter  at  the  bottom  than  at  the  surface.  Their  heat  in- 
creases one  degree  in  every  sixty  feet  of  depth.  If  the  heat  went  on 
increasing  at  this  rate,  water  would  boil  at  two  miles  deep,  and  at  thirty- 
four  miles  deep  iron  would  melt.  In  many  parts  of  the  world  springs 
come  up  to  the  surface  whose  water  is  boiling ;  and  it  must  be  remem- 
bered that  the  great  agent  in  all  volcanic  eruptions  is  steam,  and  that 
the  lava  thrown  out  is  nothing  more  than  solid  rock  dissolved  at  a  great 
depth  in  the  earth  by  steam  pent  up  and  intensely  hot.  In  one  erup- 
tion, Mount  Hecla,  in  Iceland,  threw  up  lava  in  such  quantities  that  the 
whole  bulk  of  it  must  have  been  as  large  as  the  highest  mountain  in 
(546) 


SUBTERRANEAN    WONDERS.  547 

the  United  States.  There  must  be,  then,  great  lakes  where  the  steam 
collects  in  the  crust  of  the  earth,  so  low  down  that  the  heat  is  enough 
to  melt  iron,  and  they  must  conmiunicate  with  the  volcanoes. 

From  this  it  is  considered  that  as  the  centre  of  the  earth  is  reached, 
the  part  under  the  crust  cannot  be  fluid,  for  the  pressure  of  such 
thousands  of  miles  of  substances  one  upon  the  other  would  make  every 
fluid  a  solid.  Water,  if  it  reached  down  only  three  hundred  and  sixty- 
two  miles,  would  be  like  quicksilver,  and  steel  would  be  compressed 
into  one  fourth  of  its  bulk  at  the  centre  of  the  globe.  But  the  heat 
down  there  may  counteract  the  effects  of  pressure,  and  the  kernel  of 
the  globe  may  be  a  glowing  fluid  mass.  A  great  philosopher — Mr. 
Hopkins,  of  Cambridge — calculated  that  the  solid  crust  of  the  earth  was 
eight  hundred  to  one  thousand  miles  thick,  and  that  the  rest  was  a 
liquid.     We  live  on  a  shell  which  seethes  and  boils  within. 

W'HAT    WOULD    HAPPEN    IF    THE    EARTH    WERE    TO    CRACK. 

It  is  a  reasonable  supposition  that  the  crust  of  the  earth  is  made  up 
of  mountains,  land,  oceans,  and  flowing  waters,  sediments  of  old  rocks, 
and  vast  lakes  containing  molten  rocks  communicating  with  volcanoes  ; 
that  it  forms  but  a  small  portion  of  the  globe  ;  and  that  all  the  rest  is 
made  up  of  a  mass  consisting  of  a  vast  number  of  metals  and  gas  in- 
tensely hot  and  submitted  to  enormous  pressure.  This  globe,  five  times 
heavier  than  water,  and  so  hot  within,  is  absolutely  covered  with  eternal 
ice  and  snow  at  its  poles,  and  the  only  proofs  most  of  us  have  of  the 
heat  within  are  from  hot  springs  and  volcanic  eruptions. 

There  must  have  been  a  time  when  the  globe,  generally  speaking, 
was  hotter  than  it  is  now,  because  as  it  rolls  along  it  gives  off  some  heat 
to  space  ;  and  if  this  be  true,  at  some  time,  long  ages  since,  the  whole 
world  glowed  with  heat  like  any  of  those  great  meteorites  that  are  often 
seen  far  off,  and  as  the  smaller  shooting  stars  do  that  come  closer  to 
us.  What  may  be  the  future  destiny  of  the  world  is  a  question  pregnant 
with  interest.  There  are  small  bodies  revolving  round  the  sun  that 
seem  once  to  have  formed  a  large  one ;  and  certainly,  if  ever  a  great 
crack  were  to  open  out  in  the  crust  of  the  globe,  and  the  ocean  should 
rush  down,  such  an  evolution  of  steam  and  explosive  gases  would  result 
as  would  break  up  the  world  into  thousands  of  pieces. 

WONDERFUL    CAVES. 

Caves  are  mentioned  very  frequently  in  Holy  Writ,  and  they  were 
used  as  habitations,  or  as  burial-places,  by  the  earliest  Hebrews.  Some 
caves  were  made  or  dug  out  by  those  who  required  them,  but  most  of 
the  caverns  and  grottoes  of  the  limestone  rocks  of  the  Holy  Land  were 
made  by  nature,  just  as  they  have  been  formed  in  other  parts  of  the 
world.     There  are  some  caves  in  the  island  of  Cuba  formed  out  of  a 


548  WONDERS    OF    THE   WHOLE   WORLD. 

white  marble  rock,  and  they  are  being  gradually  filled  up  in  a  most  re- 
markable manner.  The  caves  are  inland,  and  are  situated  at  least  one 
thousand  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea,  in  the  midst  of  dense  forests. 
The  snails,  of  which  there  are  many  kinds  in  Cuba,  retire  to  the  caves  ; 
and  the  water  which  drops  from  the  roof  of  the  caves  on  to  the  floor 
contains  much  carbonate  of  lime,  a  sort  of  chalk.  When  the  water 
dries  up  it  leaves  the  carbonate  of  lime  behind,  and  it  cements  the 
shells  together ;  and  as  this  process  goes  on  year  after  year,  a  layer 
some  feet  thick  soon  forms  on  the  floor.  Often  lumps  of  the  marble 
fall  from  the  roof  and  are  glued  on  to  the  shells.  Multitudes  of  bats 
resort  to  the  caves,  often  die  there,  and  their  bones  are  mixed  up  with 
the  shells  by  means  of  the  carbonate  of  lime.  Besides  this,  at  certain 
seasons  of  the  year,  the  soldier-crabs,  which  live  in  the  shallow  sea- 
water  and  on  the  shore  during  part  of  the  year,  retire  to  the  forests  and 
caves.  Every  soldier-crab  lives  in  a  shell  of  some  dead  whelk  or  top, 
and  when  he  moves  he  carries  his  house  on  his  back.  These  crabs  start 
from  the  shore  in  vast  numbers,  and  they  have  been  traced  through 
eight  or  ten  miles  of  forest,  and  up  to  the  caves  in  the  hills.  There 
many  die  or  desert  their  shells,  pulling  weaker  fellow-soldiers  out  of 
larger  and  more  comfortable  ones.  The  floor,  with  its  moist  cement, 
ever  ready  to  envelop  everything  upon  it  and  to  harden,  soon  begins  to 
rise,  and  after  many  years  the  cave  becomes  filled  with  the  substances 
just  described,  mementoes  of  ages  long  gone  by. 

BONE    RELICS    STOWED    AWAY    UNDER    GROUND. 

What  has  rendered  many  caverns  celebrated  is  the  extraordinary  col- 
lection of  bones  and  teeth  found  in  them,  all  jumbled  together  and 
cemented  by  the  same  kind  of  carbonate  of  lime  noticed  in  the  Cuban 
caves.  Now  the  water  which  dripped  from  the  roof  of  the  cave  must 
have  come  through  the  limestone  rock  either  by  means  of  cracks,  or 
simply  by  filtering.  It  is  found  that  rain-water  often  collects  within  it- 
self the  gas  called  fixed  air,  or  carbonic  acid  gas,  and  wiicn  this  is  the 
case  the  water  can  dissolve  small  quantities  of  limestone.  When  once 
a  crack  occurs  in  a  limestone  rock  opening  on  the  surface,  the  rain  flows 
down,  and  gradually  eats  away  the  rock  ;  when  the  opening  becomes 
large  enough,  a  stream  flows  down  and  finds  its  way  out,  taking  away 
more  of  the  rock,  and  forming  gradually  a  long  system  of  passages, 
large  caverns  and  tunnels.  It  appears  that  most,  if  not  all,  extensive 
limestone  formations  contain  caverns,  some  of  which  are  of  great  ex- 
tent, and  have  long  been  admired  for  the  brilliancy  of  their  stalactites, 
and  the  pillar-like  forms  which  they  present.  The  island  of  Crete  contains 
a  great  cavern,  which  has  long  been  the  wonder  of  travelers ;  and  through- 
out the  whole  island,  there  is  a  world  of  marvelous  caverns. 


SUBTERRANEAN    WONDERS.  549 

Kirkdale  Cavern,  in  which  such  quantities  of  organic  remains  were 
found,  is  situated  in  Yorkshire,  England.  It  was  first  discovered  by 
some  workmen  in  1821,  its  mouth  being  then  nearly  concealed  by  stones 
and  earth.  On  removing  these,  and  exploring  the  interior,  there  was 
found  a  cavern,  two  hundred  and  forty  feet  in  length,  fourteen  feet  high, 
and  from  seven  to  three  feet  wide.  The  rock  being  of  limestone,  its 
roof  was  covered  with  hanging  stalactites,  and  its  floor,  in  many  places, 
incrusted  with  stalagmites.  The  floor  of  the  Kirkdale  cavern  was  cov- 
ered with  a  coat  of  soft  mud  and  loam,  about  a  foot  thick,  and  in  this 
were  found  the  bones  of  various  animals.  These  were  in  a  high  state 
of  preservation  ;  and,  though  broken,  none  appeared  as  though  they 
had  been  worn  by  the  action  of  water  or  sand,  which  would  probably 
have  been  the  case  had  they  been  drifted  there  in  the  naked  state.  The 
genera  of  animals  to  which  the  bones  in  this  cavern  belonged,  amounted 
to  twenty-three  in  number,  viz :  hyena,  tiger,  bear,  wolf,  fox,  weasel, 
o.x,  elephant,  rhinoceros,  hippopotamus,  horse,  deer  (three  species), 
hare,  rabbit,  water-rat,  mouse,  raven,  pigeon,  lark,  duck  and  par- 
tridge. A  great  proportion  of  these  animals  belonged  to  species  now 
supposed  to  be  extinct,  though  the  genera  of  them  all  are  still  existing. 

A    DEN    OF    RAVENOUS    HYENAS. 

On  examination  of  all  the  circumstances,  Doctor  Buckland  came  to 
the  conclusion  that  this  cave  was  once  a  den  of  hyenas,  and  that  the 
multitude  of  bones  thus  discovered  were  carried  into  this  place  by  these 
animals,  and  therefore  that  the  hyena,  an  animal  now  inhabiting  only 
the  hottest  climates,  once  lived  in  England.  •  These  bones  were,  without 
exception,  broken  or  gnawed,  so  that  among  the  vast  numbers  the  cave 
contained,  there  could  hardly  be  found  all  the  pieces  of  a  single  limb, 
much  less  an  entire  skeleton.  The  great  number  of  hyenas  which  had 
died  in  this  cave,  or  whose  skulls  had  been  carried  there,  was  proved  by 
the  great  number  of  canine  teeth  which  it  contained. 

Doctor  Buckland  supposes  that  the  contents  of  these  caverns  are  due 
to  two  causes  :  to  the  deaths  of  the  prowling  animals  which  inhabited 
them,  and  to  the  bones  of  other  animals,  which  these  brought  home  for 
food,  and  this  undoubtedly  is  the  true  theory.  The  elephants  and  other 
large  animals  which  do  not  inhabit  caverns,  and  whose  bones  are  found 
in  them,  must  obviously  have  been  conveyed  there  in  detached  por- 
tions ;  and  since  the  bones  of  hyenas  are  found  with  them,  and  it  is 
known  that  these  animals  carried  their  prey  to  such  secret  places,  it  is 
an  obvious  conclusion  that  such  were  the  means  by  which,  in  a  long 
series  of  years,  such  quantities  of  osseous  fragments  were  accumulated. 

The  Mammoth  Cave  is  the  largest  known  to  exist  in  the  crust  of  the 
globe,  and  is  situated  in  Kentucky.     It  is  entered  from  the  banks  of  the 


550 


WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 


Green  River,  a  tributary  of  the  Ohio,  and  appears  itself  to  have  been 
excavated  by  some  ancient  river  in  some  long  by-gone  age  of  the  world. 
It  consists  of  a  succession  of  caverns  of  various  dimensions,  with  inter- 
vening passages,  and  has  been  penetrated  by  the  curious  explorer  to  a 
distance  of  ten  miles. 

Choosing,  and  accompanied  by,  one  of  the  guides,  you  enter  this  un- 
derground region,  and,  descending  some  sixty  paces,  find  yourself  in  a 
lofty  cavern,  or  rather  gallery,  sixty  feet  wide  and  half  a  mile  long, 
which,  in  consequence  of  the  millions  of  bats  which  cluster  here,  is  called, 
after  the  great  ornithologist,  the  Hall  of  Audubon.     This  gallery  is 


WONDERS    OF    THE    M.\MMOTH    C.WE,    KENTUCKY. 

chiefly  remarkable  for  its  length,  its  level  floor,  and  the  saltpetre  wrought 
out  of  it  in  the  beginning  of  the  present  century.  Arrived  at  the  further 
end  of  it,  you  find  you  have  been  conducted  by  it  into  a  spacious  am- 
phitheatre, not  inaptly  denominated  the  Rotunda,  one  hundred  feet  high 
and  one  hundred  and  seventy-five  feet  wide,  and  from  which  branch  off 
in  various  directions  numerous  corridors.  Entering  by  one  of  these, 
you  are  led  down  a  pretty  rapid  slope  into  a  chamber  three  hundred 
feet  in  circumference,  the  lofty  roof  of  which  is  arched  like  the  nave  of 
a  cathedral,  and  supported,  as  it  were,  by  stalactites  resembling  cathe- 
dral pillars.     This  cavern  bears  the  name  of  the  Gothic  Church,  which, 


SUBTERRANEAN  WONDERS.  551 

that  the  resemblance  might  be  complete,  Nature  has  provided  with 
stalls  and  even  a  pulpit,  whence,  it  is  said,  once  and  again,  Christian 
ministers  have  preached  the  gospel.  The  pillars  and  pulpit  have  been 
formed,  in  the  course  of  long  ages,  by  water  dropping  continually  from, 
or  rather  through  the  roof,  charged  with  particles  of  lime  and  flint, 
which,  as  they  adhere  at  the  top,  depend  like  icicles,  or  harden  at  the 
floor,  rise  into  columns.  Such  formations,  when  suspended  from  the 
roof,  are  called  stalactites,  and  when  rising  from  the  floor,  stalagmites ; 
and  these  often  result  in  producing  forms  strongly  similar  to  those  or- 
ganized by  living  nature  and  elaborated  by  art.  In  this  case  so  com- 
plete is  the  similarity  to  a  gothic  church,  that  eyes,  aided  by  torch- 
light and  imagination,  have  discerned  here  an  altar,  a  font  and  canda- 
labra,  nay,  even  an  organ  flanked  by  draped  figures  in  various  attitudes. 

A    FRIGHTFUL    CAVE    STREWN    WITH    MUMMIES. 

The  avenue  called  the  Gothic — as  being  no  less  rich  in  fantastic 
shapes,  borrowed,  as  it  were,  from  the  gothic  model — by  which  you 
retire  from  the  church,  conducts,  through  a  succession  of  corridors, 
into  what  is  called  the  Chamber  of  Ghosts.  This  compartment  of  the 
■cave  is  so  named  because  of  the  immense  number  of  mummies  found 
in  it  when  it  was  first  explored;  the  only  relics  it  is  thought,  of  a  tribe 
of  Indians  long  since  vanished  from  the  earth. 

Quitting  the  Chamber  of  the  Ghosts,  your  way  becomes  narrow, 
tortuous  and  often  steep.  First,  you  descend  by  a  series  of  ladders, 
then  you  cross  a  chasm  by  a  wooden  bridge  of  the  most  frail,  rickety 
structure,  and  are  soon  involved  in  the  coils  of  a  labyrinth  winding  and 
again  winding  upon  itself.  At  length  the  passage  grows  straighter 
indeed,  but  the  roof  lower  and  lower,  until  not  even  stooping  will 
suffice,  and  you  must  go  down  and  creep  along  on  all  fours.  This 
passage,  called  the  Valley  of  Humility,  terminates  in  a  sort  of  balcony, 
to  which  has  been  given  the  name  of  the  Devil's  Chair.  This  chair  is 
a  recess  cut  out  in  the  side  of  a  perpendicular  rock,  and  provided  with 
a  window,  from  which  you  look  down  into  an  abyss  deemed  by  witty 
people  not  unworthy  of  the  name  they  have  given  it,  the  Bottomless 
Pit.  The  wall  in  which  the  balcony,  or  chair,  has  been  formed  is  one 
of  the  sides  of  this  pit,  and  is  doubtless  the  brow  of  the  precipice  over 
which  once  dashed  the  waters  of  some  extinct  Niagara.  The  abyss 
yawns  gloomy  and  vacant  in  the  lamp-light  both  above  and  below,  only 
darkness  visible  all  round.  Bits  of  paper  twisted  and  dipped  in  oil,  are 
kindled  by  the  guides,  and  thrown  in,  but  they  keep  falling  as  long  as 
they  continue  burning,  and  seem  no  nearer  the  bottom  when  they  go 
out  than  when  they  were  lighted. 

From  the  verge  of  this  horrid  gulf  your  guides  next  conduct  you, 


652  WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 

by  a  succession  of  ups  and  downs,  to  what  they  call  the  Mammoth- 
Dome.  This  is  a  cavern  of  immense  extent,  with  a  cupola,  or  dome- 
hke  roof,  nearly  four  hundred  feet  in  height,  and  the  vault  of  which  is 
lost  in  so  dense  a  darkness  as  to  be  invisible  even  under  the  light  of 
multiplied  torches.  A  stone  of  even  moderate  size,  detached  from  this 
roof,  would,  you  are  told,  quickly  despatch  you,  if  you  happened  to  be 
below  it,  an  announcement  under  which  you  feel  no  inclination  to  tarry 
longer,  and  you  willingly  follow  your  guide  as  he  precedes  you  by  a 
path  which  rises  winding  to  the  summit  of  this  dome.  Arrived  at  its 
lower  margin,  you  look  up,  and  lo,  you  behold  a  vault,  dark  as  night,, 
studded  all  over  with  star-like  fire.  This,  your  guide  tells  you,  is  the 
Star-chamber,  while  you,  as  you  gaze  up,  can  hardly  persuade  yourself 
you  are  not  standing  under  the  firmament  of  night  itself.  Being 
incrusted  all  over  with  stalactites  of  black  gypsum,  this  dome,  when 
illuminated  by  the  lamps  of  the  guides,  sparkles  like  the  midnight  sky. 

A    ROLLING    RIVER    IN    THE    AWFUL    DEPTHS. 

Passing  from  the  Star-chamber,  you  skirt  the  shores  of  a  lake  some 
fifty  feet  long  and  thirty  feet  broad,  which  you  are  gravely  told  is  the 
Dead  Sea ;  and,  by-and-by,  you  stand  arrested  on  the  banks  of  a  river 
you  are  assured  is  the  Styx,  which,  especially  when  you  descry  the 
boat  at  its  margin,  reminding  you  of  Charon,  you  feel  half  disposed  ta 
believe  it  is.  It  rolls  on,  at  a  depth  of  three  hundred  feet  below  the 
earth's  surface  above,  in  a  volume  of  water  forty  feet  deep,  and  about 
five  hundred  feet  onwards  dives  suddenly  out  of  sight,  veiled  in  its 
going,  as  in  its  coming,  like  the  mystery  of  life  itself  After  sailing  on 
this  nethci'  river,  in  which,  by  the  way,  you  are  told  anglers  have  caught 
two  kinds  of  fishes,  one  with  eyes  but  without  vision,  and  another  with 
no  eyes  at  all,  only  marks,  you  disembark  at  length  at  the  further  end 
on  a  bank  of  fine  sand,  where  you  can  clearly  perceive  traces  of  higher 
water-levels.  Onwards  a  little  further  you  alight  upon  a  small  sulphur- 
spring,  and  tnen  by  the  Cleveland  Avenue,  whose  walls  seem  wrought 
all  over  with  a  delicate  fretwork  of  flowers,  you  are  at  length  ushered 
into  what,  from  the  snowy  whiteness  of  its  walls,  obtains  distinction 
among  entities  as  the  Snow  Ball-room.  From  this,  by  paths  now  wide,, 
now  narrow,  now  smooth  and  level,  now  steep  and  rugged,  you  pursue 
your  way,  and  arrive  at  length  at  a  range  of  rocks  lying  athwart  your 
course,  which  you  see  must  have  fallen  detached  from  the  vault  above; 
and  as  you  ascend  and  descend,  you  are  given  to  understand  are 
nothing  less  than  the  Rocky  Mountains.  These  you  cross,  not  merely 
for  the  sake  of  crossing,  but  to  see  the  far-famed  Fairy  Grotto  which 
lies  beyond.  This  grotto,  when  you  enter  and  inspect  it,  you  find  a 
fairy-realm  of  pillars  and  arches  which,  as  the  sonorous  drippings  all 


SUBTERRANEAN    WONDERS.  553) 

round  testify,  are  still  unfinished,  and  not  to  be  seen,  therefore,  or  criti- 
cised by  fools  or  children,  who,  according  to  a  Scotch  proverb,  should 
never  see  things  half  done. 

At  the  further  extremity  of  this  room,  as  it  is  called,  a  group  of 
stalactites  may  be  seen,  which,  in  their  curvings  and  inclinations,  are 
an  exquisite  imitation,  as  in  alabaster,  of  an  Oriental  palm-tree,  from 
the  top  of  which  the  jet  is  still  in  play,  under  whose  droppings  and 
runnings  this  glittering  arabesque  is  being  formed  ;  and  this,  as  you 
behold  it  with  .still  fresh  wonder,  your  guide,  to  your  sorrow  or  not,. 
announces  as  the  close  of  the  entertainment.  Thus  far,  it  seems,  you 
have  penetrated  to  a  depth  of  above  nine  miles  ;  and  your  journey 
hither  and  back,  you  need  not  be  astonished  should  it  occupy  ten. 
hours  ; — ten  hours  which,  whether  marked  with  white  chalk  or  black 
on  the  tablet  of  memory,  are  not  soon  to  be  forgotten,  and  likely  to- 
form  a  period  to  or  from  which  all  other  events  in  your  history  may 
date  themselves. 

The  account  of  the  terrible  experience  of  an  excursion  party  gives 
some  idea  of  the  vast  recesses  of  this  underground  world.  During  the 
evening,  while  the  party  were  traveling  through  the  winding  passages 
beyond  Echo  river,  nine  of  them,  who  were  in  the  rear,  became  separ- 
ated from  the  main  body.  The  only  guide  was  at  the  head  of  the  line,^ 
and  the  absence  of  the  rear  guard  was  not  noticed  for  some  time.  The 
unfortunates  were  lost  for  eight  hours  in  the  intricate  underground 
mazes  of  the  mighty  cavern.  From  one  till  nine  o'clock  at  night  they 
wandered  about  aimlessly  but  constantly  getting  further  away  from  the 
main  track.  To  add  to  the  terror  of  the  situation,  their  lights  went  out, 
leaving  them  to  wander  on  in  the  darkness  and  dangers  of  the  cavern. 
The  wanderers  finally  adopted  the  plan  of  leaving  small  articles  of 
clothing  in  their  path  as  they  walked  along,  and  by  these  means  they 
were  finally  found  by  the  party  of  friends  who  were  sent  in  search  of 
them  sitting  on  the  banks  of  Echo  river,  to  which  they  had  finally 
arrived.  The  ladies  in  the  party  suffered  greatly  from  nervous  excite- 
ment, and  the  excursionists  were  completely  exhausted  b}-  the  time 
they  got  back  to  the  hotel.  It  was  such  an  experience  as  they  would 
not  wish  to  repeat  in  this  underground  world,  although  so  marvelous. 

THE    WONDERFUL    LURAY    AND    ITS    CAVERNS. 

Hidden  in  the  \voods  near  the  top  of  one  of  the  Appalachian  hills, 
about  a  mile  east  of  Luray,  West  Virginia,  an  old  cave  has  always  been 
known  to  exist.  It  was  not  until  1878  that  it  was  completely  explored,, 
and  now  it  is  one  of  the  wonders  of  the  world,  and  thousands  of 
people  visit  it  every  season.  From  the  narrative  of  a  visitor,  a 
description  is  given  of  its  marvelous  caverns,  grottoes,  and  formations^ 


-554  WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 

The  guide  opened  an  inner  door  and  invited  us  to  follow  him  down 
a  staircase  of  masonry,  and,  before  we  supposed  our  day's  adventures 
had  begun,  we  found  ourselves  in  the  large  antechamber  of  the  caverns. 
This  unpremeditated,  unintentional  entrance  is  as  though  you  had  been 
dropped  into  the  midst  of  it,  or  had  waked  from  a  sleep  there,  and  i?> 
most  effectual  in  putting  the  stranger  in  sympathy  with  the  spirit  of 
the  place.  The  darkness  was  only  faintly  illuminated  by  our  few 
candles,  and  I  was  about  to  remonstrate,  when  the  click  and  flash  of 
an  electric  arc,  flooded  the  whole  place  with  light.  Our  few  candles 
were  intended  merely  for  peering  into  dark  corners  and  helping  our 
footsteps — the  general  illumination  is  accomplished  by  dozens  of 
electric  lamps  hung  in  all  parts  of  the  wide-winding  vaults  and 
passages.     Thus  every  important  part  of  the  cave  is  illuminated. 

This  first  chamber  is  about  as  big  as  an  ordinary  barn,  and  from  it 
we  proceed  upon  a  causeway  of  cement  for  a  short  distance  past  the 
Vegetable  Garden,  the  Bear  Scratches,  the  Theatre,  the  Gallery ;  over 
Muddy  Lake  on  a  planking  bridge,  which  is  itself  spanned  by  a  stone 
arch;  through  the  Fish  Market  and  across  the  Elfin  Ramble — a  plateau 
in  which  the  roof  is  generally  within  reach  of  the  hand  ;  and  so  come 
to  Pluto's  Chasm,  which  is  quite  as  dismal  as  its  name  indicates. 

HOW    THE    CAVERNOUS    WONDERS    ARE    FORMED. 

Great  caves  can  only  occur  in  a  limestone  region,  since  they  result 
from  the  chemical  fact  that  carbonates  of  lime  and  magnesia  are  soluble 
in  water  containing  carbonic  acid.  This  acid  abounds  in  atmospheric 
air,  and  is  one  of  the  products  of  the  decomposition  of  animal  and 
vegetable  waters,  so  that  rain-water  which  has  percolated  through  the 
soil  has  usually  been  enriched  with  it  from  both  sources.  Let  this 
chemically  charged  water  find  its  way  into  some  crevice,  and  it  only 
requires  time  and  abundance  of  water  to  dissolve  and  hollow  out 
Pluto's  and  all  the  other  chasms,  halls,  galleries  and  avenues  ;  and 
when  once  this  work  has  well  begun,  other  natural  agencies  contribute 
their  aid  to  enlarge  the  area  and  adorn  its  interior. 

From  the  chasm,  where  there  is  a  Bridge  of  Sighs,  a  Balcony,  a 
Spectre,  and  various  other  names  and  habitations,  we  re-cross  the  Elfin 
.  Ramble,  pass  successively  Titania's  Veil,  Diana's  Bath,  and  come  to  a 
very  satisfactory  Saracen  Tent.  Then  we  ascend  stairways,  pass  the 
Empress  Column,  and  proceed  under  the  Fallen  Column  to  the  spacious 
nave  of  the  Cathedral.  We  pause  to  note  its  lofty  groined  roof  and 
■Gothic  pillars — surely,  in  some  like  scene  to  this,  the  first  architect  of 
that  style  met  his  inspiration ! — its  large,  Michael-Angelesque  Angel's 
Wing,  and  its  Organ.  Then  we  sit  down  and  turn  to  the  prostrate 
stalactite.     It  is  as  big  as  a  .steamboat  boiler,  and  bears  an  enormous 


SUBTERRANEAN    WONDERS.  555 

pagoda  of  stalagmitic  rock  which  has  orowii  there  since  it  fell.  It  thus 
forms  a  good  text  for  a  conversation  as  to  the  age  and  geology  of  the 
cave,  concerning  which  there  may  be  a  great  variety  of  opinion. 

A    GROTESQUE    BRIDAL    CHAMBER. 

Leaving  the  Cathedral,  a  narrow,  jagged  passage,  we  get  an  outlook 
down  into  a  sort  of  devil's  pantheon,  full  of  grotesque  shapes  and 
colossal  caricatures  of  things  animate  and  inanimate,  casting  odd  and 
suggestive  shadows  in  whose  gloom  fancy  may  work  marvels  of 
unworldly  effect,  and  then  are  led  by  a  stairway  to  a  well-curtained 
room  called  the  Bridal  Chamber.  The  back  door  of  the  Bridal 
Chamber  admits  to  Giant's  Hall,  just  beyond  which  is  the  Ball-room — 
both  large  and  lofty  apartments,  constituting  a  separate  portion  of  the 
cave,  parallel  with  the  length  of  Pluto's  Chasm.  In  the  Ball-room  we 
have  worked  back  opposite  the  entrance,  having  followed  a  course 
roughly  outlined  by  the  letter  U. 

I  have  thus  run  hastily  over  the  greater  part  of  the  ground  open  to 
the  public,  in  order  to  give  an  idea  of  its  extent  and  nomenclature.  To 
describe  each  figure  and  room  separately  is  impossible.  But  I  can  give 
some  general  notion  of  the  character  of  the  ornamental  formation  of 
crystalline  rock  which  renders  this  cave  without  a  peer  in  the  world, 
perhaps,  for  the  startling  beauty  and  astonishing  variety  of  its  interior. 
Chief  of  all  the  varieties  of  stalactite,  and  the  one  that  in  lavish  pro- 
fusion is  to  be  seen  everywhere  in  these  caverns,  is  that  which,  by 
growing  on  the  edges  only,  produces  not  a  round,  icicle  form,  but  a 
wide  and  thin  laminated  or  sheet  form,  which  is  best  described  by  its 
semblance  to  heavy  cloth  hanging  in  pointed  folds  and  wrinkles,  as  a 
table-cloth  arranges  itself  about  a  corner.  Where  ledges  and  table-like 
surfaces — of  which  there  are  many  instances  in  the  cave — are  most 
abundant,  there  the  "  drapery"  is  sure  to  form.  In  the  Market  it 
crowds  the  terraced  walls  in  short,  thick,  whitish  fringes,  like  so  many 
fishes  hung  up  by  the  gills.  The  Saracen  Tent  is  formed  by  these 
great,  flat,  sharply  tipped  and  gently  curving  plates,  rich  brown  in  color, 
depending  from  a  square  canopy  so  that  they  reach  the  floor,  save  on 
one  side,  where  you  may  enter  as  through  conveniently  parted  canvas. 
The  Bridal  Chamber  is  curtained  from  curious  gaze  by  their  massive 
and  carelessly  graceful  folds;  the  walls  of  Pluto's  Chasm  are  hung 
with  them  as  in  a  mighty  wardrobe ;  Diana's  Bath  is  concealed  under 
their  protecting  shelter  ;  Titania's  Veil  is  only  a  more  delicate  texture 
of  the  same ;  Cinderella  Leaving  the  Ball  becomes  lost  in  their  folds 
as  she  glides,  lace-white,  to  her  disrobing ;  and  a  Sleeping  Beauty  has 
wrapped  these  abundant  blankets  about  her  motionless  form  ;  while 
the  Ball-room  carries  you  back  to  the  days  of  the  Round  Table,  for  the 


556 


WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 


1  spacious  walls  are  hung 
is  with  tapestries.  There 
IS  also  wealth  of  color. 
The  range  is  small,  to  be 
sure,  but  the  variation 
of  tint  shade  is  infinite 
and  never  out  of  tune. 
Where  the  growth  is 
steady  and  rapid,  the 
rock  is  crystal  white  as 
at  the  various  Frozen 
Cascades,  the  Geyser 
and  many  instances  of 
isolated  stalactites.  But 
when  the  steady  growth 
ceases,  the  carbonic 
moisture  of  the  air  eats 
away  the  glistening  par- 
ticles of  lime,  and  leaves 
behind  a  discolored  resi- 
duum of  clay-dust  and 
iron  oxides.  Thus  it 
happens  that,  from  the 
pearly  surface  of  the  new 
work,  there  runs  a  gentle 
gradation  through  every 
stage  of  yellowish  and 
whitish  brown  to  the  dun 
of  the  long  abandoned 
and  dirty  stalagmite,  the 
leaden  gray  of  the  native 
limestone,  or  the  inky 
shadow  that  lurks  be- 
hind. It  is  thus  that 
the  draped  and  folded 
tapestries  in  the  Ball- 
oom  are  variegated  and 
lesplendent  in  a  thous- 
and hues.  Moreover, 
various  tints  are  often 
iiir,   ^voNDERFUL  coNic.VL  SHOT.  LUKAV.       combined    in    the    same 

object,  particularly  in  the  way  of  stripes  more  or  less  horizontal,  due 


SUBTERRANEAN    WONDERS.  557 

to  the  varying-  amount  of  iron,  silica,  or  other  foreign  matter  which  the 
limewater  contained  from  time  to  time.  The  best  example  of  this,  and, 
indeed,  of  the  "  drapery  formation  "  generally,  is  to  be  found  in  the 
Wet  Blanket,  a  very  singular  formation  and  much  admired. 

In  more  than  the  general  effect  the  ornamental  incrustations  of  this 
cave  mimic  the  vegetable  growths  outside.  Many  of  the  stalactites  are 
embroidered  with  small  excrescences  and  complicated  clusters  of  pro- 
truding and  twisted  points  and  flakes,  much  like  leaves,  buds,  and  twigs. 
To  these  have  been  given  the  scientific  name  of  helictites,  and  the 
grottoes  of  Stebbins'  Avenue  exhibit  them  to  the  best  advantage. 
Then  there  are  the  botryoids — round  and  oblong  tubers  covered  with 
twigs  and  tubercles,  such  as  that  cauliflower-like  group  which  gives  the 
name  to  the  Vegetable  Garden  ;  these  grow  where  there  is  a  continual 
spattering  going  on.  That  rigid  stone  should  lend  itself  to  so  many 
delicate,  graceful,  airy  shapes  and  attitudes,  rivaling  the  flexible  flower 
of  the  organic  world,  fills  the  mind  with  astonishment  and  bewilders 
the  eye.  And  when  you  have  struck  the  thin  and  pendent  curtains,  or 
the  "  pipes  "  of  the  Organ  in  the  Cathedral,  and  have  found  that  each 
has  a  rich,  deep,  musical  reasonance  of  varying  pitch,  then  your 
admiration  is  complete. 

The  cave  has  not  yet  many  human  relics ;  but  we  must  not  forget 
to  follow  down  a  long  stairway  into  a  deep  and  narrow  gulch,  where 
the  dampness  and  gloom  is  little  relieved  by  anything  to  please  the 
eye.  At  the  foot  of  the  staircase  the  guide  drops  his  lantern  close  to 
a  trench-like  depression,  through  which  a  filmy  brooklet  trickles  noise- 
lessly. No  need  of  interrogation — there  is  no  mistaking  that  slender, 
slightly  curved,  brown  object,  lying  there  half  out,  half  embedded  in 
the  rock,  with  its  rounded  and  bi-lobed  head,  nor  its  grooved  and 
broken  companions.  They  are  not  fallen,  small  stalactites ;  they  are 
human  bones.  Fit  for  the  mausoleum  of  emperors,  what  a  vast  vault 
to  become  the  sarcophagus  of  one  poor  frame  ! 

Not  alone  are  the  Mammoth  and  Luray  caves  objects  of  world-wide 
curiosity  and  amazement.  About  eight  miles  distant  from  the  western 
coast  of  Mull,  and  belonging  to  the  Hebrides  group,  is  the  small  and 
uninhabited  island  of  Staffa.  That  it  owes  its  existence  to  volcanic 
agency  is  evident  from  its  composition,  which  is  almost  entirely  lava 
and  basalt,  the  columns  of  the  latter  substance  being  the  principal  form- 
ation of  the  island,  and  from  which  indeed  it  derives  its  name,  Staffa 
being  the  Norse  term  for  staves  or  columns.  Numerous  caverns  are 
to  be  found  in  it,  but  the  most  celebrated  of  all,  and  to  which  the  island 
owes  its  fame,  is  Fingal's  Cave,  or  as  it  is  sometimes  called  in  Gaelic, 
Uamh  an  Binn — the  Cave  of  Music,  from  a  supposed  hole  in  the  rock. 


SUBTERRANEAN    WONDERS.  559' 

through  which  the  water  flows  in  and  out  with  a  harmonious  sound. 
It  hes  on  the  southern  side  of  the  island,  and  it  extends  inwards  about 
two  hundred  and  thirty  feet.  Just  before  the  entrance  on  the  right  or 
eastern  side  especially,  the  columns  are  broken  and  irregular,  as  if  the 
waves  had  worn  away  the  shafts  and  left  the  bases  only;  but  the 
entrance  itself  is  through  an  archway  fifty  feet  wide,  and  about 
seventy  feet  high,  surmounted  by  an  architrave  of  another  thirty  feet,, 
and  which  is  supported  on  each  side  for  the  whole  length  of  the  cave 
by  basaltic  pillars  of  a  greenish-black  hue,  wonderfully  jointed,  and 
of  great  symmetry  and  regularity.  The  pillars  vary  very  much  in  the 
number  of  their  sides,  though  the  greater  part  of  them  have  five  or 
six.  Thereof  is  almost  unbroken  in  its  surface, and  is  composed  here 
and  there  of  smooth  rock,  and  of  the  cornices,  as  it  were,  of  columns 
broken  away — sometimes  singly,  sometimes  in  clusters  or  bunches, 
from  which  hang  stalactites,  white,  crimson  and  yellow.  A  yellowish- 
white  substance  resembling  lime  has  gradually  oozed  out  of  the  joints 
of  the  pillars,  filling  up  the  spaces  between  and  defining  sharply  their 
angles,  the  whole  forming  a  species  of  mosaic  work.  The  pillars  on 
the  west  side  are  about  thirty-six  feet  high,  rising  up  straight  from  the 
water — while  those  of  the  east  are,  by  the  raising  of  their  bases 
eighteen  feet,  reduced  to  half  the  height,  the  elevation  of  the  roof  being 
the  same  on  both  sides.  On  the  eastern  side  is  a  ledge — it  can  hardly 
be  called  a  gallery — by  means  of  which  it  is  possible  to  reach  the 
extremity  of  the  cave,  which  is  there  twenty  feet  wide.  Though  the 
floor  is  the  sea,  and  the  depth  of  water  at  the  mouth  is  eighteen  feet, 
and  at  the  other  end  nine  feet,  it  is  seldom  prudent  and  often  impossible 
to  enter.  The  entrance  being  so  wide,  the  tide  makes  its  way  in  in  an 
almost  unbroken  swell.  Standing,  however,  on  the  ledge  of  rock 
already  mentioned,  it  is  a  sight  exquisitely  beautiful  to  watch  when  the 
sun  is  shining,  the  light  green  waves  rolling  in  with  a  loud  boom,  made 
louder  by  the  echoes,  scattering  the  spray  to  the  roof,  and  washing  the 
half-broken  pillars  on  both  sides,  when  they  reach  the  wall  of  rock  that 
bars  their  further  progress,  and  contrasting  their  color  with  the  dark 
red  or  violet  rocks  that  form  their  bed,  and  the  black  columns  of  the 
walls  varied  here  and  there  by  the  stains  of  lichens  into  bright  green 
and  red,  orange  and  yellow. 

One  of  the  most  note-worthy  of  all  subterranean  wonders  is  the 
sacred  cave  at  Jerusalem.  Palestine  is  a  country  remarkable  for  its 
limestone  formations,  and,  as  a  consequence,  hollow  excavations  abound 
almost  everywhere.  In  ancient  times  these  were  frequently  used  as 
tombs,  and  names  were  given  to  them  as  we  now  give  names  to  ceme- 
teries.    At  Jerusalem  may  be  seen  a  rock  which  tradition  has  always 


560 


WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 


associated  with  the  last  scenes  in  the  Hfe  of  Christ.  Under  cms  rock 
there  is  a  large  cave,  which  may  have  been  used  as  a  tomb  in  earlier 
times,  and  which  is  regarded  with  a  peculiar  veneration  on  account  of 
the  history  connected  with  it.  This  remarkable  rock  and  its  under- 
ground excava- 
tion can  not  be 
far  distant  from 
the  most  sacred 
spot  on  the  face 
of  the  earth. 
Over  the  mass 
of  rock  stands  a 
tomb-like  build- 
ing, erected  in 
some  remote 
I  age  of  the  past. 
That  the  hard, 
stony  substance, 
coal,  should 
hcU^e  anything  in 
^^]  c  ommon  with 
^\  o  o  d ,  except 
that  they  both 
easily  burn, 
seems  at  first 
sight  very  im- 
piobable.  It  is 
n  c  vertheless 
tiue  that  they 
differ  very  little 
except  in  ap- 
pearance ;  that 
their  properties 
are  nearly  the 
same ;  and  that, 
indeed,  coal  was 
originally  form- 
ed of  wood  and 

CAVE    UNDER    THE    i.-VCRED    ROCK    AT    JERUSALEM.  other   Vegetable 

matter.  Wood,  peat,  brown  coal,  jet  and  true  coal,  when  subjected  to 
examination  by  the  chemist,  by  means  of  the  retort,  yield  similar  pro- 
ducts, and  are  found  to  differ  chief! v  in  the  amount  of  oxygen  which 


SUBTERRANEAN    WONDERS.  501 

has  been  given  off  from  the  older  specimens,  and  in  the  smaller  bulk 
into  which  they  have  been  compressed. 

The  substance  of  the  coal,  although  entirely  composed  of  vegetable 
matter,  seldom  contains  fragments  that  can  be  recognized.  These 
abound  in  the  beds  above  and  below  the  coal  itself.  The  coal  always 
rests  on  a  bed  of  fine  mud  changed  into  stone,  and  called  shale.  This 
is  generally  much  lighter  in  color  than  the  other  shales  of  the  series, 
and  it  abounds  m  a  fossil  named  Stigmaria,  from  the  number  of  dots  or 
pits  all  over  the  surface.  This  very  common  fossil  was  long  believed 
to  have  been  a  water-plant,  which,  when  it  died,  sank  down  into  the 
mud,  and  was  there  buried  and  preserved.  It  is  now  know  to  be  the 
roots  of  the  great  trees  whose  remains  have  chiefly  formed  the  coal 
which  rests  on  the  shale,  in  which  these  roots  are  still  embedded.  They 
were  large  fleshy  roots,  and  gave  off  numerous  long  cellular  rootlets 
from  the  pits,  with  which  they  are  completely  covered.  The  soft  struc- 
ture of  the  rootlets  and  their  great  number,  would  enable  the  trees  to 
withdraw  a  large  amount  of  moisture  from  the  soil  in  which  they  grew. 

FORESTS  TURNED  TO  COAL. 

The  trees  had  a  very  singular  aspect.  They  were  straight,  simple 
or  branched  stems,  growing  to  a  height  of  from  fifty  to  eighty  feet,  en- 
tirely bare  throughout  the  greatest  portion  of  their  length,  but  densely 
covered  on  the  upper  part  with  very  long  and  slender  leaves.  The  bare 
portion  of  the  stem  was  marked  with  parallel  flutings,  and  the  elevated 
flattened  ridges  were  ornamented  with  the  impressions  of  the  falling 
leaves,  very  regular,  both  in  their  form  and  arrangement  in  each  species. 
The  trees  had  an  appearance  similar  to  that  of  immense  leafless  cactuses, 
-except  that,  instead  of  spines  or  hairs,  the  fossil  bore  true  leaves. 
When,  from  a  change  in  the  level  of  the  surface  of  the  land  or  other 
cause,  the  coal  was  submerged,  and  gradually  covered  with  mud  or 
sand,  these  trees  stood  erect  and  were  surrounded  by  the  mud  or  sand. 
They  withstood  decomposition  until  several  feet  of  the  deposit  was 
formed.  These  short  trunks  in  the  roof  shale  of  a  coal-mine  are  a 
source  of  serious  danger  to  the  miner,  for  when  the  coal  is  removed 
from  below,  the  bed  containing  them  dries  to  some  extent,  and  the 
trunks,  sometimes  two  yards  in  diameter  and  several  feet  high,  easily 
separate  from  the  rock  because  of  the  layer  of  coal  which  surrounds 
them,  and  often  fall  on  the  workmen. 

A  human  body  has  been  known  to  undergo  a  petrifying  process  sim- 
ilar to  that  which  changes  vegetable  growths  into  coal.  In  the  Swedish 
mines  of  Fahlun,  while  making  a  cross  excavation  between  the  shafts, 
some  workmen  discovered  a  corpse,  so  saturated  with  the  vitriol,  which 
is  found  in  iron-mines,  as  to  become,  when  brought  into  the  air,  as  hard 
86 


THE  WONDERFUL  COAL-PRODUCING  FOREST. 
562 


SUBTERRANEAN    WONDERS. 


563 


as  stone,  though  perfectly  soft  when  first  touched.  For  fifty  years  had 
the  body  lain  three  hundred  feet  below  the  surface  of  the  ground  in  a 
pool  of  vitriol ;  and  no  one  would  have  recognized  the  unaltered  features 
of  the  unfortuniate  young  man,  no  one  would  have  remembered  the  cir- 
cumstance of  his  having  been  lost  (traditions  of  the  neighborhood  be- 
coming confused,  owing  to  the  melancholy  frequency  of  such  accidents), 
had  not  the  heart  of  a  faithful  woman  identified  the  once  beloved  face; 
for  when  the  inhabitants  of  the  neighborhood,  full  of  eager  curiosity, 
were  pressing  round  to  gaze  on  the  recovered  corpse,  an  aged  gray- 
haired  female,  leaning  on  crutches,  came  up  weeping,  to  the  body,  af- 
firming it  to  be  that  of  her  betrothed  husband,  and  blessing  God  for 
the  day  on  which  the  gates  of  the  grave  had  opened,  to  enable  her  to 


VERTICAL    SECTION    OF    A    COAL-MINK. 

look  on  him  once  more.  The  bystanders  beheld  with  astonishment  the 
re-union  of  this  singular  pair,  of  whom  one  had  retained  his  youthful 
appearance  in  death,  and  in  the  bowels  of  the  earth,  while  in  the  other 
the  warm  love  of  youth  had  remained  true  and  unaltered,  amidst  the 
decay  of  her  beauty  and  the  inroads  of  old  age  upon  her  wasted  ex- 
terior.    Underground  chemical  forces  are  always  at  work. 

One  set  of  our  coal-mines — or,  as  it  is  commonly  called,  a  coal-field — is 
larger  than  half  of  the  New  England  States,  being  seven  hundred  and 
thirty  miles  long  and  one  hundred  and  eighty  miles  broad.  The  great 
value  of  coal  arises  from  its  power  of  producing  a  great  amount  of  heat 
from  a  small  bulk  in  a  short  space  of  time.  The  amount  of  heat  that 
a  pound  weight  of  coal,  set  on  fire  in  a  good  draught,  will  produce,  is 
wonderful,  and  it  can  be  measured  by  the  warmth  it  will  impart  to  a 


564  WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 

kettle  of  cold  water  suspended  over  it.  This  heat  is  produced  by  the 
burning  of  the  gases  of  the  coal  in  the  air  of  the  atmosphere,  and  by 
the  capacity  for  retaining  heat  which  the  solid  part  of  the  coal  pos- 
sesses. If  a  piece  of  coal  be  placed  in  the  bowl  of  a  pipe,  and  we  then 
cover  it  with  a  lump  of  clay,  and  put  it  in  a  fire,  leaving  the  end  of  the 
pipe  outside,  some  steam  comes  off,  and  then  a  strong-smelling  gas, 
which  is  the  same  as  is  burned  in  gaseliers.  This  gas  can  be  collected 
by  letting  it  bubble  up  through  water  into  a  vial  full  of  water  turned 
•  upside  down.  When  all  the  gas  has  come  away,  if  the  bowl  of  the  pipe 
be  examined,  what  is  called  coke  will  be  found  instead  of  the  piece  of 
coal.  Coal  consists,  therefore,  principally  of  gas  and  coke,  and  there  is 
besides  a  liquid  which  is  produced  during  the  gas-making,  called  coal- 
tar.  Coke  often  looks  like  charred  wood,  and  it  is  really  so,  for  coal  is 
altered  wood  and  vegetable  matter.  When  the  mineral  is  brought  up 
from  the  mine  it  contains  impressions  of  fern-leaves  and  of  trunks  of 
palm-like  trees.  Some  of  these  impressions  are  very  beautiful,  and  ge^ 
ologists  have  studied,  described  and  drawn  no  less  than  a  thousand 
kinds  of  plants  which  have  been  noticed  in  the  coal  of  all  parts  of  the 
world,  some  of  which  are  very  much  like  plants  now  living  in  tropical 
climates.  Large  succulent  trees  are  often  found  in  the  coal  turned  into 
that  mineral,  and  their  roots  are  still  fixed  in  the  clay  beneath  the  layer 
or  seam  of  coal.  Resides  leaves  and  fir-cones,  many  other  vegetable 
matters  are  found,  and  they  are  frequently  so  well  preserved  that  the 
microscope  detects  the  delicate  structure  which  characterizes  them  at 
the  present  day.  Many  animals  and  insects  are  found  in  the  coal,  such 
as  huge  toad-like  reptiles  with  beautiful  teeth,  small  tree-lizards,  water- 
lizards,  great  fish  with  tremendous  jaws,  tiny  water  mites,  a  sort  of  snail, 
hundred-legs  and  many  insects  of  the  gra.sshopper  and  dragon-fly 
tribes.  But  none  of  these  are  of  the  same  kind  as  those  now  living  on 
the  globe.     Other  subterranean  wonders  abound. 

RIVERS    HUNDREDS    OF    FEET   UNDER    GROUND. 

After  rain  has  fallen  it  disappears  in  three  ways  :  some  runs  ofif  the 
ground  into  small  streams,  brooks,  and  rivers;  some  evaporates  and 
mixes  with  the  air  in  the  form  of  vapor,  and  the  rest  sinks  into  the  soil. 
It  is  this  last  method  by  which  rain  is  got  rid  of  that  is  of  the  greatest 
importance  to  men,  for  it  has  to  do  with  the  collection  of  water  in  the 
crust  of  the  earth,  which  is  tapped  when  wells  arc  sunk. 

Ordinary  wells  are  dug  out  by  hand  to  the  depth  of  from  thirty  to 
seventy  feet,  and  the  water  out  of  the  soil  in  which  they  have  been 
made  soaks  into  them.  There  is  no  attraction  for  water  on  the  part  of 
the  well ;  but  in  the  natural  course  of  things,  the  water  derived  from 
the  rain  on  the  surface  moves  downwards  and  sideways  into  the  earth, 


SUBTERRANEAN    WONDERS.  565 

ind  falls  into  cracks  and  cavities,  such  as  wells,  when  they  come  in  the 
iva\'.  Usually  such  shallow  wells  as  these  only  supply  a  moderate 
quantity  of  water,  and  are  apt  to  become  dry  if  there  has  been  no  rain 
for  some  time.  Other  wells  have  been  invented  to  supply  a  constant  flow 
of  pure  water  almost  to  an  unlimited  extent  even  during  long  droughts. 
Water  goes  on  sinking  through  the  earth  until  it  comes  to  a  rock  or 
bed  of  earth  very  much  denser  and  harder  than  those  it  has  got' 
through.  The  water  stops  on  the  top  of  the  hard  earth,  and  although 
much  goes  through  it  during  the  lapse  of  time,  still  there  is  always  a 
great  mass  of  wet  earth  on  the  top.  The  hard  stratum,  as  it  is  called, 
may  be  hundreds  of  feet  in  the  earth,  and  the  quantity  of  water  imme- 
diately above  it  depends  upon  the  extent  of  the  stratum,  and  whether 
it  is  quite  flat  or  not.  If  there  is  not  much  of  the  hard  stratum  there 
will  not  be  much  water,  and  if  it  is  flat  the  water  will  tend  to  run  off 
sidew  ays.  But  very  often  the  stratum  is  in  the  form  of  a  basin,  and 
then  the  water  is  kept  within  certain  bounds,  and  if  it  can  be  got  at, 
the  supply  is  enormous,  because  the  rain  of  centuries  has  collected,  and 
any  loss  is  made  up  by  the  gradual  passage  downwards  of  the  rain 
which  occurs  throughout  a  whole  year.  The  wells  are  called  artesian 
because  they  were  first  attempted  to  be  made  at  Artois,  in  France,  and 
some  have  had  to  be  formed  at  prodigious  depths.  At  Grenelle,  near 
Paris,  a  well  was  sunk  to  the  enormous  depth  of  one  thousand  six 
hundred  feet,  and  yet  no  water  came ;  but  at  one  thousand  eight 
hundred  feet  a  hard  stratum  was  reached,  for  they  pierced  quite  through 
the  chalk,  and  got  to  a  hard  green  sand.  Then  the  water  rushed  right 
up  to  tlie  surface,  and  overflowed  at  the  rate  of  half  a  million  gallons  a 
day.     Moreover,  it  was  warm. 

These  wells  are  dug  by  a  machine  called  a  borer.  It  is  a  bar  of  iron 
with  a  scoop  at  the  lower  end  like  a  gimlet,  and  a  place  for  another 
bar  to  be  screwed  in  at  the  upper  end.  The  bar  is  placed  in  the  earth 
and  turned  round  by  steam  power,  and  after  having  been  twisted  round 
a  few  times,  it  is  brought  up  to  the  surface,  and  the  scoop  is  cleaned 
out.  When  any  great  depth  is  reached  this  is  a  very  troublesome  affair, 
for  fifty,  sixty,  or  more  rods  have  to  be  screwed  and  unscrewed  every 
time  a  few  inches  of  earth  are  removed.  The  bore  made  for  the  well  is 
thus  very  small,  and  is  lined  with  pipes  for  a  long  distance  down. 
W'licn  once  water  is  got,  the  supply  never  fails.  The  French  govern- 
ment has  sunk  artesian  wells  in  the  desert  of  North  vXfrica,  and  many 
fertile  spots  now  exist  in  the  midst  of  that  waste.  In  sinking  these 
wells  some  very  curious  things,  such  as  small  fish  and  vegetable  matter, 
were  brought  up  by  the  rush  of  water,  showing  that  water  circulates 
underground  from  place  to  place. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 


WONDERS   OF  ANIMAL  LIFE. 

Wonderful  Provision  for  Animal  Wants— Fur,  Nails  and  Feathers — Beautiful  Arabian 
Horses— War  Chargers — Equine  Intelligence — His  Majesty  King  Leo — The  Polar 
Reindeer— Great  Irish  Deer — The  Musk  Ox — The  Yak— The  Spry  Syrian  Goat— The 
Fleet  Kangaroo— Wild  Animals  of  the  West—"  The  Ship  of  the  Desert"— The  Wild 

Ass The   Long-Clawed  Aye-aye— Sly    Reynard — A    Four-Footed    Fisherman — The 

Jerboa— A  Long-Nosed  Animal — White  Monkeys— The  Odd  Mandrill— White 
Elephants — The  Elephant's  Sagacity— The  Hugh  Mammoth— A  Gigantic  Tortoise- 
Polar  Bears — Grizzly  Bear  of  California — The  Seal — An  Animal  Charmed  with  Music 
— The  Monstrous  Sea-Horse— The  Alligator— The  Hard-Shelled  Armadillo — A  Won- 
derful Dog — Intelligent  Cats — An  Animal  that  Dies  from  its  Own  Bite 
— Leeches  in  Ceylon — Darwin's  Crab — Construction  of  Animals. 

ATURE  has  provided  with  admirable  care  and  in  an 
infinite  number  of  ways  for  all  the  wants  of  the  animal 
creation.  To  the  animal  of  a  mild  and  peaceable  char- 
acter, to  which  fighting  and  struggling  .  against  too 
redoubtable  adversaries  is  forbidden,  she  has  provided 
the  means  of  avoiding  and  escaping  from  its  enemies. 
Some  are  marvelously  organized  for  running,  as  the  hare 
and  the  gazelle.  Others  hide  themselves  in  subterranean 
retreats,  which  serve  them  at  the  same  time  as  barns, 
in  which  to  preserve  their  provisions  against  the  winter:  such  are 
the  rat,  the  marmot,  and  others.  Others,  like  the  armadillo,  present 
to  their  adversaries  an  invulnerable  cuirass.  Some,  erecting  their 
bristles,  as  the  porcupine,  present  to  the  enemy  a  forest  of  spikes. 
There  is  not  one  animal,  however  w^eak  it  may  be,  which  has  not  its 
artifices  and  means  of  defence  against  its  mo.st  terrible  enemies.  If  it 
were  otherwi.se,  all  of  the  more  feeble  creatures  would  have  been  long 
since  exterminated. 

The  clothing  which  grows  from  the  bodies  of  animals  is  always  suit- 
able in  quality  and  quantity  to  the  climate  and  season  under  which  they 
live.  In  hot  climates  the  coat  of  quadrupeds  is  short  and  thin,  but  it 
thickens  with  increasing  latitudes,  and  yields  soft  and  abundant  fleeces. 
At  the  poles  it  is  externally  shaggy  and  coarse,  internally  shorter  and 
fine,  as  in  the  skin  of  the  Arctic  bear.  How  defensive  is  the  fur  of 
amphibious  animals,  the  beaver,  for  example !  How  abundant  and 
smooth  upon  birds  are  feathers,  shutting  up  the  heat  of  their  warm 
blood,  and  opposing  no  resistance  to  the  air  through  which  they  fly !  The 
(5GG) 


WONDERS    OF    ANIMAL    LIl'E.  567 

birds  of  very  cold  regions  have  plumage  almost  as  bulk}-  as  their  iDodies; 
and  those  which  lixe  nnich  in  the  water  havx'  additionally  both  a  defence 
of  oil  on  the  surface  of  the  feathers,  and  the  interstices  of  the  oidinary 
plumage  filled  with  delicate  down — a  bad  conductor,  which  abounds 
particularly  on  the  breast,  as  it,  in  swimming,  first  meets  and  divides  the 
cold  wave.  Then  there  are  animals  with  warm  blood  which  live  in  the 
water — for  example,  the  whale,  seal,  and  walrus  ;  but  neither  hair  nor 
feathers  oiled  would  have  been  a  fit  clothing  for  them.  They  accord- 
ingly deri\^e  protection  from  the  cold  water  by  the  enormous  amount  of 
blubber  or  fat  which  surrounds  their  bodies,  and  acts  as  a  non-conductor. 

As  a  general  rule,  the  hair  of  the  animals  falls  off  about  spring  or 
autumn,  and  is  then  replaced  by  new  hair ;  this  is  what  is  called  the 
shedding  of  the  coat,  which  in  some  species  takes  place  twice  in  the 
year.  The  scales,  nails,  horns,  flakes  of  whalebone,  which  certain 
animals  have,  may  be  regarded  as  so  many  different  forms  of  tegumen- 
tary  appendages  of  the  same  nature  as  hair.  The  general  form  of  the 
body  is  determined  by  the  shape  of  the  bony  skeleton.  The  form  of 
the  skull  varies  exceedingly.  Some  have  on  the  head  or  on  the  nose 
certain  horn-like  appendages.  These  appendages  are  sometimes  merely 
the  result  of  a  very  close  conjunction  of  the  roots  of  the  hair,  and  are 
thus  appendages  to  the  skin  ;  such  is  the  case  with  the  horn  or  horns 
upon  the  face  of  the  rhinoceros.  In  other  cases  the  horns  are  placed 
on  the  skull  itself,  and  are  appendages  to  the  skeleton,  though  covered 
by  the  skin. 

Beginning  our  description  of  animals  with  the  horse — none  the  less 
a  marvel  in  many  respects  because  he  is  an  object  so  familiar — we  shall 
find  abundant  occasion  for  wonder  in  the  lower  forms  of  animal  life.  It 
is  only  in  Arabia  where  the  horse  is  found  bordering  on  perfection. 
Here  he  is  remarkable  for  a  small  head  with  pointed  ears,  peculiarly- 
clean,  muscular  limbs,  a  corresponding  delicate,  slender  shape,  rather 
■small  size,  and  large  animated  eyes,  expressing  that  intelligence  which, 
as  in  the  dog,  is  the  consequence  of  being  constantl}'  with  the  members 
of  his  master's  family — in  fact,  he  generally  shares  their  meals.  He  is 
frequently  allowed  to  frolic  tlirough  the  camp  like  a  dog ;  and  at  other 
times  he  is  hitched  at  the  entrance  of  the  tent.  He  is  exposed  to  the 
weather  at  all  times  ;  and,  compared  to  the  treatment  of  his  species  in 
America,  he  is  scantily  fed.  A  meal  after  sunset,  consisting  of  barle\',  in 
some  parts  of  the  country,  and  camel's  milk  in  others,  or  a  paste  of 
dates  and  water,  sometimes  mixed  with  dried  clover  and  other  herbs, 
constitute  his  usual  sustenance  ;  but  on  any  extraordinary  exertion 
being  required,  flesh  is  frequently  given,  either  raw  or  boiled. 

The  Bedowins  count   five  noble  breeds  of  horses,  all,  as  they  say, 


568  WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 

derived  originally  from  the  desert  region  of  Arabia.  Of  these  there  are 
many  branches ;  and  there  are  other  breeds  which  are  considered 
secondary.  The  catalogue  of  distinct  breeds  in  the  desert  is  almost 
endless,  and  the  pedigrees  of  individuals  are  verified  by  certificates 
which  are  handed  down  from  father  to  son  with  infinite  care  ;  and  not 
unfrequently  they  belong  to  more  than  one  family ;  for  there  is  often  a 
copartnership  in  mares,  and  hence  arise  the  difficulties  attending  the 
purchase  of  one. 

While  General  Grant  was  on  his  celebrated  tour  round  the  world,  the 
Sultan  of  Turkey,  wishing  to  make  him  a  present  worthy  of  both  the 
giver  and  the  recipient,  presented  him  with  a  fine  pair  of  Arabian 
horses,  which  were  exhibited  in  this  country. 

The  remote  epoch  to  which  we  can  trace  back  the  horse  being  em- 
ployed as  a  domestic  animal  renders  it  very  difficult  to  determine  its 
original  country.  At  the  present  day,  we  are  generally  led  to  consider 
the  horse  as  originall}'  a  native  of  Asia,  and  that  it  appeared  for  the 
first  time  either  on  the  vast  central  plateau  which  occupies  so  large  a 
space  in  this  quarter  of  the  globe,  or  on  the  steppes  to  the  north-east 
of  the  Caucasus.  As  the  originally  wild  horse  does  not  exist  in  any 
country,  it  is  quite  as  impossible  to  recognize  its  primeval  traces  in  his- 
toric times  as  to  state  with  any  certainty  the  native  country  of  the  first 
oxen,  the  first  goats,  the  first  pigs,  the  first  sheep,  or  the  first  dogs. 

There  are,  however,  droves  of  horses  free  and  unowned,  living  on  the 
plains  of  Asia  and  the  pampas  and  prairies  of  this  country  ;  but  all  zo- 
ologists agree  in  considering  them  as  the  descendants  of  certain  domes- 
tic races,  somewhat  modified  in  their  shape  and  habits  by  having 
returned  to  a  state  of  liberty.  At  the  date  of  the  discovery  of  the  New 
World,  it  is  certain  that  no  animal  of  the  horse  genus  existed  here ;  at 
the  present  day,  on  the  contrary,  we  find  immense  hordes  of  them, 
which,  through  their  wild  and  exposed  life,  have  lost  many  characteris- 
tics which  were  possessed  by  their  progenitors.  These  horses,  called 
tarpans,  mustangs  and  parameros,  according  to  locality,  live  most  fre- 
quently in  bands  of  fifteen  to  twenty,  of  which  only  one  is  a  mature 
male.  In  the  pampas  of  Paraguay,  however,  the  droves  are  sometimes 
composed  of  more  than  ten  thousand  animals.  They  are  controlled  by 
chiefs,  who  always  lead  them  in  traveling  as  well  as  in  escaping  pursuit, 
and  each  drov^e  inhabits  a  particular  tlistrict,  which  it  defends  against 
the  invasion  of  strangers,  and  does  not  abandon  unless  obliged  by 
deficiency  of  pasturage,  or  by  the  attacks  of  some  of  the  larger  car- 
nivora.  The  migration  of  wild  horses  crossing  the  wide  plains  of  the 
New  World,  almost  shaking  the  ground  under  their  measured  tramp,  is 
a  spectacle  to  delight  the  traveler.     Divided  into  squadrons  composed 


569 


570  WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 

of  a  stallion  and  his  attendants,  the  column  progresses,  preceded  by 
their  scouts.  If  these  droves  should  meet  with  domestic  horses,  they 
invite  them  by  neighings  to  regain  their  lost  liberty  and  join  their  wan- 
dering phalanx,  a  request  too  frequently  accepted.  Spaniards  and 
Indians  capture  wild  horses  by  surrounding  and  forcing  a  drove  to  enter 
an  inclosure,  called  a  coral,  where  a  horseman,  armed  with  a  lasso  (a 
long  strip  of  green  hide,  provided  with  a  noose  at  one  end)  or  the  bal- 
leros  (two  balls  connected  by  a  cord)  is  placed.  In  Mexico  the  former 
implement  is  used,  in  lower  South  America  the  latter,  and  the  skill  and 
address  with  which  these  people  entangle  and  throw  the  objects  of  their 
pursuit  are  truly  surprising.  However  violent  and  protracted  the 
struggle,  the  victim  must  ultimately  succumb,  when  a  leather  strap  with 
a  slip  noose  having  been  placed  round  its  lower  jaw,  or  a  villainously 
cruel  Spanish  bit  in  its  mouth,  an  Indian  mounts.  After  making  vain 
efforts  to  get  rid  of  the  man,  the  horse  sets  off  at  full  gallop,  stimulated 
moreover  by  the  spur.  After  being  ridden  till  thoroughly  exhausted, 
and  its  lungs  bursting  for  want  of  breath,  it  submits  to  be  led  back  to 
the  coral.  Henceforth  it  is  tamed,  or,  more  properly,  broken-spirited, 
and  although  left  free  with  the  domesticated  horses,  does  not  seek  to 
escape  ;  for  having  felt  the  brand  of  serfdom,  it  feels  unworthy  of  lib- 
erty. Young  horses  are  generally  selected  for  this  mode  of  breaking, 
as  they  give  less  trouble  than  those  that  are  older,  and,  from  their  mak- 
ing a  less  determined  resistance,  are  not  so  subject  to  injuries  that 
matiu'e  into  blemishes,  or  frequently  cause  unsoundness. 

When  horses  are  hit  in  battle,  they  stop,  tremble  in  every  muscle, 
and  groan  deeply,  while  their  eyes  show  wild  astonishment.  During 
the  battle  of  Waterloo,  some  of  the  horses,  as  they  lay  on  the  ground, 
ha\'ing  recovered  from  the  first  agony  of  their  wounds,  fell  to  eating  the 
grass  about  them  ;  thus  surrounding  themselves  with  a  circle  of  bare 
ground,  the  limited  extent  of  which  showed  their  weakness.  Others 
of  these  interesting  animals  were  observed  quietly  grazing  in  the  middle 
of  the  field,  between  the  two  hostile  lines,  their  riders  having  been  shot 
off  their  backs  ;  while  the  balls  that  flew  over  their  heads,  and  the  tu- 
mult behind  and  before  and  around  them,  caused  no  interruption  to  the 
usual  instincts  of  their  nature.  It  was  also  observed  that  when  a  charge 
of  cavalry  went  past,  near  to  any  of  the  stray  horses  already  mentioned, 
they  would  set  off,  form  themselves  in  the  rear  of  their  mounted  com- 
panions, and  though  without  riders,  gallop  strenuously  along  with  the 
rest,  not  stopping  or  flinching  when  the  fatal  shock  with  the  enemy 
took  i)lace.  At  the  battle  of  the  Kirk,  in  1 745,  Major  Macdonald, 
having  unhorsed  an  English  officer,  took  possession  of  his  horse,  which 
was  very  beautiful,  and  immediately  mounted  it.     When  the  English 


SPIRITED  WAR  HORSES. 


571 


572  WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 

cavalry  fled,  the  horse  ran  away  with  its  captor,  notwithstanding  all  his 
efforts  to  restrain  him  ;  nor  did  it  stop  until  it  was  at  the  head  of  the 
regiment,  of  which,  apparently,  its  master  was  the  commander.  The 
melancholy  and,  at  the  same  time,  ludicrous  figure  which  Macdonald 
presented  when  he  thus  saw  himself  the  victim  of  his  ambition  to  pos- 
sess a  fine  horse,  which  ultimately  cost  him  his  life  upon  the  scaffold, 
may  be  easily  conceived. 

In  a  well-known  work,  which  is  the  highest  authority,  the  following 
examples  of  equine  intelligence  are  recorded  :  It  is  remarked  by  those 
who  have  much  to  do  with  blood-horses,  that  when  at  liberty,  and  see- 
ing two  or  more  people  standing  conversing  together,  they  will  ap- 
proach, and  seem,  as  it  were,  to  wish  to  listen  to  the  conversation.  The 
farm-horse  will  not  do  this,  but  he  is  quite  obedient  to  call,  and  distin- 
guishes his  name  readily  from  that  of  his  companions,  and  will  not  stir 
when  desired  to  stand  till  his  own  name  is  pronounced.  He  distin- 
guishes the  various  sorts  of  work  he  is  put  to,  and  will  apply  his  strength 
and  skill  in  the  best  way  to  effect  his  purpose,  whether  in  the  threshing- 
mill,  the  cart  or  the  plough.  He  soon  acquires  a  perfect  sense  of  his 
work.  A  plough-horse  will  walk  very  steadily  towards  a  directing  pole, 
and  halt  when  his  head  has  reached  it.  He  seems  also  to  have  a  sense 
of  time.  The  horse  is  capable  of  distinguishing  the  tones  of  the  voice, 
whether  spoken  in  anger  or  otherwise,  and  can  even  distinguish  between 
musical  notes.  A  work -horse  has  been  known  to  leave  off  eating  and 
listen  attentively,  wnth  pricked  and  moving  ears  and  steady  eyes,  the 
instant  he  heard  a  low  note  sounded,  and  would  continue  to  listen  so 
long  as  it  was  su.stained  ;  and  another  was  similarly  affected  by  a  ]xir- 
ticular  high  note.  The  recognition  of  the  sound  of  the  bugle  by  a 
trooper,  and  the  excitement  occasioned  in  the  hunter  when  the  pack 
give  tongue,  are  familiar  instances  of  the  power  of  horses  to  discriminate 
between  different  sounds.     They  never  mistake  one  call  for  another. 

THE    KING    OF    THE     FOREST. 

As  the  horse  may  be  said  to  stand  at  the  head  of  domestic  animals, 
so  the  lion  among  the  wild  beasts  outranks  all  others,  and  holds  a  place 
by  himself.     For  courage  and  commanding  presence,  he  is  unrivalled. 

If  the  impression  made  by  the  first  sight  of  this  animal  be  retained, 
it  must  be  confessed  that  the  lion  is  no  usurper  of  the  title  "  King  of  the 
Beasts,"  which  has  been  awarded  him  from  the  most  ancient  times. 
He  carries  his  head  high,  and  walks  with  a  slowness  which  may  well 
pass  for  dignity  ;  his  visage  is  calm  and  dignified,  and  announces  a  full 
consciousness  of  his  strength.  The  bush)-  and  magnificent  mane  which 
overshadows  his  head  and  neck  is  an  addition  which  confers  on  his  re- 
markable appearance  an  air  of  grandeur  which  commands  awe. 


WONDERS    OF   ANIMAL    LIFE. 


r>73 


Some  adult  lions  have  attained  a  lenc^th  of  nearly  ten  feet,  from  the 
tip  of  the  muzzle  to  the  root  of  the  tail ;  but,  generally  speaking,  tliey 
do  not  exceed  six  to  seven  feet.  With  the  exception  of  the  mane  and 
a  tuft  of  hair  at  the  end  of  the  tail,  the  coat  is  entirely  smooth,  and  of 
a  nearly  uniform  tawny  color.  The  female  is  distinguished  by  the  ab- 
sence of  any  mane,  and  by  a  smaller  head ;  she  is  generally,  in  propor- 
tion, about  one-fourth  less  than  the  male.  Buffon  has  drawn  a  mag- 
nificent portrait  of  the  lion,  which  will  ever  remain  one  of  the  most 
beautiful  passages  in  French  literature.     He  attributes  to  it  the  good 


HIS    M.\JESTV,    THE   LION. 

qualities  of  courage,  magnanimity,  generosity,  nobility  of  character, 
gratitude  for  kindness  and  sensibility.  Unfortunately,  this  elaborate 
panegyric  is  fated  to  give  way  before  observation. 

As  a  rule,  the  Hon  does  not  hunt  during  the  day ;  not  that  his  eyes 
are  unfitted  for  diurnal  vision,  but  indolence  and  prudence  keep  him  at 
home  till  evening.  When  the  first  shadows  of  twilight  appear,  he  enters 
upon  his  campaign.  If  there  is  a  pool  in  the  vicinity  of  his  haunt  he 
places  himself  in  ambush  on  the  edge  of  it,  with  the  hope  of  securing  a 
victim  among  the  antelopes,  gazelles,  giraffes,  zebras  or  buffaloes,  which 


574  WONDERS    OF    THE    WHOLE    WORLD. 

arc  led  thither  to  slake  their  thirst.  These  animals,  well  aware  of  this 
habit  of  their  enein}%  will  not  approach  a  pond  without  extreme  caution. 
If  one,  however,  places  itself  within  reach  of  their  terrible  foe,  its  fate  is 
generally  sealed.  One  enormous  bound  enables  the  lion  to  spring  on 
it,  and  one  blow  with  its  paw  breaks  its  back.  If  the  lion  misses  his 
aim,  he  does  not  endeavor  to  continue  a  useless  pursuit,  well  knowing 
that  he  cannot  compete  in  speed  with  the  children  of  the  plains.  He 
therefore  skulks  back  into  his  hiding-place,  to  lie  in  ambush  until  some 
more  fortunate  chance  presents  itself,  or  complete  nightfall  comes. 

PRODIGIOUS  STRENGTH  AND  AUDACITY. 

The  lion,  however,  is  not  disposed  to  remain  long  with  an  empty 
stomach.  Then  it  is  that  he  approaches  man's  habitations,  with  the 
hope  of  surprising  the  domestic  animals.  Fences,  ten  feet  in  height, 
form  no  obstacle  to  him,  for  he  will  bound  over  such  with  ease,  when, 
falling  into  the  midst  of  the  herd,  he  seizes  the  nearest.  The  amount 
of  strength  which  he  manifests  under  circumstances  similar  to  these  is 
really  extraordinary.  A  lion  has  been  known,  at  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope,  to  carry  off  a  heifer  as  a  cat  would  a  mouse,  and,  with  the  burden, 
leap  a  wide  ditch.  It  is  almost  impossible  to  conceive  the  muscular 
force  neces.sary  to  jump  a  fence  several  feet  high  when  carrying  a  load 
of  several  hundredweight. 

The  audacity  of  the  lion  increases  in  proportion  to  his  need.  When 
he  has  exhausted  all  means  of  procuring  subsistence,  and  when  he  can 
no  longer  put  off  the  cravings  of  hunger,  he  sets  no  limit  to  his  aggres- 
sions, and  will  brave  every  danger  rather  than  perish  by  famine.  In 
open  day  he  will  then  proceed  to  where  herds  of  oxen  and  sheep  are 
pastured,  entirely  disregarding  shepherds  and  dogs.  At  such  times  he 
has  been  known  to  carry  his  rashness  so  fer  as  to  attack  a  drove  of 
buffaloes,  an  action  which  is  all  the  bolder,  as  a  single  buffalo,  unless  it 
is  taken  by  surprise,  is  well  able  to  defend  itself  One  feature,  which 
seems  peculiar  to  the  nature  of  South  African  lions,  is,  that  thc\'  will 
combine  to  hunt  those  animals  which,  singly,  they  are  unable  to  en- 
counter with  certainty  of  success.  Delegorgue  relates  that  in  winter 
twenty  or  thirty  lions  have  been  seen  to  assemble  during  the  day-time, 
and  drive  their  game  into  narrow  passes,  in  which  some  of  their  com- 
panions were  posted.  These  are,  he  .says,  regular  hunts,  conducted  in 
due  order,  but  without  noise  ;  for  the  smell  of  the  lion  is  quite  sufficient 
to  drive  before  it  the  herbivorous  animals.  The  rhinoceros  is  some- 
times destroyed  in  this  way  by  associations  of  lions.  There  is  one  im- 
portant fact  which  has  several  times  been  observed.  When  the  lion  is 
hungry  or  irritated,  he  flogs  his  sides  with  his  tail  and  shakes  his  mane. 
If,  therefore,  a  traveler  finds  himself  unexpectedly  in  the  presence  of  a 


WONDERS    OF    ANIMAL    LIFE.  575 

lion,  he  may  thus  know  the  brute's  intentions,  and  can  take  precautions 
accordingly.  If  the  tail  does  not  move,  the  animal  may  be  passed  with- 
out fear  ;  not  only  will  he  not  spring  upon  you,  but  throwing  a  stone  at 
him  will  suffice  to  drive  him  away.  Under  the  reverse  circumstances 
no  time  must  be  lost  in  seeking  a  place  of  refuge,  unless  you  are  in  a 
position  to  commence  a  contest  with  your  arms,  and  then  the  more 
prompt  and  determined  your  action  the  more  successful  will  be  the 
issue,  because  the  lion  seldom  attacks  any  living  creature  when  his 
appetite  is  satisfied,  and  because  he  is  content  with  one  victim  at  a  time. 

AN  ELEGANT  RACE  OF  ANIMALS. 

All  the  members  of  the  deer  family  are  remarkable  for  the  elegance 
of  their  shape,  the  dignity  of  their  attitudes,  the  grace  and  vivacity  of 
their  movements,  the  slenderness  of  their  limbs,  and  the  sustained 
rapidity  of  their  flight.  They  have  a  very  short  tail ;  moderately  sized 
and  pointed  ears  ;  their  nostrils  are  generally  situated  in  a  muzzle,  and 
their  eye  is  clear  and  full  of  gentleness.  In  most  of  the  species  there 
is,  below  the  internal  angle  of  the  eye,  a  small  depression,  called  a  tear- 
pit,  which  is  nothing  but  a  sort  of  gland,  secreting  a  peculiar  fluid. 
This  gland  is  not,  however,  as  might  be  supposed  from  the  name,  the 
place  from  which  the  tears  proceed. 

The  reindeer  is  about  the  size  of  the  red  deer,  but  it  is  heavier  built. 
The  legs  are  find}'  made,  although  less  slender  than  those  of  the  stag, 
and  are  terminated  by  firm  and  strong  feet.  The  latter  are  covered  all 
over  with  stiff  hair,  even  on  the  underneath  part,  a  circumstance  which 
singularly  facilitates  the  animal's  tread  on  ice  and  frozen  snow.  Its 
coat  is  rough,  of  a  greyish-brown  color,  and  is  pendent  under  the  throat; 
in  the  winter  it  becomes  woolly,  and  frequently  changes  color  to  white. 
The  reindeer  is  a  native  of  the  icy  deserts  of  the  -Arctic  regions,  and 
the  most  northerly  countries  in  which  man  has  placed  his  abode.  It  is 
a  most  valuable  animal  to  the  people  who  dwell  about  the  Arctic  circle. 
Without  it  existence  in  these  high  latitudes  would  scarcely  be  possible. 
We  can  hardly  form  a  just  idea  of  the  services  which  this  animal  renders^ 
more  especially  to  the  Laplanders,  for  to  them  it  fills  the  place  of  horse, 
ox  and  sheep  ;  for,  when  domesticated,  it  goes  in  harness  like  the  first, 
and  drags  sledges  and  carriages  even  with  great  rapidity.  On  ev^en 
ground  it  can  travel  twenty  miles  an  hour  ;  but  its  ordinary  pace  is  from 
twelve  to  sixteen  miles  in  that  space  of  time.  There  is  in  the  palace  of 
the  King  of  Sweden,  a  picture  representing  a  reindeer  which  carried  an 
officer  charged  with  urgent  despatches  a  distance  of  nine  hundred  and 
sixty  miles  in  forty-eight  hours.  At  the  end  of  the  journey  the  poor 
animal  is  reported  to  have  died. 

The  mode  of  harnessing  and  driving  the  reindeer  is  most  simple.     A 


a31i;n.?'l. ';  '!jl 


576 


WONDKRS    OF    ANIMAL    LIFE.  577 

collar  of  skin  is  fastened  round  its  neck,  and  from  this  a  trace  hangs 
down,  which,  passing  under  the  belly,  is  fastened  into  a  hole  bored  in 
the  front  of  the  sledge.  The  rein  consists  of  a  single  cord  fastened  to 
the  root  of  the  animal's  antlers,  and  the  driver  drops  it  on  the  right  or 
left  side  of  the  back,  according  to  the  side  to  which  he  wishes  to  direct 
the  animal.  The  vehicle  being  very  light,  traveling  may  be  rapidly 
performed  in  this  equipage,  but  not  without  running  some  risk  of  break- 
ino"  your  neck;  for,  to  avoid  being  upset,  one  must  be  very  skilful  in 
this  sort  of  locomotion.  The  Laplander  is  a  perfect  master  of  this  art. 
We  have  not  yet  mentioned  the  most  important  articles  this  ruminant 
of  the  Arctic  regions  yields  to  man.  The  female  produces  milk  superior 
to  that  of  the  cow,  and  from  it  butter  and  cheese  of  excellent  quality 
are  made.  Its  flesh,  which  is  nuitritious  and  sweet,  forms  a  precious 
alimentary  resource  in  the  Polar  regions.  Its  coat  furnishes  thick  and 
warm  clothing,  and  its  skin  is  converted  into  strong  and  supple  leather. 
The  long  hairs  on  the  neck  of  this  animal  are  also  used  for  sewing, 
while  out  of  its  tendons  string  is  manufactured.  From  the  old  antlers 
of  the  reindeer  various  utensils  are  made,  such  as  spoons  and  knife- 
handles,  and  when  the  horns  are  young,  gelatine  is  extracted  from  them 
by  submitting  them  to  a  severe  course  of  boiling. 

The  reindeer  is  truly  an  invaluable  companion  to  the  people  of  high 
latitudes.  The  poorest  Laplander  possesses  at  least  several  pairs  ;  while 
the  wealthy  have  immense  herds  of  from  four  to  five  hundred,  even 
sometimes  of  several  thousand  of  these  animals.  During  the  day  they 
are  taken  to  graze  ;  and  at  night  they  are  shut  up  in  sheds,  or  left  out 
of  doors  in  an  inclosure  sufficiently  high  to  shelter  them  from  the 
attacks  of  wild  beasts.  These  flocks  need  a  great  deal  of  supervision, 
as  the  reindeer  is  somewhat  inclined  to  return  to  its  wild  life  if  granted 
too  much  liberty.  All  the  individuals  composing  these  herds  are 
marked  with  the  brand  of  the  proprietor,  so  that  they  may  be  recog- 
nized when  they  stray  in  the  woods,  or  when  the  flocks  get  mixed. 
The  wild  reindeer  unite  in  vast  herds,  which  migrate  from  one  climate 
to  another  according  to  the  seasons.  In  winter  they  come  down  into  the 
plains  or  valleys  near  the  sea-coast,  and  there  feed  on  the  lichens  which 
they  excavate  with  their  feet  from  under  the  snow.  In  summer  they 
ascend  the  plateaux  to  graze  on  the  buds  and  leaves  of  mountain 
shrubs.  They  are,  moreover,  induced  to  select  these  elevated  situations 
in  the  warm  season  to  lessen  the  attacks  of  the  horse  and  gad-flies, 
which  otherwise  would  incessantly  prey  upon  them.  The  latter  insects, 
at  the  time  when  these  quadrupeds  change  their  coat,  deposit  their  eggs 
on  the  surface  of  the  skin  ;  the  larvae,  after  they  are  hatched,  penetrate 
under  the  epidermis,  causing  acute  pain. 
37 


578  WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 

In  the  caves,  gravels,  and  peat-bogs  of  the  British  Isles  are  found  not 
unfrequently  the  remains  of  animals  which  no  longer  inhabit  Western 
Europe.  Some  of  these  animals  still  exist,  as  the  aurochs,  or  European 
bison,  in  Russian  Poland,  the  reindeer  in  Lapland,  and  the  musk-ox, 
now  only  found  existing  in  extreme  northern  regions.  Others,  again^ 
arc  entirely  extinct,  as  the  mammoth  and  the  woolly  rhinoceros,  both 
of  which  were  formerly  extremely  common.  To  the  last  category 
belongs  the  animal  of  fine  construction  which  has  generally  received 
the  name  of  the  Irish  elk,  owing  to  the  great  abundance  of  specimens 
found  in  Ireland.  The  creature  has  generally  been  called  an  elk,  prob- 
ably because  the  largest  member  of  the  deer  family  still  existing  bears 
that  name,  but  it  does  not  resemble  the  elk  in  any  way.  The  true  elk 
is  a  clumsy-looking  beast,  with  broad  antlers  furnished  with  few  tines. 
This  animal  was  intermediate  in  character  between  the  reindeer  and  the 
fallow-deer,  but  was  much  larger  than  either.  Its  antlers  were  magnifi- 
cent, measuring  as  much  as  ten  feet  across  from  tip  to  tip,  and  weighing, 
with  the  skull,  as  much  as  a  hundred  pounds  in  some  instances.  The 
antlers  have  broad  palms,  and  are  furnished  with  a  large  number  of 
tines.  When,  however,  the  palm  is  well  developed,  the  tines  are  smaller 
and  the  spread  of  the  horns  less  considerable.  The  name  mcgaceros, 
big  liorn,  is  well  suited  to  a  creature  whose  head  must  have  formed  such 
a  noble  object.  The  height  of  the  animal  was  about  six  feet  at  the 
shoulders,  while  the  hind-quarters  drooped  only  very  little,  so  that  it 
was  somewhat  taller  than  a  horse.  The  most  remarkable  feature  about 
the  skeleton  is  the  development  of  long  processes  on  the  dorsal  vertebrae, 
which  were  undoubtedly  intended  as  points  of  attachment  for  the  muscles 
required  to  move  the  heavy  head.  The  female  had  no  horns,  as  is 
almost  always  the  case  in  the  deer  family.  This  deer  inhabited  the 
outskirts  of  the  forests,  and  its  remains  are  found  almost  without 
exception  in  the  marl  at  the  outside  of  peat-bogs.  In  such  abundance 
CIO  tliey  occur,  that  in  one  small  bog  near  Lough  Gur,  in  the  county  of 
Limerick,  upwards  of  seventy  heads  were  dug  up  in  the  autumn  of 
18C4,  in  addition  to  a  very  large  number  obtained  in  previous  years. 

E.\RLY    ACCOUNTS   OF   THE    HUNTER'S    SPORT. 

In  old  Irish  manuscripts  there  are  frequent  allusions  to  field  sports-, 
and  in  one  of  them  particularly  the  descriptions  of  deer  and  deer- 
hunts  are  not  uncommon.  Most  of  these  would  suit  red-deer  as  well 
as  the  animal  w  hich  we  are  now  discussing ;  however,  one  of  them  seems 
to  refer  to  a  deer  with  very  large  antlers,  and  to  show  that  it  was  existing 
in  the  time  of  St.  Patrick.  The  Irish  name  for  the  great  deer  was  the 
Ox  of  the  Deluge. 

There  is  another  remarkable  animal  that  is  common  to  the  Arctic 


WONDERS   OF    ANIMAL   LIFE. 


579 


world.  The  musk  ox  is  much  smaller  than  the  common  ox,  and  has 
somewhat  the  appearance  of  an  enormous  sheep.  Its  forehead  is 
arched;  its  mouth  small;  its  muzzle  completely  covered  with  hair; 
and  its  horns,  which  are  very  large,  are  closely  united  at  the  base,  and 
bending  downwards  over  the  sides  of  its  head,  suddenly  turn  back- 
wards and  upwards  at  the  tips.  Its  long  and  abundant  coat  is  of  a 
dark  brown  color.  It  exhales  a  strong  odor  of  musk,  which  even 
impregnates  the  flesh.  This  animal  inhabits  North  America  below  the 
Polar  circle,  and  lives  in  families  of  from  twenty  to  a  hundred  indivi- 
duals, among  which  there  are  seldom  more  than  two  or  three  males. 
In  the  month  of  August  the  latter  become  so  jealous  that  they  fight 
even  to  the  very  death.  Notwithstanding  its  apparent  heaviness,  the. 
musk  ox  climbs  over  rocks  almost  as  nimbly  as  a  goat,  and  its  speed 


EXCITIXG    ENCOUNTER    WITH    THE    MUSK    OX. 

across  the  rocky,  rough,  barren  grounds,  its  principal  habitat,  for  an 
animal  so  clumsy,  is  truly  astonishing.  It  makes  a  .spirited  defence 
when  assailed,  and  will  toss  the  dogs  that  worry  it  in  the  air,  as  well  as 
the  hunter,  if  he  makes  the  mistake  of  coming  too  near.  Its  long, 
thick,  brown  or  black  hair  hanging  down  below  the  middle  of  the  leg, 
and  covering  on  all  parts  of  the  animal  a  fine  kind  of  soft  ash-colored 
wool,  which  is  of  the  finest  description,  and  capable  of  forming  the 
most  beautiful  fabrics  manufactured,  enables  it  to  remain  even  during 
the  winter  beyond  .seventy  degrees  of  northern  latitude.  In  spring  it 
wanders  over  the  ice  as  far  as  Melville  Island,  or  even  Smith's  Sound. 
It  is  exclusively  confined  to  the  New  World  now,  though  that  it  was 
common  at  one  time  in  Siberia  is  attested  by  the  great  number  of 
fossil  remains  of  the  animal  still  to  be  found  there.     Its  legs  are  short. 


580 


WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 


but  it  runs  with  much  speed  and  cHmbs  lofty  ]:)recipices  like  the  Rocky 
Mountain  goat.  The  animals  go  in  herds  of  twenty  or  thirty,  but  are 
so  scarce  as  to  be  seldom  met  with. 

Somewhat  like  the  musk  ox  in  appearance  is  the  yak  which  makes 
its  home  in  Thibet.  The  yak  likes  to  live  on  the  cold  snowy  moun- 
tains. It  has  a  clothing  of  soft  curly  hair  almost  like  fur.  Its  tail 
sweeps  the  ground,  and  is  of  bright-colored  hair.  It  has  horns  like  a 
cow,  and  there  is  a  hump  between  the  shoulders.  Its  legs  are  very 
short ;  and  sometimes  its  long  hair  will  trail  on  the  ground,  and  give 
it  rather  an  awkward  look.  It  is  not  fierce,  though  it  does  not  like  to 
be  meddled  with.  The  people  of  Thibet  think  the  yak  one  of  their 
greatest  blessings.     The  milk  of  the  cow  is  vcrj-  thick  and  rich,  and 

there  is  a  great 
quantity  of  it.  It 
makes  excellent 
butter. 

The  mother  yak 
is  so  fond  of  her 
young  one,  that 
when  it  is  taken 
from  her,  she  will 
not  give  any  milk. 
The  farmer's  wife 
in  Thibet  knows 
what  to  do.  The 
young  yak  has  been 
killed;  but  she 
brings  its  foot,  and 
lays  it  down  before 
the  mother  for  her  to  lick.  The  yak  seems  quite  contented  ;  and  as 
she  goes  on  licking  the  foot,  she  gives  her  milk  as  usual.  The  soft 
hair  of  the  yak  makes  clothing  when  woven  into  a  strong  cloth. 
The  shepherds  who  pasture  their  flocks  in  these  cold  regions  wear  a 
loose  garment  made  of  the  hide  of  the  yak.  It  hangs  down  to  the 
knees,  and  is  very  warm  and  comfortable.  At  night  they  lie  down 
upon  it,  and  it  serves  them  for  a  bed.  The  long  hair  is  made  into  a 
tent-cloth,  and  also  into  ropes.  The  long,  bright-colored  tail  is  used 
for  an  ornament.  Indeed,  the  whole  wealth  of  some  of  the  Tartar 
tribes  in  Thibet  consists  in  this  animal.  The  yak  goes  up  and  down 
the  mountains,  and  does  not  often  stumble.  It  carries  burdens  on 
its  back  ;  for  the  Tartars  use  it  instead  of  a  horse  or  a  camel. 

The  goat  is  likewise  remarkable  for  the  agility  it  shows  in  climbing 


THE   LONG-HAIRED    YAK. 


WONDERS    OF    ANIMAL    LIFE. 


581 


steep  and  difficult  places,  being  made  apj^arcntly  to  inhabit  rocky 
regions  and  prove  useful  to  men  who  make  their  abode  in  such  localities. 
Dr.  Clarke  relates  that  when  he  was  traveling  from  Jerusalem  to  Beth- 
lehem, his  party  fell  in  with  an  Arab  who  had  a  goat,  which  he  led 
about  the  country  tor  exhibition.  He  had  taught  this  animal,  while  he 
accompanied  its  movements  with  a  song,  to  mount  upon  little  cylindri- 
cal blocks  of  woods,  placed  successively  one  above  the  other,  and  in 
shape  resembling  the  dice  boxes  of  a  backgammon  table.  In  this 
manner  the  goat  stood  first  upon  the  top  of  one  cylinder,  then  upon  the 
top  of  two,  and  afterwards  of  three,  four,  five  and  six,  until  it  remained 
balanced  upon  the  top  of  them  all,  elevated  several  feet  from  the 
ground,  and  with   its   four  feet  collected   on   a  single  point,  without 


m 


^NvVTA 


THE   AGILE   SYRIAN    GOAT. 

throwing  down  the  disjointed  fabric  upon  which  it  stood.  Doctor 
Clarke  adds,  that  this  feat  is  very  ancient.  Nothing  can  show  more 
strikingly  the  tenacious  footing  possessed  by  this  quadruped  upon  the 
jutting  points  and  crags  of  rocks;  and  the  circumstance  of  its  ability 
to  remain  thus  poised  may  render  this  exhibition  less  surprising.  It  is 
seen  frequently  in  mountainous  countries,  standing  securely,  though 
with  hardly  any  place  for  its  feet,  upon  the  sides  and  by  the  brink 
of  the  most  tremendous  precipices.  The  diameter  of  the  upper 
cylinder  upon  which  its  feet  ultimately  remained  until  the  Arab  had  ended 
his  ditty  was  only  two  inches,  and  the  length  of  each  cylinder  was  six 
inches.  The  most  curious  part  of  the  performance  occurred  after- 
wards ;  for  the  Arab,  to  convince  Doctor  Clarke's  party  of  the  goat's 
attention  to  his  tune,  interrupted  the  music.     As  often  as  he  did  this  the 


582 


WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 


goat  tottered,  appeared  uneasy,  and  upon  his  master  becoming  suddenly 
silent  in  the  middle  of  the  song,  fell  to  the  ground. 

For  extraordinary  muscular  activity  and  ability  to  overcome  apparent 
defects  of  organization,  the  kangaroo  may  be  cited  as  a  conspicuous 
example.  The  most  prominent  characteristic  of  the  kangaroos  is  the 
relative  disproportion  of  their  anterior  and  posterior  limbs.  Whilst 
the  former  are  short  and  weak,  the  latter  are  singularly  long,  thick,  and 
strong.  Thence  the  name  macropus  ("  large  foot  "),  which  is  given  to 
this  section  of  the  animal  kingdom.  The  tail  is  long  and  powerful, 
and  constitutes  a  sort  of  fifth  member,  destined  to  facilitate  in  the 
kangaioos  that  mode  of  pi  ogiession  which  is  peculiar  to  them.    There 


THE  MARVELOUS  KANGAROO  AND  HER  YOUNG. 

is  a  great  disproportion  between  the  anterior  and  posterior  limbs,  also 
the  two  bones  called  marsupial.  Very  curiously,  however,  in  one  of 
the  arboreal  kangaroos  of  New  Guinea,  the  anterior  limbs  are  even 
larger  than  the  posterior  ;  and  in  another  species  inhabiting  the  same 
country,  the  fore  and  hind  limbs  are  about  equal ;  while  in  a  third  New 
Guinea  species  the  fore  limbs  are  unusually  large  for  an  animal  of  this 
group.     It  is  adapted  to  the  locality  it  inhabits. 

According  to  circumstances  these  animals  walk  or  leap,  and  their 
tail  plays  a  great  part  in  either  case.  In  walking  they  first  place  their 
four  feet  on  the  ground  ;  then,  leaning  on  those  which  are  in  front  and 
on  their  tail,  stretched  out  like  a  rigid  bar,  they  raise  their  hinder  parts. 
brini:;ing  up  in  the  same  time  their  two  posteriiM"  close  to  their  two 


WONDERS    OF    ANIMAL   LIFE.  583 

anterior  legs,  and  moving  the  latter  forward  to  begin  again  the  same 
manceuvre,  and  so  on  repeatedly.  One  can  understand  that  they  can- 
not move  very  quickly  in  this  way,  and  so  they  have  recourse  to 
another  expedient  when  they  are  pursued,  or  when  they  want  to  leap 
over  any  obstacle  they  find  in  their  road.  The  fore  legs  then  remain 
unemployed ;  they  hang  idly  along  the  body.  Squatting  on  its  hind 
legs,  the  tail  stiff  and  leaning  on  the  ground  like  a  prop,  as  it  does 
when  the  animal  is  walking,  the  kangaroo  bounds,  as  if  it  were  pro- 
pelled forwards  by  a  spring,  and  alights  a  little  further  on,  where  it 
begins  the  same  exercise  over  again,  and  thus  on  indefinitely,  till  it 
chooses  to  stop.  The  larger  species  of  kangaroo  clear  as  much  as 
thirty  feet  in  a  single  bound,  and  can  jump  ten  feet  in  height.  Nothing 
is  more  curious  than  to  see  them  thus  traversing  space  with  almost  the 
rapidity  of  arrows,  and,  like  the  giants  we  read  of  in  mythology, 
receiving  fresh  vigor  every  time  they  touch  the  ground. 

To  complete  the  picture  of  the  giant  kangaroo,  we  must  add  that  its 
muzzle  is  long  and  slender;  its  ears  large  and  straight;  its  body  thin 
in  front,  very  massive,  on  the  contrary,  behind,  that  it  possesses  only 
four  toes  on  the  posterior  extremities,  and  that  one  of  these  toes  is 
provided  with  a  most  tremendous  nail ;  that  its  coat  is  composed  of 
silky  hair  on  the  head,  the  limbs,  and  the  tail,  and  of  woolly  hair  on 
the  rest  of  the  body  ;  lastly,  that  in  its  diet  it  is  essentially  herbivorous. 
The  female  is  provided  with  a  curious  pocket  below  the  breast  for 
carrying  her  young,  one  of  those  suitable  provisions  which  show  the 
work  of  design  in  creation,  and  of  which  there  are  so  many. 

The  animal  is  not  a  native  of  our  own  country,  although  it  easily  be- 
comes acclimated,  and  flourishes  in  the  temperate  zone.  We  have, 
however,  in  our  Great  West  a  variety  of  animals,  all  of  them  wonderful 
in  construction,  nature  and  habits.  They  have  a  wide  territory  for  their 
home,  yet  the  steady  advance  of  civilization  is  crowding  them  farther 
and  farther  away,  and  must  ultimately  sweep  them  from  the  plains. 
The  buffalo,  the  fleet  deer,  the  prowling  wolf,  the  cunning  fox,  the 
prairie-dog,  the  various  creatures  that  crawl  or  fly— all  these  abound  in 
our  own  frontiers,  where,  as  elsewhere,  exploration  has  brought  aston- 
ishing marvels  to  view. 

We  must  go  abroad,  however,  for  that  wonder  of  the  desert — that 
patient,  burden-bearing,  long-enduring,  strange-looking  animal — the 
camel.  The  camels  have  a  small  and  strongly-arched  head.  Their 
ears  are  slightly  developed,  still  their  sense  of  hearing  is  excellent. 
Their  eyes,  which  have  oblong  and  horizontal  pupils,  are  projecting 
and  gentle  in  expression,  and  are  protected  by  a  double  eyelid.  Their 
power  of  sight  is  very  great.     Their  nostrils  are  situated  at  some  dis- 


WONDERS    OF    ANIMAL    LIIE. 


585 


tancc  from  the  extrcmit\'  of  the  upper  hp,  and,  externaUy,  appear  only 
as  two  simple  slits  in  the  skin,  which  the  animal  can  open  or  shut  at 
will.  No' trace  is  found  round  the  nostrils  of  the  camel,  of  the  glandu- 
lar body  which  forms  the  muzzle  in  other  ruminants,  and  attains  such 
development  in  the  ox.  Their  upper  lid  is  split  down  the  centre,  and 
the  two  halves  are  susceptible  of  various  and  separate  movements,  con- 
stituting a  very  delicate  organ  of  feeling.  They  are  also  possessed  of 
an  extremely  acute  sense  of  smell.     This  remarkable  head  is  carried 


THE    WONDERFUL    BACTKIAN    CAMEL. 

With  a  certain  degree  of  nobility  and  dignity  on  a  somewhat  long  neck, 
which,  when  the  animal  moves  slowly,  describes  a  graceful  arched  curve. 
Tlieir  peculiar  body,  made  more  remarkable  by  the  one  or  two  humps 
on  its  back,  is  supported  on  four  long  legs,  which  appear  slender  in 
comparison  with  the  mass  they  bear.  In  the  Bactrian  Camel  the  color 
of  the  coat  is  chestnut-brown,  more  or  less  dark.  The  hair  grows  to  a 
considerable  length,  and  becomes  rather  curly  on  the  humps  and  about 
the  neck.     Below  the  neck  it  forms  a  fringe,  which  descends  over  the 


586  WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 

fore-legs.  The  dromedary,  which  is  less  massive  in  form  and  smaller 
in  size  than  the  camel,  has  a  coat  of  brownish-gray,  more  or  less  dark  ; 
in  some  instances  it  is  nearly  bay.  Its  hair  is  soft,  woolly  and  mod- 
erately long,  more  especially  about  its  hump  and  neck.  There  arc, 
however,  peculiarities  of  coat  characteristic  of  the  different  races.  We 
must  not  omit  to  mention  the  callosities  which  camels  have  on  their 
breasts,  knees  and  insteps,  as  well  as  on  their  heels.  Their  feet  arc  bi- 
furcated. The  two  toes  on  each  foot  are  not  enveloped  in  horn,  and 
have  only  on  the  last  joint  a  somewhat  short  and  hooked  nail.  A  hard 
and  callous  sole  covers  the  bottom  of  the  toes,  a  characteristic  which 
enables  them  to  walk  with  ease  on  loose  sand,  where  the  elephant  would 
be  useless  and  the  horse  would  soon  exhaust  its  strength.  The  Bactrian 
camel  is  a  native  of  ancient  Bactria,  now  the  country  of  the  Usbecks. 
It  principally  lives  in  Asia,  where  it  has  been  used  from  antiquity,  for 
domestic  and  military  service.  In  Africa,  where  it  is  acclimatized,  it 
has  doubtless  existed  since  the  time  of  the  conquest  of  that  country  by 
the  Arabs.  The  dromedary  is  distributed  all  over  a  great  part  of 
Northern  Africa,  and  the  major  portion  of  Asia.  It  seems  originally 
to  have  been  a  native  of  Arabia. 

Buffon  has  said  that  gold  and  silk  are  not  the  real  riches  of  the  East, 
but  that  the  camel  is  its  chief  treasure.  In  fact,  this  animal  feeds  the 
inhabitants  of  these  countries,  both  with  its  milk  and  flesh,  and  furnishes 
clothes  for  them,  fabricated  from  its  long  and  soft  hair.  For  centuries, 
sal-ammoniac,  so  useful  to  the  manufacturer,  was  solely  obtained  from 
it.  But  it  is  chiefly  as  a  means  of  conveyance  and  as  a  beast  of  burden 
that  it  renders  the  most  important  service  to  man.  Without  it  those 
nations  which  are  separated  from  one  another  by  vast  stretches  of  desert 
sand  could  not  trade  with  each  other.  Without  it  the  Arab  could  not 
inhabit  those  arid  countries  in  which  he  dwells.  With  it,  this  "  ship  of 
the  desert,"  as  the  eastern  nations  have  called  it  in  their  figurative  and 
symbolical  language,  life  is  possible  even  in  such  places  as  Buffon  has 
called  "the  blank  spots  in  nature." 

From  time  immemorial  the  camel  has  been  the  only  means  of  bearing 
commodities  across  the  desert.  By  means  of  this  patient  and  strong 
animal  merchandise  finds  its  way  from  the  remote  countries  of  Asia  as 
far  as  the  eastern  confines  of  Europe.  The  rich  products  of  Arabia,  in 
ages  past,  were  brought  to  Phoenicia  on  the  backs  of  camels  ;  and  in 
our  time,  in  the  same  way,  merchandise  is  borne  to  Alexandria,  from 
whence  it  is  distributed  over  the  European  continent.  The  better  to 
fit  the  camel  for  its  arduous  life,  the  Arab  trains  it  to  do  without  sleep, 
and  to  suffer  all  the  extremes  of  hunger,  thirst  and  heat.  A  few  days 
after  its  birth  its  legs  are  bent  under  its  stomach,  and  it  is  compelled  to 


WONDERS    OF   ANIMAL   LIFE.  587 

remain  crouched  upon  the  ground,  laden  with  a  suitable  weight,  which 
is  gradually  increased  with  its  age.  As  it  arrives  at  maturity,  its  food 
is  restricted,  and  given  at  longer  intervals  ;  it  is  also  practised  in  running 
and  enduring  severe  exercise.  Yet  it  knows  when  it  is  abused,  and, 
sometimes,  like  the  elephant,  it  retaliates.  A  valuable  camel,  working 
in  an  oil  mill  in  Africa,  was  severely  beaten  by  its  driver.  Perceiving 
that  the  camel  had  treasured  up  the  injury,  and  was  only  waiting  a  fav- 
orable opportunity  for  revenge,  he  kept  a  strict  watch  upon  the  animal. 
Time  passed  away  ;  the  camel,  perceiving  that  it  was  watched,  was 
quiet  and  obedient,  and  the  driver  began  to  think  that  the  beating  was 
forgotten,  when  one  night,  after  the  lapse  of  several  months,  the  man 
was  sleeping  on  a  raised  platform  in  the  mill,  whilst,  as  is  customary, 
the  camel  was  stabled  in  a  corner.  Happening  to  awake,  the  driver 
observed  by  the  bright  moonlight  that,  when  all  was  quiet,  the  animal 
looked  cautiously  around,  rose  softly,  and  stealing  towards  a  spot  where 
a  bundle  of  clothes,  thrown  carelessly  on  the  ground,  resembled  a  sleep- 
ing figure,  cast  itself  with  violence  upon  them,  rolling  with  all  its  weight, 
and  tearing  them  most  viciously  with  its  teeth.  Satisfied  that  its  re- 
venge was  complete,  the  camel  was  returning  to  its  corner,  when  the 
driver  sat  up  and  spoke.  At  the  sound  of  his  voice,  and  perceiving  the 
mistake  it  had  made,  the  animal  was  so  mortified  at  the  failure  and  dis- 
covery of  its  scheme,  that  it  dashed  its  head  against  the  wall. 

A    MUCH-ABUSED    AND    RIDICULED    ANIMAL. 

Quite  as  wonderful  as  the  camel  is  the  plain  and  homely  ass,  whether 
we  consider  its  burden-bearing  qualities  or  its  disposition.  Why,  says 
Buffon,  very  justly,  is  there  so  much  contempt  for  an  animal  so  good, 
•so  patient,  so  abstemious  and  so  useful  ?  Can  it  be  that  men  despise, 
even  in  animals,  those  who  serve  them  too  well  and  at  too  little  expense? 
We  confer  on  the  horse  a  degree  of  education  ;  he  is  cared  for,  he  is 
trained  and  he  is  exercised,  whilst  the  ass  is  handed  over  to  the  mercy 
of  the  lowest  servant,  or  to  the  malice  of  children,  and,  so  far  from  im- 
proving by  education,  he  must  almost  always  be  the  worse  for  it ;  if  he 
did  not  possess  a  large  supply  of  good  qualities  he  would,  in  fact,  lose 
all  in  consequence  of  the  treatment  which  he  receives.  He  is  too  fre- 
quently the  plaything,  the  butt  and  the  drudge  of  his  owner,  who  drives 
him,  beats  him,  overloads  him  and  tires  him  out,  without  care  and  with- 
out mercy.  There  seems  to  be  no  attention  paid  to  the  fact  that  the 
ass  would  be  the  best  and  most  useful  of  animals,  if  there  had  been  no 
such  animal  in  the  world  as  the  horse. 

While  the  horse  is  full  of  pride,  impetuosity  and  ardor,  the  ass  is 
mild,  humble  and  patient,  and  bears  with  resignation  the  most  cruel 
treatment.     Most  abstemious  in  its  habits,  it  is  content  with  the  coarsest 


DARING  LLAP  Ol    WILD   ASbEb    IN    HlbHl 
588 


WONDERS   OF    ANIMAL    LIFE.  589 

herbage,  which  other  beasts  will  not  touch,  even  such  as  thistles  and 
weeds.  A  small  quantity  of  water  is  sufficient  for  it,  but  this  it  requires 
pure  and  clear.  It  will  not,  like  the  horse,  wallow  in  mud  or  water ; 
and  as  its  master  too  often  forgets  to  groom  it,  it  performs  this  duty  by 
rolling  itself  on  the  turf  or  the  heather  when  opportunity  offers.  It  has 
sharp  sight,  an  excellent  sense  of  smell  and  an  ear  of  keen  acuteness, 
If  it  is  laden  too  heavily  it  remonstrates  by  drooping  its  head  and  low- 
ering its  ears.  When  it  is  teased,  it  opens  its  mouth  and  draws  back 
its  lips  in  a  disagreeable  manner,  giving  it  a  mocking  and  derisive  air. 
The  ass  walks,  trots  and  gallops  like  the  horse,  but  all  its  movements 
are  shorter  and  slower.  Whatever  pace  it  employs,  if  too  hardly  pressed, 
it  soon  becomes  tired  ;  if  not  hurried,  it  is  most  enduring.  It  sleeps 
less  than  the  horse,  and  never  lies  down  for  this  purpose  except  when 
worn  out  with  fatigue.  It  never  utters  its  long  and  discordant  cry, 
which  passes  in  inharmonious  succession  from  sharp  to  flat  and  from 
flat  to  sharp,  except  when  hungry,  or  expressing  amorous  feelings. 

MORE  THAN  A  MATCH  FOR  WOLVES. 

The  ass  carries  the  heaviest  weight  in  proportion  to  its  size  of  all 
beasts  of  burden  ;  it  costs  little  or  nothing  to  keep,  and  requires,  so  to 
speak,  no  care  ;  it  is  a  most  useful  auxiliary  to  the  poor  man,  more 
especially  in  rugged  mountainous  countries,  where  its  sureness  of  foot 
enables  it  to  go  where  horses  could  not  fail  to  meet  with  accidents.  It 
is,  therefore,  the  horse  of  those  of  small  means ;  the  abstemious  and 
devoted  helper  of  the  poor.  It  suffers  with  resignation  under  the 
tyranny  of  its  oppressors.  In  energy,  in  nervous  power,  and  in 
temperament,  the  ass  even  surpasses  the  horse.  It  is  also  superior  to 
the  latter  in  docility,  abstemiousness,  and  capacity  to  endure  fatigue. 
The  wild  ass,  in  its  shape  and  proportions,  takes  the  middle  place 
between  the  horse  and  the  ass.  It  resembles  a  mule,  but  its  legs  are 
more  slender,  and  its  carriage  is  lighter.  The  general  color  is  dun,  the 
main  and  dorsal  stripe  black,  and  the  tail  is  terminated  by  a  black  tuft. 
This  animal  inhabits  the  sandy  deserts  of  Asia,  especially  those  of 
Mongolia,  or  the  plains  north  of  the  Himalaya.  In  their  periodical 
migrations  they  come  down  as  far  as  the  Persian  Gulf  and  Hindoostan. 
To  the  north,  they  do  not  go  beyond  the  forty -fifth  degree  of  latitude. 
They  live  together  in  innumerable  droves,  and  travel  under  the  guidance 
of  a  leader,  whom  they  obey  with  intelligent  submission.  If  they 
chance  to  be  attacked  by  wolves  they  range  themselves  in  a  circle, 
placing  the  weak  and  younger  members  in  the  centre,  when  they  defend 
themselves  so  courageously  with  their  fore-feet  and  teeth  that  they 
almost  invariably  come  off  victorious.  The  Tartars  capture  them  to  get 
possession  of  their  skins ;  they  also  eat  their  flesh,  which  is  considered 


590 


WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 


mane  is  black 
widens  on  the 


excellent.  The  wild  ass  is  endowed  with  a  sure  foot  and  great  swift- 
ness, but  it  is  difficult  to  tame.  In  order  to  capture  them,  snares  and 
nets  made  of  cord  are  placed  around  the  places  where  they  are  in  the 
habit  of  coming  to  drink.  Larger  than  the  domestic  animal,  the  wild 
ass  has  a  narrower  chest,  lighter  body,  and  shorter  ears.  Its  legs  are 
also  long,  the  forehead  arched,  the  head  lean,  which  it  carries  erect, 
like  the  horse.  The  top  of  the  head,  the  sides  of  the  neck,  the  flanks,, 
and  the  croup  are  of  a  dun  color,  with  stripes  of  dirty  white  ;  the 
i  there  is  a  coffee-colored  line  along  the  back,  which 
croup,  and,  in  the  males  only,  is  crossed  by  another 

/ -___,      band  on  the  shoulders.     In  the 

books  of  Moses  the  wild  ass  is 
mentioned,  so  that  it  was  well- 
known  to  the  ancients.  It  also 
figured  in  the  festivals  which 
the  Roman  emperors  gave  to 
the  people  to  make  them  forget 
the  loss  of  their  liberty  and 
then-  departed  grandeur. 

A  remarkable  specimen  of 
animal  life  is  found  in  one  of 
the  tropical  islands.  The  aye- 
aye  is  a  native  of  Madagascar, 
which  Sonnerat  discovered  in 
that  island  towards  the  end  of 
the  eighteenth  century.  This 
singular  animal,  which  is  very 
rare,  was  not  even  known  at 
that  period  to  the  people  of 
Madagascar,  and  the  name  of 
aye-aye  given  to  it  by  Sonnerat 
was  due  to  the  exclamation  of  the  natives  of  that  island  when  this  traveler 
showed  it  to  them  for  the  first  time.  At  first  sight  the  aye-aye  shows 
some  striking  points  of  resemblance  to  the  squirrels  :  it  has  their  general 
form,  the  long  bushy  tail,  and  especially  their  dentition.  It  has,  in  fact, 
no  canine  teeth,  but  possesses  in  front  of  its  jaws,  a  pair  of  strong 
incisors,  isolated  from  the  molars  by  a  vacant  space,  similar  to  the  gap 
occurring  in  the  squirrels  and  other  animals  belonging  to  the  order  of 
rodentia.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  the  large  size  and  rounded  form  of 
its  head,  indicative  of  a  voluminous  brain  ;  the  conformation  of  its 
limbs  ;  the  length  of  the  digits,  and  the  opposable  thumb  in  the  posterior 
members  ;  the  complete  state  of  the  bony  circle  of  the  orbit ;  the  exis- 


THE   SINGULAR    AYE- AYE. 


WONDERS    OF    ANIMAL    LIFE.  591 

encc  of  only  two  mammas  in  the  female  ;  are  characteristics  which 
assimilate  the  aye-aye  to  the  lemurs.  The  habits  of  the  aye-aye  are- 
very  little  known  ;  Sonnerat  said  that  it  used  its  long  front  toes  to  dig 
into  the  bark  of  trees,  where  it  found  the  insects  on  which  it  fed. 
Nevertheless,  some  particularities  in  its  dentition  lead  to  the  belief  that 
it  also  eats  fruit.  Sonnerat  kept  a  pair  of  aye-ayes  alive  for  two  months. 
I  fed  them,  he  says,  on  boiled  rice,  and  to  eat  this  they  used  the  slender 
toes  of  their  fore-feet,  as  the  Chinese  use  their  chopsticks.  They  were 
drowsy-looking,  and  sleep  with  their  heads  placed  between  their  fore- 
legs ;  it  was  only  after  shaking  them  several  times  that  they  waked  up 

AN    EAVESDROPPER    WITH    BIG    EARS. 

What  a  strange  physiognomy  is  given  to  the  skull  of  the  little  rarity 
by  the  enormous,  curved,  chisel-shaped  pair  of  teeth  at  the  fore  part 
of  the  upper  and  under  jaws  !  What  can  be  the  meaning  of  that  long- 
shrivelled  middle  finger  on  each  of  the  hands  ?  It  looks  like  a  bent 
probe,  only  there  is  a  hook  at  the  end.  This  quadruped  is  stated  to 
sleep  during  the  heat  and  glare  of  the  tropical  day,  and  to  move  about 
chiefly  at  night.  The  wide  openings  of  the  eye-lids,  and  the  whole 
construction  of  the  eye,  are  arrangements  for  admitting  to  the  retina,  and 
absorbing  the  utmost  amount  of  the  light  which  may  pervade  the  forest 
at  sunset,  dawn  or  moonlight.  Thus  the  aye-aye  is  able  to  guide  itself 
among  the  branches  in  quest  of  its  hidden  food.  To  detect  this,  how- 
ever, another  sense  had  need  to  be  developed  in  great  perfection.  The 
large  ears  are  directed  to  catch  and  concentrate,  and  the  large  acoustic 
nerve,  seemed  designed  to  appreciate  any  feeble  vibration  that  might 
reach  the  tympanum  from  the  recess  in  the  hard  timber  through  which 
the  wood-boring  insect  on  which  it  feeds  may  be  tunneling  its  way  by 
repeated  scoopings  and  scrapings  of  its  hard  little  jaws. 

No  less  singular  than  the  aye-aye  is  th?  four-footed  animal  that  flies, 
a  fox  endowed  with  wings.  The  flying  fox  is  a  very  curious  inhabitant  of 
the  forests  near  Moreton  Bay,  in  East  Australia.  It  lives  in  flocks,  and 
moves  generally  towards  the  dusk  of  the  evening,  and  the  noise  produced 
by  the  heavy  flapping  of  the  so-called  wings  is  very  singular.  The  flocks 
like  quiet  places  where  there  are  large  Araucarian  pine  trees,withan  under- 
wood of  scrub  and  creepers.  The  foxes  hang  in  vast  numbers  from  the 
horizontal  branches  of  the  pine  trees.  When  there  is  a  clear  space 
amongst  the  trees,  an  enormous  number  of  the  animals  may  be  seen,  and 
their  noise  can  be  heard  ;  for  directly  they  see  anything  unusual,  they 
utter  a  short  bark,  something  like  the  sound  made  by  young  rooks.  Often 
every  branch  is  crowded,  and  the  flying  foxes  are  seen  either  flappmg 
their  wings,  and  holding  on  with  their  hind  feet,  and  with  their  head 
downwards,  or  snarling  and  fighting  for  places.     Suddenly  the  whole 


592  WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 

take  to  flight,  and  flap  their  furry,  wing-Hke  sides,  and  wheel  around  Hke 
heavy  birds.  Many  fly  with  their  young  holding  on  to  them.  The 
creature  is  not  a  true  fox,  and  there  is  a  fold  of  skin  which  reaches 
from  the  fore  to  the  hind  legs.  This  is  called  the  wing,  and  it  enables 
the  pteropus,  as  the  animal  is  called,  to  float  and  turn  in  the  air. 

The  ordinar)'  fox,  as  he  is  known  among  us,  has  always  been  notorious 
for  his  cunning.  He  has  a  way  of  looking  out  for  himself,  and  is  not 
wanting  in  shrewdness.  Many  facts  showing  this  are  on  record. 
The  proverbial  cunning  of  a  fox  is  well  illustrated  in  the  following 
anecdote  :  I  have  been  assured  by  a  person  not  given  at  all  to  exag- 
gerate, nor  easily  deceived,  that  he  once  witnessed  the  following  trick. 
Very  early  one  morning  he  saw  a  fox  eyeing  most  wistfully  a  number 
of  wild  ducks  feeding  in  the  rushy  end  of  a  highland  lake.     After  due 


AN  ANIMAL  NOT  TO  BE  TRUSTED. 

consideration,  the  fox,  going  to  windward  of  the  ducks,  put  afloat  in  the 
lake  several  bunches  of  dead  rushes  or  grass,  which  floated  down 
amongst  the  ducks  without  causing  the  least  alarm.  After  watching 
the  effects  of  his  preliminary  fleet  for  a  short  time,  the  fox,  taking  a 
good-sized  mouthful  of  grass  in  his  jaws,  launched  himself  into  the  water 
as  quietly  as  possible,  having  nothing  but  the  tips  of  his  ears  and  nose 
above  water.  In  this  way  he  drifted  down  among  the  ducks,  and  made 
booty  of  a  fine  mallard.  Though  this  story  seems  extraordinary,  it 
must  be  remembered  that  the  fox  manages  to  capture  wild  ducks,  wood- 
pigeons,  hares  and  numberless  other  animals,  sufficient  to  keep  himself 
and  family  ;  and  it  is  self-evident  that  in  doing  so  he  must  practise 
many  a  trick  and  manoeuvre  that  would  seem  most  improbable  if  re- 


WONDERS    OF    ANIMAL    LIFE.  593 

lated,  and  quite  beyond  the  instinct  of  animals.  Another  anecdote, 
quite  as  striking  as  an  ilkistration  of  the  fox's  wonderful  sagacity,  ap- 
peared, a  few  years  back,  in  a  Preston  paper.  A  farmer  of  that  neigh- 
borhood had  discovered  tiiat  a  fox  came  along  a  beam  in  the  night  to 
seize  his  poultry.  He  accordingly  sawed  the  end  of  the  beam  nearly 
through,  and  in  the  night  the  fox  fell  into  a  place  whence  he  could  'not 
escape.  On  going  to  him  in  the  morning,  the  farmer  found  him  stiff 
and,  as  he  thought,  lifeless.  Taking  him  out  of  the  building,  he  threw 
him  on  the  ground,  but  in  a  short  time  Reynard  opened  his  eyes,  and, 
seeing  that  all  was  safe  and  clear,  galloped  away  to  the  mountains, 
showing  more  cunning  than  the  man  who  ensnared  him. 

Other  animals  are  sagacious  and  seem  to  know  how  to  reason,  but 
are  not  conspicuous  for  cunning.  At  certain  seasons  of  the  year  the 
streams  in  some  parts  of  North  America,  not  far  from  the  coast,  are 
filled  with  fish  to  a  surprising  extent.  A  real  Newfoundland  dog,  be- 
longing to  a  farmer  who  lived  near  one  of  those  streams,  used  to  keep 
the  house  well  supplied  with  fish.  He  thus  managed  it :  he  was  per- 
fectly black,  with  the  exception  of  a  white  fore-foot,  and  for  hours  to- 
gether he  would  stand  almost  immovable  on  a  small  rock  which  pro- 
jected into  the  stream,  keeping  his  white  foot  hanging  over  the  ledge 
as  a  lure  to  the  fish.  He  remained  so  stationary  that  it  acted  as  a  very 
attractive  lure  ;  and  whenever  curiosity  or  hunger  tempted  any  unwary 
fish  to  approach  too  close,  the  dog  plunged  in,  seized  his  victim,  and 
carried  him  off  to  the  foot  of  a  neighboring  tree  ;  and  on  a  successful 
day  he  would  catch  a  great  number. 

The  jerboas  are  pretty  little  animals,  wnth  a  large  head,  prominent 
eyes  and  wade  ears.  Their  front  legs  are  very  short,  with  only  four 
toes  at  the  extremities,  fitted  for  digging.  The  hind  legs  are  five  or 
six  times  longer  than  the  front  ones,  and  are  terminated  by  three  or 
five  toes,  according  to  the  species.  This  kind  of  organization  recalls  to 
mind  that  of  the  jerboa  rats;  but  their  long  legs  make  them  much 
more  striking.  The  tail  is  long  and  covered  with  short  hair,  and  termi- 
nated by  a  tuft ;  the  coat  is  soft  and  thick.  The  jerboa  inhabits  the  vast 
solitudes  of  Africa,  and  the  steppes  of  Tartary  and  Russia.  They  dig 
out  burrows,  in  which  they  pass  the  day,  sleeping  on  a  bed  of  grass  and 
moss.  But  in  the  evening  they  seek  their  food,  which  consists  of  roots 
and  seeds.  They  make  use  of  their  fore  paws  to  convey  what  they  eat 
to  their  mouths,  in  this  respect  resembling  the  sprightly  squirrel. 

Under  ordinary  circumstances,  when  nothing  occurs  to  hurry  or  ex- 
cite them,  the  jerboas  walk  on  all  fours ;  but  if,  from  the  scarcity  of 
sustenance,  or  the  necessity  of  escaping  from  danger,  they  are  com- 
pelled to  go  a  considerable  distance  in  a  short  space  of  time,  they  use 


694 


WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 


their  hind  legs  only,  moving  forward  in  leaps,  like  the  jerboa  rats ;  but 
the  span  of  their  bounds  is  of  much  greater  extent,  reaching  sometimes 
to  three  yards.  The  way  in  which  these  springs  are  made  is  very  curi- 
ous. The  animal  first  crouches  down,  at  the  same  time  stretching  out 
and  stiffening  its  tail,  so  as  to  make  another  bearing-point  on  the 
ground  ;  then,  suddenly,  it  bounds  forward,  as  if  forced  by  a  spring. 
The  same  manoeuvre  is  repeated  after  an  imperceptible  interval  of  time. 
It  is  said  that  the  jerboa  can  compete  in  speed  with  a  fast  horse.  The 
ancients,  looking  at  this  peculiar  mode  of  progression,  were  led  to  think 
that  the  fore-legs  of  these  rodents  were  absolutely  unfitted  for  walking, 
and  for  this  reason  gave  them  the  name  of  dipus,  which  signifies  two- 
footed.     Jerboas  are  difficult  to  tame ;  they  can,  however,  be  kept  in 

strong  cages. 

Very  strange 
are  proboscis 
monkeys,  sa 
named  because 
of  their  nose, 
which  surpasses 
in  length  that  of 
mankind.  This 
15  a  peculiarity 
w^  h  i  c  h  distin- 
guishes t  h  e  m- 
from  all  other 
known  monkeys. 
They  are  also 
recognized  by 
THE  FAMOUS  JERBOA.  tl^cir  half,  \\hich 

is  more  developed  beneath  the  chin  and  around  the  neck  than  on  the 
other  parts  of  the  body.  These  animals  are  the  largest  of  their  species, 
measuring  nearly  four  feet  when  standing  upright.  They  are  also  the 
most  ferocious  and  least  susceptible  of  training.  They  inhabit  the  island 
of  Borneo,  and  are  found  in  numerous  troops  among  the  woods  in  the 
neighborhood  of  streams.  It  is  rare  to  see  them  on  the  ground,  nearly 
the  whole  of  their  lives  being  passed  on  trees.  Up  to  the  present  time 
only  one  long-nosed  species  has  been  discovered. 

The  natives  of  Borneo  pretend  that  the  proboscis  monkey,  or,  as 
sometimes  called,  Kahau,  is  a  man  who  has  retired  to  the  woods  to 
avoid  paying  taxes,  and  they  entertain  the  greatest  respect  for  a  being 
who  has  found  such  ready  means  for  evading  the  responsibilities  of 
society,  and  escaping  the  clutches  of  the  law. 


WONDERS    OF    ANIMAL    LIFE. 


595 


Pliny  alludes  to  the  fact  that  white  monkeys  are  occasionally  found 
in  India  ;  but  it  has  generally  been  supposed  that  the  specimens  seen 
were  albinos.  Sir  Emerson  Tennent  had  one  brought  to  him  in  Ceylon, 
which  certainly  could  not  have  been  an  albino,  as  it  had  a  black  face 
and  black  eyes,  all  the  rest  of  the  body  being  white.  He  was  told  by 
the  natives  that  this  kind  was  not  uncommon.  Others  are  occasionally 
found  entirely  white,  face  and  all.  The  Rev.  R.  Spence  Hardy  men- 
tions in  his  work  on  Eastern  Monachism,  that  On  the  occasion  of  his 
visit  to  the  great  temple  of  Dambool,  he  met  with  a  troop  of  white 
monkeys  on  the  rock  where  the  temple  is  situated.  There  can  be  no 
doubt  of  the  fact,  therefore,  that  white  monkeys  are  really  one  of  the 
varieties  of  the  race. 

The  guenons  are 
slender  monkeys, 
which  have  the  crani- 
um depressed,  and 
show  no  forehead — at 
least  at  an  adult  period 
of  life  ;  they  have  large 
paws,  marked  callosi- 
ties, long,  sharp  ca- 
nine teeth,  well-formed 
extremities  for  prehen- 
sion, a  long  elevated 
tail  and  a  thick  and 
more  or  less  speckled 
coat.  Naturalists  usu- 
ally designate  them  by 
the  name  of  Cercopi-  THE  strange  proboscis  monkey. 

theci,  which  means  tailed  monkeys.  The  genus  comprises  about  thirty 
species.  These  animals  live  in  troops  in  the  forests  ;  they  are  con- 
stantly moving  about  from  tree  to  tree,  and  with  an  extraordinary  fa- 
cility execute  the  most  wonderful  capers.  In  each  troop  there  is  a 
sentry  intrusted  to  watch  over  the  general  safety.  On  the  appearance 
of  an  enemy,  this  vedette  gives  a  particular  cry,  and  all  the  band,  col- 
lecting in  the  highest  places  they  can  find,  at  once  prepare  to  repel  the 
intruder.  Fruits  and  branches  are  then  hurled  down  at  the  aggressor, 
who,  disarmed  and  helpless  against  this  aerial  horde,  is  soon  compelled 
to  take  to  flight.  The  negroes  find  this  kind  of  skirmishes  but  little  to 
their  taste,  and,  therefore,  rarely  trust  themselves  in  those  parts  of  the 
forests  where  the  guenons  have  established  their  domicile.  The  largest 
quadrupeds,  not  even  excepting  the  elephant,  are  not  exempted  from 


596  WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 

these  attacks,  and  find  it  advisable  to  evade  by  flight  the  disagreeable, 
if  not  dangerous,  consequences  of  such  conflicts.  There  are  only  two 
beings  capable  of  contending  successfully  with  them  ;  these  are  man, 
with  his  bow  or.  firearm,  and  the  serpent,  which  creeps  in  the  darkness 
to  the  highest  branches  of  the  trees,  and  in  this  way  contrives  to  cir- 
cumvent and  seize  these  dwellers  of  the  forests. 

The  food  of  the  monkeys  is  varied  ;  they  chiefly  live  on  roots,  leaves 
and  fruits.  They  also  eat  the  eggs  of  birds,  insects,  sometimes  even 
moUusks,  and  they  are  particularly  partial  to  honey.  They  devastate 
gardens  and  plantations,  and  appear  impelled  to  commit  these  acts  of 
brigandage  as  much  from  an  instinct  for  thieving  and  pillage  as  from 
the  demands  of  hunger,  for  they  destroy  and  damage  all  that  they  can- 
not carry  off*.  They  go  about  the  destruction  of  gardens  in  the  same 
manner  as  the  magots ;  that  is  to  say,  they  charge  some  one  of  their 
number  to  collect  the  spoil,  which  is  quickly  passed  from  hand  to  hand. 
The  surprise  of  the  planter  who  finds  himself  face  to  face  with  this  pil- 
laging tribe  may  be  left  to  the  imagination. 

They  have  a  singular  aptitude  in  passing  from  gaiety,  which  is  other- 
wise their  usual  state,  to  melancholy,  from  melancholy  to  joy,  and  from 
joy  to  anger,  in  a  few  seconds,  and  from  the  slightest  causes.  We  see 
them  ardently  desirous  of  obtaining  a  certain  object,  testifying  the  live- 
liest pleasure  if  allowed  to  possess  it,  and  almost  immediately  after 
throwing  it  away  with  indifference,  or  breaking  it  in  a  fit  of  rage.  We 
also  see  them  delighting  in  the  society  of  another  animal,  evincing  in 
their  own  way  the  most  tender  regard  for  it,  and  then  suddenly  becom- 
ing irritated,  pursuing  it  with  hoarse  cries,  and  biting  it  as  if  it  were  an 
enemy  ;  immediately  peace  is  made,  and  the  caresses  recommence  and 
continue,  until  a  new  caprice  brings  about  the  same  results. 

Perhaps  no  more  singular  animal  in  appearance  was  ever  created 
than  the  mandrill.  Baboons  almost  exclusively  inhabit  Africa,  a  single 
species  only  being  found  in  Asia.  They  live  either  in  forests,  or  low 
mountainous  rocky  localities,  and  subsist  on  fruits  and  insects.  In 
captivity  they  are  almost  omnivorous  The  mandrill  is  characterized 
in  the  first  place  by  a  very  short  tail,  and  in  the  second  by  deep 
wrinkles  on  each  side  of  the  nose,  and  which  are  more  or  less  bril- 
liantly colored.  Indeed,  the  mandrill  is  one  of  the  cynocephali  whose 
colors  are  the  brightest.  It  has  the  face  streaked  with  brilliant  red, 
blue,  and  black  bands.  The  upper  part  of  the  thigh  is  of  a  bright  red, 
mixed  with  blue,  and  very  peculiar  in  appearance.  It  is  remarkable 
that  these  diverse  colorations  are  not  permanent,  but  disappear  when 
the  animal  is  in  bad  health. 

The  mandrill,  when  old,  is  vindictive  and  malicious.      Even  when 


WONDERS    OF    ANIMAL   LIFE. 


597 


taken  young,  and  supposed  to  be  tame,  it  should  never  be  trusted. 
Captivity  does  not  in  any  way  tone  down  the  violence  of  its  character. 
Yet  among  these  animals  there  are  some  which  preserve  their  docility 
for  a  long  time.  We  have  an  instance  of  this  in  the  one  exhibited  in 
London,  which,  in  consequence  of  its  intelligence,  acquired  consider- 
able reputation.  This  monkey,  named  Happy  Jerry,  seated  himself 
with  an  air  of  hauteur  in  a  carriage,  drank  porter  out  of  a  pewter  pot, 
and  smoked  a  pipe  with  all  becoming  gravity.  The  baboon  was  known 
to  the  ancient  Egyptians,  on  whose  monuments  it  often  appears.  It 
symbolized  the  god  Thoth,  the  inventor  of  the  alphabet,  and  for  this 
reason  it  was  held  in  great  veneration.  Numerous  mummies  of  this 
animal  have  been  found  in  Egyptian  burial-places.  At  the  present  time 
the)-  make  a  less  noble 
figure  in  society.  The 
Orientals  train  it  to  per- 
form various  tricks,  and 
exhibit  it  in  public.  It  is 
a  native  of  Abyssinia, 
Sennaur,  and  Arabia. 

The  monkey  tribes, 
although  bearing  a  form 
and  resemblance  sugges- 
tive of  man,  do  not  pos- 
sess the  amount  of  in- 
telligence, or  sagacity, 
which  belongs  to  several 
other  species  of  animals. 
The  elephant  is  not  only 
a  marvel  in  size  and  con- 
struction, but  also  in  cer-  THE  MARVELOUS  MANDRILL. 
tain  qualities  of  a  higher  order,  far  superior  to  every  other  animal. 

The  enormous  physical  strength  of  the  elephant  is  scarcely  so 
wonderful  as  the  extreme  sagacity  with  which  he  often  exercises  it. 
At  Malire,  on  the  coast  of  Malabar,  M.  Toreen  relates  that  he  had  the. 
opportunity  of  witnessing  a  remarkable  instance  of  this.  An  elephant 
had  been  hired  out  for  a  certain  sum  per  day,  and  its  employment  was 
to  carry  with  its  trunk  timber  for  a  building  out  of  a  river.  This  it  did 
very  dextrously  under  the  command  of  a  boy,  laying  the  pieces  one 
upon  another  in  such  exact  order  that  a  man  could  not  have  done 
better.  A  traveler  saw  a  ship  in  course  of  construction  at  Goa,  and  at 
a  short  distance  from  it  a  number  of  heavy  logs  of  wood.  The  men 
engaged   in  the  work   fastened  a  rope  to  the  end  of   the  beam  that 


598  WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 

required  moving,  and  handed  the  other  end  of  the  rope  to  an  elephant, 
who  twisted  it  round  his  trunk  and  dragged  the  timber  to  the  ship  without 
any  conductor.  One  of  the  elephants  sometimes  drew  beams  so  large 
that  twenty  men  could  not  have  moved  them.  What  is  still  more 
surprising,  when  other  pieces  of  timber  lay  in  his  way,  the  elephant 
had  the  sense  to  lift  up  the  end  of  his  own  beam,  and  run  it  over  them 
with  the  intelligence  of  a  human  being. 

Some  years  ago  two  elephants,  a  male  and  female,  were  taken  from 
the  menagarie  of  the  Prince  of  Orange,  at  the  Hague,  to  Paris,  to  a 
place  suitably  prepared  for  their  reception.  The  inclosure,  formed  of 
strong  and  thick  beams,  was  in  two  divisions  or  apartments,  separated 
by  a  gate.  The  male  elephant  entered  first,  and  looked  suspiciously 
about  him.  He  then  proceeded  to  examine  every  bar  with  his  trunk, 
as  if  trying  their  solidity.  They  were  held  together  by  large  screw- 
bolts,  the  heads  of  which  were  outside  ;  these  the  elephant  found  out, 
and  tried  to  turn  the  screws,  but  was  not  able.  When  he  came  to  the 
gate  between  the  two  apartments,  he  soon  discovered  that  it  was  only 
secured  by  an  iron  bar  which  rose  perpendicularly.  He  raised  it  with 
his  trunk,  pushed  up  the  door,  and  entered  into  the  second  apartment, 
where  he  found  a  breakfast  had  been  prepared  for  him,  with  which  he 
made  himself  quite  comfortable. 

From  the  instances  of  sagacity  and  strength  already  related,  it  may 
be  inferred  that  the  elephant  can  be  trained  to  perform  almost  any  suit- 
able task  in  the  absence  of  his  master.  M.  d'Obscmville  relates  that 
he  saw  two  elcjihants  engaged  by  themselves  in  breaking  down  a  wall 
in  accordance  with  orders  previously  received,  the  reward  for  which 
they  well  knew  was  to  be  a  dessert  of  fruits  and  brandy.  Their  trunks 
were  protected  from  injury  by  leather,  and  they  had  the  sagacity  to 
combine  their  efforts.  Doubling  up  their  trunks,  they  thrust  against 
the  strongest  part  of  the  wall,  carefully  observing  and  following  with 
their  eyes  what  effect  they  produced  upon  its  equilibrium.  At  last, 
when  it  was  sufficiently  loosened,  they  made  one  violent  push  together, 
and,  on  their  suddenly  drawing  back,  that  they  might  not  be  hurt,  the 
wall  came  tumbling  to  the  ground,  but  they  were  out  of  danger. 

THE    WONDERFUL    WHITE    ELEPHANT. 

Among  the  animals  which  in  various  countries  have  been  the  objects 
of  superstitious  veneration,  few  have  ever  received  the  attention 
accorded  in  the  kingdoms  of  Siam  and  Avato  a  white  elephant.  Such 
an  animal,  when  he  makes  his  appearance  in  the  forest,  is  regarded  as 
sacred  ;  no  effort  is  spared  to  capture  him,  and  when  caught  he  is 
housed  in  regal  state,  a  long  train  of  attendants  being  allotted  to  his 
service.     "  King  of  the  White  I^lephants  ''   is  considered  one  of  the 


WONHERS    OF    ANIMAL    LIKE.  599 

proudest  titles  of  which  the  monarchs  of  these  countries  can  boast; 
and  fierce  wars  ha\e  been  waged  for  the  possession  of  one  or  more  of 
the  beasts.  They  are  looked  upon  as  the  symbol  of  all  kingly  auth- 
ority, and  to  be  without  one  would  be  taken  as  an  indication  of  the 
displeasure  of  heaven,  and  a  certain  omen  of  disaster. 

In  Ava,  especially,  the  white  elephant  is  held  in  the  highest  honor. 
He  bears  the  title  of  "  lord,"  and  is  ranked  next  to  the  king  and  before 
the  queen  in  dignity.  His  house  is  sumptuously  decorated,  and  he  has 
a  minister  of  high  rank  to  superintend  his  household.  When  there 
are  two  or  more  of  these  animals  in  the  possession  of  the  king  at  the 
same  time,  all  are  treated  with  similar  care. 

Their  food  is  given  them  in  vessels  of  silver  gilt.  Every  day  when 
they  go  to  the  river  to  wash,  each  goes  under  a  canopy  of  cloth  of 
gold,  or  silk,  carried  by  si.x;  or  eight  men  ;  and  eight  or  ten  men  go 
before  each,  playing  on  drums  and  shawms,  and  other  instruments. 
When  each  has  washed,  and  is  come  out  of  the  river,  he  has  a  gentle- 
man to  wash  his  feet  in  a  silver  basin,  which  office  is  appointed  by  the 
king.  There  is  no  account  made  of  the  black  elephants,  be  they  ever 
so  great;  and  some  of  them  are  wonderfully  large  and  handsome. 

For  the  maintenance  of  these  elephants,  one  of  the  finest  provinces 
in  the  kingdom  was  allotted  by  a  recent  sox'ereign  of  Burmah.  As, 
professedly,  a  mark  of  high  esteem,  the  monarch  has  occasionally 
entrusted  the  keeping  of  a  white  elephant  to  one  of  his  nobility ;  but 
the  expense  involved  in  the  charge  has  been,  now  and  then,  so  great 
as  to  ruin  the  unlucky  recipient  of  this  doubtful  honor.  Hence,  "to 
have  a  white  elephant  to  keep  "  has  become  a  common  saying  when  a 
person  has  an  expensive  and  unprofitable  dignity  or  undertaking  upon 
his  shoulders. 

The  mammoth,  or  hairy  elephant,  is  extinct,  and  a  live  one  has  never 
been  seen  since  men  have  known  how  to  read  and  write  ;  but  its  bones 
are  found  over  the  whole  of  Europe,  Northern  Asia,  and  North 
America.  The  elephants  now  living  are  the  African  with  large,  and 
the  Indian  with  small  ears  ;  these  are  both  dwellers  in  hot  climates,  and 
would  die  if  left  to  themselves  even  in  the  temperate  countries  of 
Europe.  But  the  hairy  mammoth  was  an  elephant  which  lived  in  cold 
and  temperate  climates,  and  it  is  a  most  interesting  creature,  becau.se 
its  teeth,  tusks,  and  bones,  which  are  by  no  means  uncommon  in  old 
bogs,  gravel-pits  and  brick-fields,  are  often  associated  with  the  weapons 
of  the  first  men  who  traveled  from  the  East  to  colonize  Europe,  then  a 
country  full  of  wild  bea.sts.  It  is  supposed  that  the  mammoth  lived 
amongst  the  forests  of  the  great  plain  of  Siberia,  and  that  it  was  often 
overtaken  by  floods  and  drowned.     The    carcases  would  float   until 


600 


WONDERS    OF   THE    WHOLE    WORLD. 


covered  with  ice,  gravel,  and  sand,  and  would  generally  decompose, 
and  only  the  tusks  and  bones  would  be  left.  Thousands  of  mammoth 
tusks  had  been  found  in  Siberia  before  the  chief  discovered  the  whole 
animal,  and  it  is  believed  that  there  are  as  many  more  mammoths  still 
covered  up  in  Siberian  gravel  and  mud  as  there  are  living  elephants 
in  India  and  Africa. 

Doubtless  the  mammoth  was  larger  than  the  elephant,  but  it  fell 
beneath  the  constant  attacks  of  savage  men  ;  and,  moreover,  it  lived  in 
regions  where  the  rivers  were  constantly  flooded  and  loaded  with  stony 
sediment,  and  where  bogs  were  common.  It  died  out  very  early  in  the 
history  of  man,  but  it  lived  when  Europe  was  very  different  to  what 


WONDERFUL    DLSCOVERY    OF   THE    MAMMOTH. 

it  is  now.  Many  animals,  some  still  living  and  others  extinct,  roamed 
through  the  country  with  the  mammoth.  There  was  a  great  tiger,  a 
h\-ena,  a  rhinoceros  covered  with  hair,  the  reindeer,  and  many  kinds 
of  bears.  These  companions  and  enemies  of  the  mammoth  left  their 
bones  in  the  earth,  and  were  either  destroyed  by  men  or  died  off  from 
alterations  in  the  climate.  The  mammoth  had  teeth  which  were 
coarser  in  structure  than  those  of  the  elephant,  and  it  fed  upon  tougher 
food  ;  its  hairy  coat,  so  different  from  the  skin  of  the  existing  elephants, 
adapted  it  for  a  cold  climate,  and  its  tusks  are  sold  by  the  thousand 
for  ivory.  Even  in  North  America,  on  the  shore  of  Bcl^ring's  Straits, 
the  frozen  cliffs  of  mud  and  sea  break  awa\-  and  disclose  i\ory  tusks 
and    mammoth  bones,  and   lately,  in  making  explorations  in   Rome^ 


WONDERS    OF    ANIMAL    LIFE.  601 

mammoth  bones  were  discovered  in  the  mud  by  the  side  of  the  Tiber. 
Its  teeth  are  common  in  England,  and  a  great  skull  \vas  found  at  Ilford, 
in  Essex.  An  elephant  fitted  to  live  in  a  cold  climate  appears  at  first 
to  be  a  very  strange  thing,  but  it  must  be  remembered  that  the  zebra 
can  only  live  wild  in  hot  climates,  though  the  horse  lives  in  cold  ;  and 
the  buffalo  can  only  flourish  in  the  warm  countries,  yet  the  ox,  his  near 
relation,  does  very  well  in  Europe. 

To  the  mammoth  we  must  add  the  famous  gigantic  mastodon  of 
Ohio.  Whilst  the  mammoth  has  its  tusks  excessively  curved  round,  the 
mastodon  has  almost  straight  tusks ;  the  molar  teeth  differ  also  in  each 
of  these  species.  The  bony  remains  of  species  of  mastodon  are  found 
in  the  middle  of  America  and  in  Central  Europe. 

Other  extinct  animals  were  equally  remarkable.  There  are  some 
hills  in  the  East  Indies,  close  to  the  great  Himalaya  mountains,  which 
have  large  bones  in  them.  These  bones  are  found  at  some  depth  from 
the  surface  of  the  ground,  and  are  of  enormous  size.  They  were  washed 
down  from  higher  ground  by  floods  out  of  the  bogs  and  marshy  land, 
like  those  into  which  large  animals,  even  at  the  present  day,  constantly 
stray  and  get  drowned.  One  of  the  most  wojiderful  animals  whose 
bones  are  preserved  in  these  hills  is  an  immense  tortoise.  It  is  now  ex- 
tinct, and  died  out  at  the  same  time  as  a  gigantic  cameleopard  and 
many  kinds  of  immense  elephants  whose  bones  are  very  common  in 
the  same  place.  It  was  a  tortoise  which  had  a  shell  six  and  a  half 
inches  thick,  twelve  feet  long,  eight  feet  broad  and  six  feet  high.  There 
is  a  curious  legend  which  states  that  the  world  is  supported  on  the  back 
of  an  elephant,  and  that  this  creature  rests  on  the  back  of  a  great  tor- 
toise ;  and  it  is  from  this  legend  that  the  creature  has  obtained  the 
name  of  Atlas. 

There  are  animals,  however,  that  are  never  found  in  their  native  state 
outside  of  certain  latitudes.  One  of  these  is  the  Polar  bear.  It  has  a 
reputation  for  boldness  and  voracity.  Doubtless  much  of  its  ferocity  is 
to  be  attributed  to  the  barrenness  of  the  regions  which  it  inhabits,  the 
absence  of  vegetation  obliging  it  to  attack  animals  to  suppl)'  its  craving 
appetite.  Its  domain  includes  all  those  solitudes  which  surround  the 
Arctic  Pole — Greenland,  Spitzbergen  and  Nova  Zembla.  Over  these 
vast  icefields  it  reigns  supreme.  It  pursues  the  walrus  and  the  seal, 
which  it  catches  with  ease,  for  it  both  swims  and  dives  with  extraordinary 
skill.  White  bears  also  feed  on  such  dead  fish  and  cetacea  as  the  sea 
throws  upon  the  beach.  In  the  summer  time,  when  they  betake  them- 
selves to  the  forests  further  inland,  they  attack  the  mammals  which 
are  natives  of  these  regions,  especially  reindeer.  But  notwithstanding 
their  apparent  love  of  flesh,  they  are  able  to  subsist  upon  vegetable  diet. 


If0'''') 


THE  FIERCE  POLAR  BEAR   AND  HIS  PREY. 
002 


WONDERS    OF    ANIMAL    LIFE. 


603 


Most  mariners  who  have  been  detained  by  the  ice  in  the  Polar  seas 
have  had  frequent  encounters  with  white  bears.  Instances  have  been 
known  in  which  they  pursued  them  into  their  vessels,  even  endeavoring 
to  make  their  way  into  cabins  at  night  through  the  portholes.  The 
white  bear  is  terrible  in  its  attack.  Accustomed  as  it  is,  to  meet  with 
little  or  no  resistance,  and  not  even  suspecting  danger,  it  rushes  upon 
man  with  a  blind  fury  and  determination  too  often  fatal  in  their  results. 
It  is  not  an  uncommon  thing  for  white  bears  to  drift  out  to  sea  on  float- 
ing icebergs,  when  they  become  reduced  to  the  most  frightful  distress 
from  hunger.  Fatally  confined  to  their  icy  raft,  and  utterly  devoid  of 
all  means  of  subsistence,  they  ultimately  attack  and  devour  one  another. 
Some  of  these  famished  bears  have  been  drifted  to  the  coasts  of  Iceland, 
and  even  Norway.  They  are  then  indeed  terrible,  and  make  an  indis- 
criminate rush  on  anything  before  them,  be  it  man  or  brute.  Circum- 
stances of  this  kind  have  certainly  contributed  to  form  the  reputation 
they  have  acquired  of  un- 
tameable  ferocity. 

Living  in  the  midst  of 
perpetual  ice  the  white  bear 
naturally  dreads  heat. 
Pallas,  who  observed  one 
that  was  kept  captive  at 
Kranojack,  in  Siberia,  says 
that  it  could  never  remain^ 
long  in  its  house.  Although 
the   climate  there    is    very  the  California  grizzly  bear. 

inclement,  it  took  a  constant  delight  in  rolling  in  the  snow.  The  white 
bears  in  the  Jardin  des  Plantes,  in  Paris,  suffer  so  much  from  the  heat  of 
summer,  that  it  is  impossible  to  keep  them  alive  for  any  lengthened 
period.  Cuvier,  however,  says  that  one  lived  there  for  fifteen  years, 
owing  to  the  care  that  was  taken,  both  in  winter  and  summer,  to  refresh 
it  by  throwing  over  its  body  sixty  to  eighty  pails  of  water  daily. 

The  white  bear  never  becomes  familiar  with  man.  When  in  a  state 
of  captivity  it  always  remains  wild  and  taciturn,  and  shows  itself  alike 
incapable  of  attachment  or  domestication. 

In  our  own  country  the  bear  was  formerly  common,  and  indeed  is 
now  in  the  far  west.  Beyond  the  slopes  of  the  Rocky  Mountains, 
and  m  some  part  of  California,  fine  specimens  are  to  be  met  with  which 
are  suited  to  their  climate  and  surroundings. 

Seals  place  sentinels  to  watch  during  their  sleep  over  the  safety  of  the 
whole  troop.  As  soon  as  a  man  or  a  band  of  white  bears  appear,  the 
sentinels  give  vent  to  long-protracted  howlings,  and  the  whole  company 


604 


WONDERS    OF    THE   WHOLE   WORLD. 


precipitates  itself  into  the  sea.  These  animals  mostly  breed  in  caverns 
which  have  a  seaward  face ;  and  the  young  are  remarkably  large  at 
birth,  and  are  then  clad  with  a  sort  of  fleece,  which  is  very  soon  shed 
— indeed,  sometimes  even  before  birth.  They  follow  their  dam  from  the 
first,  and  appear  to  swim  and  dive  with  equal  facility.  The  most 
effectual  way  of  killing  seals  is  to  strike  them  on  the  nose  with  a  club. 
If  they  are  attacked  with  pointed  arms  they  must  be  speared  very 
deeply  to  put  their  lives  in  danger.  When  they  see  themselves 
surrounded  they  defend  themselves  courageously,  but  with  little 
success.  In  their  fury,  if  opportunity  offers,  they  break  the  arms 
of  their  enemies  between  their  powerful  jaws.     They  are  harpooned 


A    BATTLE    WITH    BLADDER-NOSES. 

from  boats,  or  they  are  pursued  on  the  icebergs,  and  killed  with  axes 
and  pikes,  after  they  have  made  a  most  desperate  resistance. 

All  the  inhabitants  of  the  shores  of  the  Polar  Seas  pursue  seals,  and 
destroy  innumerable  quantities  of  them.  They  find  in  these  animals 
precious  resources  against  the  rigor  and  desolation  of  the  hyperborean 
climate.  For  the  Greenlanders  especially  the  seal  is  of  universal  utility. 
It  yields  them  nearly  all  they  want,  and  renders  life  endurable  in  the 
cold  countrx'  w  hich  they  inhabit.  The  Greenlander  eats  the  flesh  of 
the  seal;  and  is  contented  with  it,  although  it  is  tough  and  has  a 
disagreeable  smell.  He  drinks  its  oil,  or  lights  his  hut  with  it.  With 
its  skin  he  makes  clothes,  wrappers,  tents,  and  canoes ;  or  else  cuts  it 


WONDERS    OF    ANIMAL   LIFE. 


605 


up  into  straps  and  thongs.  Its  muscles  and  tendons  are  converted  into 
thread  for  sewing,  and  into  strings  for  bows.  Its  blood  even,  mixed 
with  other  substances,  forms  a  sort  of  soup.  Everything,  even  to  the 
membranes  in  the  interior  of  the  body,  is  turned  to  account;  properly 
dried,  these  serve,  owing  to  their  transparency,  to  close  the  openings 
which  admit  a  little  light  into  the  Greenlander's  wretched  hovel. 

And  so  the  chief  occupation,  as  we  may  see,  of  the  Greenlanders,  is 
seal  hunting.  From  their  }'oungest  days  they  are  trained  to  this  exer- 
cise, which  is  for  them  a  matter  of  life  and  death.  Sometimes  they 
launch  out  to  sea,  in  their  fragile  skin  boats,  and  harpoon  their  prey 
when  it  comes  to  the  surface  to  breathe  ;  at  othc^r  tinii:s  tluv  envelop 


ESQUIMAUX    WATCHING    FOR    A    SEAL. 

themselves  in  seal  skins,  stretch  themselves  on  the  shore,  and  endeavor 
to  attract  some  unwary  seal  by  their  deceitful  similitude  to  itself  The 
Esquimaux  also  take  the  seal  by  making  a  hole  in  the  ice,  and  the 
moment  one  of  these  animals  presents  itself  to  breathe  the  air  at  the 
improvised  skylight,  they  seize  it. 

The  Americans  and  the  English  of  this  country  are  the  principal 
people  who  organize  seal  hunting  on  a  large  scale.  They  fit  out 
annually  many  ships,  of  from  two  hundred  and  fifty  to  three  hundred 
tons  each,  for  this  purpose.  The  main  object  of  these  expeditions  is 
to  obtain  the  oil  with  which  the  flesh  of  these  aquatic  animals  is 
saturated,  and  the  fiir  which  is  one  of  the  great  articles  of  trade. 


606  WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 

For  a  very  small  profit  the  peasants  on  the  coast  and  in  the  isles  of 
the  Baltic  brave  every  year  the  greatest  dangers  in  pursuit  of  the  seaL 
When  the  ice  is  breaking  up,  five,  six,  or  sometimes  fewer,  embark  in 
a  canoe,  with  a  supply  of  provisions  and  weapons.  They  run  the  risk 
of  seeing  their  boat  crushed  between  the  masses  of  ice,  or  of  being 
carried  away  on  an  iceberg,  on  which  they  will  probably  die  of  cold 
and  hunger.  A  good  many  Norwegians  perish  each  year  on  these 
dangerous  expeditions.  Seals  sometimes  visit  the  shores  of  the  north 
coast  of  Scotland,  and  are  occasionally  hunted  in  a  strange  manner, 
which  is  not  without  its  dangers  to  those  engaged  in  this  pursuit. 

A    SEAL   MIGHT    BE   A    PET    OF    THE    HOUSEHOLD. 

The  seal  is  endowed  with  so  many  remarkable  faculties  that  it  seems 
quite  suited  to  become  one  of  our  domestic  animals  ;  and  so  it  is  perhaps 
surprising  that  man  has  not  yet  thought  of  training  it  to  fish  for  him, 
as  he  has  done  with  the  otter.  Its  gentleness,  its  sociability,  and, 
above  all,  its  intelligence,  which  is  almost  equal  to  that  of  the  dog, 
would  insure  it  a  high  place  in  the  affections  of  our  race.  There  are 
numerous  examples  on  record  of  seals  which,  having  been  tamed 
when  very  young,  became  so  much  attached  to  their  masters  as  to  fol- 
low them  wherever  they  went,  and  returned  to  them  even  after  they 
had  purposely  been  left  far  from  home.  They  give  very  little  trouble  : 
a  basin  filled  with  water  in  which  they  can  bathe,  and  a  hut  with  soma- 
straw  in  it  on  which  they  may  repose,  are  sufficient  to  keep  them  in  a 
good  state  of  health.  They  must  be  fed  on  fish.  As  they  devour  an 
enormous  quantity  of  this  food,  the  cost  of  keeping  them  is  the  great- 
est obstacle  to  their  ever  being  domesticated.  It  is  strange,  that  when 
they  are  accustomed  to  one  sort  of  fish  they  will  not  eat  any  other, 
and  rather  die  of  hunger  than  consent  to  change' their  diet. 

The  sense  of  hearing  in  these  animals  is  very  acute.  Captain 
Thomas  Brown  makes  the  following  remarks  on  this  subject :  These 
animals  have  a  very  delicate  sense  of  hearing,  and  are  said  to  be  much 
delighted  with  music  The  fact  was  not  unknown  to  the  ancient  poets, 
and  is  thus  alluded  to  by  Sir  Walter  Scott — 

Rude  Heiskar's  seals  through  surges  dark 

Will  long  pursue  the  minstrel's  bark. 

Mr.  John  Laing,  in  his  account  of  a  voyage  to  Spitzbergen,  mentions 
that  the  son  of  the  master  of  the  vessel  in  which  he  sailed,  who  was 
fond  of  playing  on  the  violin,  never  failed  to  have  a  numerous  auditory 
when  in  the  seas  frequented  by  seals;  and  Mr.  Laing  has  .seen  them 
follow  the  ship  for  miles  when  any  person  was  playing  on  deck.  It  is 
a  common  practice  in  Cornwall,  when  persons  are  in  pursuit  of  seals, 
as  soon  as  the  animal  has  elevated  its  head  above  water,  to  halloo  to  it 


WONDERS    OF    ANIMAL    LIFE.  60T 

till  they  can  approach  within  gunshot,  as  they  will  listen  to  the  sound 
for  several  minutes.  I  have  seen  this  method  pursued  by  the  fisher- 
men at  New  Haven,  who  are  very  skillful  in  taking  this  animal. 

A    WONDERFUL    AMPHIBIOUS    ANIMAL. 

The  walrus  and  the  various  seals,  of  which  this  order  is  composed, 
present  a  series  of  characteristics  which  correspond  exactly  with  the 
mode  of  life  which  lias  devolved  upon  them.  They  have  the  body  elon- 
gated, cylindrical,  representing  that  of  a  fish.  Their  limbs  are  very 
short,  the  extremities  alone  being  visible  ;  these  are  converted  into  fins 
by  being  provided  with  broad  connecting  webs.  Their  anterior  ex- 
tremities hang  alongside  the  bod)',  and  act  backwards  and  forwards,  as 
in  most  aquatic  quadrupeds  ;  on  the  contrary,  the  posterior  extremities, 
stretched  out  in  a  horizontal  and  parallel  direction,  are  arranged  in  such 
a  manner  as  to  strike  the  water  obliquely.  The  walrus  is  far  more  un- 
wieldy and  awkward  than  the  seal  on  land,  where  its  movements  forci- 
bly remind  the  spectator  of  the  wrigglings  of  a  gentle  or  fly-maggot ; 
but  it  makes  considerable  use  of  its  hind-legs  by  bringing  them  forward 
and  thus  taking  hold  of  the  ground,  whereas  those  of  the  seals  are  more 
directed  backwards. 

The  walrus  is  covered  with  short  scanty  hair  of  a  dark  reddish  color ; 
its  muzzle  is  large  and  puffed  out  at  the  upper  part,  and  is  terminated 
in  a  snout,  in  which  are  the  nostrils,  which  are  turned  upwards.  Alto- 
gether, it  is  a  creature  of  a  massive  and  unwieldy  appearance.  It  pos- 
sesses two  powerful  canine  teeth,  which,  descending  vertically  from  its 
upper  jaw,  project  somewhat  outwards,  and  constitute  formidable  weap- 
ons. It  inhabits  exclusively  the  Arctic  Polar  regions  :  it  is  especially 
common  in  the  neighborhood  of  Spitzbergen,  of  Nova  Zembla  and  on 
the  coasts  of  Siberia.  It  disports  itself  with  ease  in  the  water,  feeding- 
on  shelled  mollusks,  which  it  detaches  from  the  submerged  banks  by 
means  of  its  tusks,  which  act  like  garden  rakes.  Its  gullet  is  too  small 
to  swallow  a  fish  larger  than  a  herring,  and  it  is  now  certain  that  this 
animal  subsists  mainly  as  described.  Its  long  canine  teeth  are,  above 
all,  very  useful  to  it  in  hoisting  itself  up  on  the  shores,  or  over  the  ice 
which  is  in  its  way  ;  they  serve  it  also  as  points  of  support,  and  assist 
it  to  advance,  by  drawing  it  along  on  its  front  legs.  It  often  mounts 
upon  floating  icebergs,  on  which  it  will  drift  about  for  hours  together. 
Naturally  mild  and  inoffensive,  the  walrus  becomes  very  bold  when  it  is 
attacked  and  wounded.  Under  such  circumstances  it  will  fight  with  the 
utmost  fury,  and  will  show  its  desire  for  vengeance  by  all  its  actions. 
If  on  land,  and  consequently  incapable  of  pursuing  its  enemies,  its  feel- 
ing of  helplessness  makes  it  utter  furious  cries ;  it  tears  up  the  soil  with 
its  tusks,  and  attacks  everything  it  meets  with  on  its  way.     But  to- 


Gi.)8 


WONDERS    OF    ANIMAL    LIFE.  609 

avoid  being  injured  by  it,  after  it  is  wounded,  all  that  is  necessary  is  for 
the  hunters  to  keep  at  a  respectful  distance.  In  the  sea,  on  the  con- 
trary, where  it  can  display  all  its  activity,  the  walrus  is  rather  to  be 
feared ;  so  much  the  more  so  on  account  of  the  strict  union  in  which 
it  lives  with  its  fellows,  who  never  fail  to  come  in  great  numbers  to  help 
any  of  their  companions  which  are  threatened  with  danger.  They  sur- 
round the  boat,  and  try  to  sink  it  by  running  it  through  with  their  tusks, 
or  capsize  it  by  bearing  with  their  whole  weight  upon  its  sides.  Some- 
times, indeed,  they  even  try  to  board  boats,  much  to  the  disgust  of  the 
sailors,  who  have  no  wish  for  such  company.  If  the  boats  row  off,  they 
follow  them  for  a  long  while,  and  only  stop  when  they  are  out  of  sight, 

THE    VICTIMS    OF    A    TERRIBLE    WARFARE. 

The  walrus  has  to  struggle,  not  only  against  man,  but  also  against 
the  bears  which  inhabit  the  same  latitudes.  Although  the  white  bears 
are  provided  with  formidable  means  of  attack,  they  do  not  always  come 
out  of  the  combat  victorious.  The  deep  wounds  which  they  carry 
away  with  them  after  their  battles  with  the  walrus  sufficiently  attest  the 
valor  and  power  of  the  animals  which  they  wished  to  make  their  vic- 
tims. Formerly  the  walrus  existed  in  such  great  quantities  in  certain 
parts  of  the  icy  Arctic  Ocean,  and  were  at  the  same  time  so  bold,  that 
they  allowed  themselves  to  be  approached  by  bands  of  sailors  without 
attempting  to  escape ;  so  that  prodigious  numbers  of  them  could  be 
destroyed  without  any  great  difficulty. 

Having  learned  a  lesson  from  experience,  the  walruses  keep  together 
in  bands  more  or  less  numerous  on  the  rocks  and  icebergs ;  they  go 
but  a  short  distance  from  the  sea,  so  as  to  be  able  to  plunge  into  it  on 
the  least  alarm ;  they,  like  the  seal,  place  sentinels  during  their  sleep,  so 
as  not  to  be  taken  by  surprise.  Generally,  it  is  necessary  to  take  to  the 
boats,  to  row  after  them,  and  harpoon  them  in  the  water. 

Walruses  supply  diverse  products  of  considerable  importance  in  trade ; 
it  is  for  this  reason  that  such  deadly  war  is  waged  against  them.  In  the 
first  place  their  tusks  provide  us  with  a  grainy  ivory,  harder  and  whiter 
than  that  of  the  elephant.  These  tusks  detach  themselves  when  the 
animal's  head  has  been  boiled  in  a  cauldron  of  water.  An  oil  of  a  better 
quality  than  that  of  the  whale  is  extracted  from  their  fat ;  each  walrus 
produces  half  a  ton  of  it.  Lastly,  their  skins,  properly  cured  and 
tanned,  become  very  thick  and  substantial  leather,  which  is  employed 
in  carriage-making.  In  the  middle  ages,  cords  and  cables,  of  a  solidity 
which  was  proof  against  everything,  were  made  of  this  leather.  Albert 
le  Grand,  in  the  fourteenth  century,  relates  that  this  skin  had  a  great 
commercial  value  in  the  market  of  Cologne.  The  walrus  was  unknown 
to  the  ancients. 
89 


610 


WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 


A  traveler  in  the  East  gives  us  the  following  interesting  sketch  of  one 
of  his  experiences.  About  eight  miles  from  Kurrachee,  in  Scinde,  is  a 
place  well  worth  inspecting  to  all  who  are  fond  of  the  monstrous  and 
grotesque.  A  moderate  ride  through  a  sandy  and  sterile  tract,  varied 
with  a  few  patches  of  jungle,  brings  one  to  a  grove  of  tamarind  trees, 
hid  in  the  bosom  of  which  lies  the  grisly  brood  of  monsters.  Little 
would  one  ignorant  of  the  locality  suspect  that  under  that  green  wood, 
in  that  tiny  pool,  which  an  active  leaper  could  half  spring  across,  such 
hideous  denizens  are  concealed.  '*  Here  is  the  pool,"  I  said  to  my  guide 
rather  contemptuously,  "  but  where  are  the  alligators?"  At  the  same 
time  I  was  stalking  on  very  boldly,  with  head  erect,  and  rather  inclined 
to  flout  the  whole  affair.  A  sudden  hoarse  roar  or  bark,  however,  under 
my  very  feet,  made  me  execute  a  pirouette  in  the  air  with  extraordinary 
adroitness.     I  had  almost  stepped  on  a  young  crocodilian  imp,  about 


EGG    OF    THE    ALLIGATOR,    NATURAL   SIZE. 

three  feet  long,  whose  bite,  small  as  he  was,  would  have  been  the  reverse 
of  pleasant.  Presently  the  genius  of  the  place  made  his  appearance  in 
the  shape  of  a  wizard-looking  old  Fakir,  who,  on  my  presenting  him 
with  a  couple  of  rupees,  produced  his  wand — in  other  words,  a  long 
poh — and  then  proceeded  to  "  call  up  his  spirits."  On  his  shouting 
"Ao  !  ao  ! "  (come,  come)  two  or  three  times,  the  water  suddenly  became 
alive  with  monsters.  At  least  threescore  huge  alligators,  some  of  fifteen 
feet  in  length,  made  their  appearance,  and  came  thronging  to  the  shore. 
The  whole  scene  reminded  me  of  fairy  tales.  The  solitary  wood  ;  the 
pool  with  its  strange  inmates ;  the  Fakir's  lonely  hut  on  the  hill  side  ; 
the  r^akir  himself,  tall,  swart  and  gaunt;  the  robber-looking  Beloochee 
by  my  side,  made  up  a  fantastic  picture.  Strange,  too,  the  control  our 
showman  displayed  over  his  "  lions."  On  his  motioning  with  the  pole 
they  stopped,  and,  on  his  calling  out  "  Baitho  "  (sit  down),  they  lay  flat 


WONDERS    OF    ANIMAL   LIFE.  611 

on  their  stomachs,  grinning  horrible  obedience  with  their  open  and  ex- 
pectant jaws.  Some  large  pieces  of  flesh  were  thrown  to  them,  to  get 
Avhich  they  struggled,  writhed  and  fought,  and  tore  the  flesh  into  shreds. 
1  was  amused  with  the  respect  the  smaller  ones  showed  to  their  over- 
grown seniors.  One  fellow,  about  ten  feet  long,  was  walking  up  to  the 
feeding  ground  from  the  water  when  he  caught  a  glimpse  of  another 
much  larger  just  behind  him.  It  was  odd  to  see  the  frightened  look 
with  which  he  sidled  out  of  the  way,  evidently  expecting  to  lose  half  a 
yard  of  his  tail  before  he  could  effect  his  retreat.  At  a  short  distance, 
perhaps  half  a  mile,  from  the  first  pool,  I  was  shown  another,  in  which 
the  water  w^as  as  warm  as  one  could  bear  it  for  complete  immersion,  yet 
even  here  I  saw  some  small  alligators.  The  Fakir  told  me  these  brutes 
were  very  numerous  in  the  river  about  fifteen  or  twenty  miles  to  the 
west.  The  monarch  of  the  place,  an  enormous  alligator,  to  which  the 
Fakir  had  given  the  name  of  "  Mor 
Sahib "  (My  Lord  Mor),  never 
obeyed  the  call  to  come  out.  As  I 
walked  round  the  pool  I  was  shown 
where  he  lay,  with  his  head  above 
water,  immovable  as  a  log,  for 
which  I  should  have  mistaken  him 
but  for  his  small,  savage  eyes, 
which  glittered  so  that  they  seemed 
to  emit  sparks.  The  Fakir  said 
he  was  very  fierce  and  dangerous, 
and  at  least  twenty  feet  in  length. 
There  is  an  animal  which  is  met 
with  in  South  America  whose  the  bone-plated  armadillo. 
construction  is  most  remarkable.  The  armadillos  are  distinguished  by 
the  very  peculiar  nature  of  their  outward  integument,  which,  at  first 
sight,  might  lead  to  their  being  taken  for  reptiles.  Instead  of  being 
clad  in  hair,  like  other  mammals,  they  have  the  upper  part  of  the 
head,  the  top  and  sides  of  the  body  and  the  tail  protected  by  a  scaly 
cuirass,  very  hard  in  its  nature.  This  cuirass  is  composed  of  a  number 
of  bony  plates,  arranged  in  parallel  rows  and  of  various  shapes  ;  it  is 
not  separate  from  the  skin,  but  forms  a  veiy  curious  modification  of  it. 
On  the  head,  the  fore  and  back  part  of  the  body,  these  plates  are  firmly 
fixed  to  one  another;  but  on  the  middle  of  the  back  they  are  possessed 
of  a  certain  amount  of  mobility,  so  as  to  move  one  over  the  other. 
In  this  way  the  animal  has  the  power  of  executing  various  bending 
and  stretching  movements  ;  for  instance,  of  rolling  itself  up  into  a  ball 
whenever  it  is  attacked,  so  as  to  hide  under  its  cuirass. 


612  WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 

The  other  characteristics  of  the  armadillos  are  short  legs,  provided 
generally  with  five  toes,  terminated  by  long  claws,  which  are  used  to 
scratch  up  the  ground  ;  ears  pretty  well  developed,  upright,  and  pointed ; 
nostrils  perforating  an  elongated  snout,  and  detecting  very  acutely 
any  odoriferous  emanation ;  a  tail  either  long  or  rounded,  or  short  and 
flat.  In  some  species,  the  number  of  teeth  is  considerable  :  the  great 
armadillo  has  no  less  than  ninety-eight. 

The  armadillos  are  natives  of  the  great  plains  of  South  America, 
where  they  dig  burrows,  composed  of  one  chamber,  entered  by  numer- 
ous passages.  They  feed  partly  on  vegetable  and  partly  on  animal 
substance,  more  especially  insects  and  carrion. 

They  are  inoffensive  and  harmless  in  their  nature.  Their  size  is 
generally  small ;  the  largest  species — that  just  alluded  to,  which  con- 
siderably exceeds  all  the  rest — is  not  much  more  than  a  )'ard  in  length. 
The  smallest  of  the  species  is  about  the  size  of  a  rat. 

Some  domestic  animals  show  a  remarkable  intelligence,  and  are  cap- 
able of  a  high  degree  of  education  and  training.  The  late  Honorable 
Alexander  H.  Stephens  had  a  dog  that  shared  the  fame  of  his  master. 
The  name  of  Rio  has  become  historic.  He  w^as  Mr.  Stephen's  com- 
panion and  pet.  The  first  thing  in  the  morning  upon  rising  and  issuing 
forth,  was  a  jolly  frolic  with  his  dog.  Rio  always  slept  in  the  same 
room  with  him,  and  when  the  master  was  ill  and  confined  to  his  bed, 
the  faithful  brute  was  never  out  of  the  room  save  for  a  few  moments 
at  a  time,  for  days  and  weeks  together.  He  accompanied  his  master 
almost  everywhere  he  went.  He  was  as  well  known  on  the  rail- 
roads throughout  the  State  of  Georgia  as  the  statesman  himself,  and 
wc  have  heard  much,  gravely  told,  of  the  sagacity  of  this  remarkable 
animal,  which  would  be  incredible  to  readers  who  did  not  know  him. 
All  that  Youatt  says  of  the  poodle,  as  a  species,  is  true  of  this  speci- 
men, and  much  more.  He  would  close  a  door  quickly  and  quietly 
upon  being  told,  or  bring  a  hat,  cane  or  umbrella  from  another  room 
upon  a  like  command.  He  not  only  knew  the  names  of  all  the  house- 
hold, but  actually  seemed  to  understand  the  subject-matter  of 
conversation.  When  orders  were  given  by  his  master  to  have  his 
trunk  brought  out  to  go  anywhere,  Rio  did  not  need  the  appearance  of 
the  article  to  manifest  his  understanding  and  readiness  to  go.  When 
left  behind,  he  would  go  to  the  depot  each  day  on  the  arrival  of  the 
trains,  and  if  his  master  did  not  get  out  would  go  through  all  the  cars 
looking  for  him.  The  conductors  all  knew  him,  and  what  he  was 
about ;  and  if,  as  sometimes  happened,  he  did  not  get  through  his 
search  before  the  cars  started,  the  train  was  stopped  for  him  to  get  out. 
When   the   master  happened   to   return   by  any  other  conveyance,  a 


WONDERS    OK    ANIMAL   LIFE. 


613 


servant  liad  only  to  say,  "  Rio,  Mas'  Alex's  come !  "  and  the  dog 
bounded  off  with  all  possible  speed  to  welcome  and  literally  embrace 
him.  His  joy  was  manifested  not  only  by  putting  his  great  paws  on 
his  breast,  but  by  loud  and  protracted  barking.  Return  from  an 
absence  was  always  announced  to  the  village  by  the  well-understood 
signal  of  Rio's  bark. 

This  dog's  intelligence  was  scarcely  more  surprising  than  that  some- 
times found  among  other  domestic  animals.  It  is  on  record  that  a  .shoe- 
maker in  one  of  our  large  towns  chanced  to  leave  the  door  of  a  lark's 
cage  open,  of  which  the  bird  took  advantage  to  fly  away.     About  an 


THE   CELEBRATED    RIO. 

hour  afterwards,  a  cat  belonging  to  the  same  person,  made  its  appear- 
ance with  the  lark  in  its  mouth,  which  it  held  by  the  wings  over  the 
back  in  such  a  manner  that  the  bird  had  not  received  the  least  injury. 
After  dropping  the  bird  on  the  floor,  the  cat  mewed  and  looked  up  to 
her  master  as  if  expecting  his  recognition  of  her  cleverness.  Many  in- 
stances of  a  remarkable  instinct  in  cats  are  narrated.  One  of  these  ani- 
mals every  day  knocks  at  the  door  of  one  apartment  in  the  house, 
sometimes  modestly,  sometimes  with  a  sharp  double  knock,  occasional!)' 
with  a  series  of  raps,  pianissimo,  like  a  lady  or  a  quiet,  single  gentleman. 
The  door  is  half  glass  and  the  knocker  low.  The  cat  was  not  taught, 
but  acquired  the  trick  by  his  own  observation. 


614  WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 

Some  very  low  orders  of  life  are  a  surprise  to  the  naturalist,  and  his 
astonishment  only  increases  the  farther  he  pursues  his  investigations. 
The  virulence  of  the  poison  of  the  rattlesnake,  for  instance,  is  well 
known.  Doctor  Burnett,  of  the  Boston  Society  of  Natural  History, 
states  there  is  good  reason  for  belief  that  the  action  of  this  poison  is 
the  same  upon  all  living  things,  vegetables  as  well  as  animals.  It  is 
even  just  as  fatal  to  the  snake  itself,  as  to  other  animals ;  for  another 
naturalist  states  that  one  of  his  specimens,  after  being  irritated  and 
annoyed  in  its  cage,  in  moving  suddenly,  accidentally  struck  one  of  its 
fangs  into  its  own  body,  when  it  soon  rolled  over  and  died.  Here, 
then,  we  have  the  remarkable,  and  perhaps  unique  physiological  fact, 
of  a  liquid  secreted  directly  from  the  blood,  which  proves  deadly  when 
introduced  into  the  very  source  (the  blood)  from  which  it  was  derived. 

LEECHES  ATTACKING  TRAVELERS. 

Of  all  the  plagues  detested  by  travelers,  the  land  leeches  of  Ceylon 
are  the  worst.  They  exist  in  thousands,  and  though  not  visible  when 
the  weather  is  hot  and  dry,  a  smart  shower  brings  them  out  of  their 
lurking-places,  and  they  lie  in  wait  for  the  first  passer-by  with  all  the 
cunning  of  brigands.  Sir  Emerson  Tennant  describes  them  as  being 
about  an  inch  in  length,  and  as  fine  as  a  common  knitting-needle;  yet 
they  are  capable  of  distension  till  they  equal  a  quill  in  thickness,  and 
attain  a  length  of  nearly  two  inches.  They  have  the  power  of  plant- 
ing one  extremity  on  the  earth,  as  if  it  were  held  down  by  a  sucker, 
while  the  head  is  raised  to  watch  for  their  victims.  On  descrying  their 
prey,  they  advance  by  semicircular  strides.  Fixing  their  mouths  on 
the  ground,  they  move  forward  their  tails,  and  so  proceed  mouth  and 
tail  alternately  with  the  greatest  rapidity  until  they  lay  hold  of  the 
traveler's  foot,  and  ascend  his  dress  in  search  of  an  aperture  by  which 
to  enter.  They  are  so  flexible  that  they  can  insinuate  themselves 
through  the  meshes  of  the  finest  stocking,  and  when  they  once  reach 
the  skin  they  ascend  even  to  the  back  and  throat,  and  fasten  on  the 
tenderest  parts  of  the  body.  In  these  encounters  the  individuals  in  the 
rear  of  a  party  of  travelers  are  sure  to  fare  worst,  as  the  leeches,  once 
warned  of  their  victims'  approach,  congregate  with  wonderful  celerit}'. 
Their  size  is  so  insignificant,  and  the  wound  they  make  so  skilfully 
punctured,  that  both  are  generally  imperceptible ;  and  the  first  intima- 
tion of  their  onslaught  is  the  trickling  of  the  blood,  or  the  chill  feel- 
ing caused  by  the  leech  when  it  begins  to  hang  heavily  on  the  skin 
from  bemg  distended  by  its  repast.  Horses  are  driven  wild  by  them, 
and  stamp  the  ground  with  fury  to  shake  them  from  their  fetlocks,  to 
which  they  hang  in  bloody  tassels.  Sir  Emerson  declares  that  he  has 
also  seen  them  hang  like  bunches  of  grapes  round  the  ankles  of  palan- 


WONDERS    OF   ANIMAL   LIFE.  615 

quin  bearers  and  coolies,  v/ho,  however,  suffer  no  other  inconvenience 
than  the  annoyance  caused  by  the  inflammation  and  itching  of  the 
wounds.  The  best  cure  is  to  rub  the  part  with  lemon-juice.  These 
creatures  are  not  confined  to  Ceylon,  but  are  known  also  in  the  lower 
ranges  of  the  Himalayas.  The  Ceylon  species  have  five  pairs  of  eyes, 
and  their  bodies  are  formed  of  one  hundred  rings.  Their  teeth  are 
very  beautiful,  and  amount  to  seventy  or  eighty  in  each  set. 

There  are  also  in  Ceylon  spiders,  with  legs  which  would  span  an  or- 
dinary-sized breakfast-plate  ;  and  it  seems  to  be  now  pretty  well  ascer- 
tained that  these  creatures  seize  small  birds  and  feast  upon  their  blood. 
There  are  also  such  spiders  known  in  Australia  and  Hindostan.  Their 
webs  are  strong  enough  to  entangle  and  hold  the  small  birds ;  and  one 
species  weaves  threads,  or  rather  cords,  athwart  the  pathways,  which 
once  actually  lifted  a  traveler's  hat  off  his  head  in  riding.  Small  house- 
lizards  are  sometimes  seized  and  devoured  by  these  spiders. 

Other  tropical  wonders  are  to  be  found.  Mr.  Darwin  thus  describes 
a  crab  which  makes  its  diet  of  cocoa-nuts,  and  which  he  found  on 
Keeling  Island,  in  the  South  Seas.  It  is  very  common  on  all  parts  of 
this  dry  land,  and  grows  to  a  monstrous  size.  It  has  a  front  pair  of 
legs,  terminated  by  strong  and  heavy  pincers,  and  the  least  pair  by 
others  which  are  narrow  and  weak.  It  would  at  first  be  thought  quite 
impossible  for  a  crab  to  open  a  strong  cocoa-nut  covered  with  the  husk  ; 
but  a  good  authority  assures  me  he  has  repeatedly  seen  the  operation 
effected.  The  crab  begins  by  tearing  the  husk,  fibre  by  fibre,  and 
always  from  that  end  under  which  the  three  eye-holes  are  situated. 
When  this  is  completed  the  crab  commences  hammering  with  its  heavy 
claws  on  one  of  these  eye-holes,  till  an  opening  is  made ;  then  turning 
round  its  body  by  the  aid  of  its  posterior  and  narrow  pair  of  pincers,  it 
extracts  the  white  albuminous  substance.  I  think  this  is  as  curious  a 
case  of  instinct  as  ever  I  heard  of,  and  likewise  of  adaptation  in  structure 
between  two  objects  apparently  so  remote  from  each  other  in  the 
scheme  of  nature  as  a  crab  and  a  cocoa-nut. 

Other  actions  of  animals  are  wonderful,  as,  for  instance,  when  wolves 
cross  a  river,  they  follow  one  another  directly  in  a  line,  the  second  hold- 
ing the  tail  of  the  first  in  its  mouth,  the  third  that  of  the  second  and  so 
of  the  rest.  This  figure  was  chosen  by  the  Greeks  to  denote  the  year 
composed  of  twelve  months  following  one  another,  which  they  denomi- 
nated Lycabus,  that  is,  the  march  of  the  wolves. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

WONDERFUL  BIRDS. 

Enormous  Birds  of  Ancient  Time — The  Condor — The  Famous  Dodo — Eagle  and  Fish- 
Hawk — Rooks  Holding  a  Convention — Wonderful  Bird  of  Paradise — The  Humming 
Bird — The  Curious  Moth — A  Bird  that  Rings  a  Bell — Ingenious  Nests — The  Flamingo 
— The  Frigate  Bird — Mysterious  Butter  Bird — The  Hornbill — The  King  Penguin — 
Talking  Birds — Parrots — The  Handsome  Hoopoe — The  Cuckoo — The  Pretty  Fly- 
Catcher — The  High-Flying  Kite — -The  Lanner  Falcon — The  Java  Bat — The  Bittern — 
The  Thrush  —Nests  that  are  Eaten — Turtle  Dove — Ring  Dove — The 
Marvelous  Cockatoo — Interesting  Lessons  from  Bird  Life. 

EVERAL  yeans  since  some  bones  of  a  huge  oird  were 
found  in  the  islands  of  Madagascar  and  New  Zealand,  and 
they  were  supposed  to  belong  to  extinct  birds  which  were 
very  much  the  same  in  shape  ;  but  lately  some  of  the 
remains  of  the  epiornis  of  Madagascar  (named  from  the 
Greek  for  tall  bird),  have  been  studied  by  an  anatomist, 
who  asserts  that  they  belonged  to  a  gigantic  bird  of  prey, 
like  the  condor  of  the  Andes,  or  the  eagle  of  the  moun- 
tains of  our  own  country.  The  great  bird  was  at  least 
ten  feet  high,  and  its  eggs,  many  of  which  were  found  with  the  bones, 
are  fourteen  inches  long.  A  bird  of  prey,  with  its  leg  bones  longer  and 
thicker  than  the  corresponding  bones  of  the  largest  man  that  ever  lived, 
and  which  had  eggs  six  times  the  size  of  those  of  the  ostrich,  and  one 
hundred  and  forty-eight  times  the  size  of  those  of  the  common  fowl, 
must  have  been  at  least  many  times  larger  than  the  greatest  condor.  If 
the  condor.and  the  eagle  can  carry  off  a  goat  or  a  lamb,  what  might 
not  the  epiornis  have  pounced  upon  and  removed?  The  condor  has  a 
great  length  of  wing,  and  swoops  down  from  eight  thousand  to  ten 
thousand  feet  with  great  velocity,  and  when  it  is  attacked  will  give  much 
trouble  to  a  single  man.  The  epiornis,  with  his  height  of  ten  feet, 
would  have  measured  thirty-seven  feet  from  the  tip  of  one  wing  to  that 
of  the  other.  If  this  new  idea  of  the  habits  of  the  epiornis  is  correct, 
the  bird  may  certainly  have  carried  off  ten  times  the  weight  that  a 
condor  could  lift. 

It  is  very  probable,  when  the  nature  of  the  soil  in  which  the  bones  of 

the  epiornis  have  been  found  is  considered  with  a  view  to  calculate  the 

lapse  of  time  since  it  was  deposited,  that  there  is  some  reason  to  believe 

that  the  first  men  who  emigrated  to  Madagascar  destroyed  the  great 

(616) 


WONDERFUL    BIRDS.  617 

bird.  It  is  therefore  probable  that  the  great  epiornis  was  the  roc  of 
Indian  story,  and  that  as  years  progressed  the  truth  was  lost  sight  of 
in  the  desire  for  the  marvelous.    The  size  of  the  bird  cannot  be  doubted. 

There  are  some  doubts  whether  the  epiornis  was  not  like  a  huge  bird 
whose  remains  are  often  found  in  the  caves  and  bogs  of  the  islands  of 
New  Zealand.  This  bird  was  something  like  a  gigantic  ostrich  or 
cassowary.  It  had  bones  more  like  those  of  a  beast  than  a  bird,  as 
regards  their  length  and  strength  ;  and  one  kind  had  what  is  called  the 
drumstick  bone  of  the  leg  at  least  three  feet  in  length,  whilst  another 
had  a  foot  which  covered  as  much  space  as  the  sole  of  an  elephant. 
The  bones  of  this  great  foot  were  as  large  as  the  toe-bones  of  an 
elephant,  and  the  whole  bird  must  have  been  about  ten  feet  in  height. 
It  had  no  wings,  but  a  long  neck  and  a  small  head.  The  tail  was  short, 
and  the  legs  enormously  long.  The  feathers  were  very  hair-like,  and 
there  was  no  power  of  flight.  The  bird  could  stalk  along  like  a  fowl, 
could  stride  over  many  yards,  and  Mas  able  to  run  and  jump  at  a  great 
pace.  The  huge  toes  were  admirably  suited  for  scraping  and  grubbing 
up  the  tough  roots  and  other  vegetable  substances  which  were  the  food 
of  the  bird.  The  dinornis,  as  the  bird  was  called  (from  the  Greek  for 
awful  or  huge  bird),  was  not  a  bird  of  prey,  but  a  shy  and  fleet  creature, 
whose  strength  of  leg  was  enormous.  Overtopping  the  tallest  men. 
and  having  a  long,  erect  neck  and  a  proud-looking  head,  this  bird  must 
have  astonished  the  earliest  native  settlers  of  New  Zealand  who  have 
left  many  stories  concerning  the  gigantic  moa,  as  they  called  the 
dinornis. 

The  dodo  is  one  of  the  curiosities  of  natural  history,  on  account  of 
the  entire  extinction  of  the  bird,  and  the  paucity  of  its  remains.  Till 
a  short  time  ago,  nothing  but  a  few  fragments  of  its  bones,  and  those 
scattered  through  several  museums,  were  known  to  exist.  In  1866, 
however,  a  collection  of  boses  was  discovered  in  the  island  of  Mauritius. 
These  comprised  no  fewer  than  a  hundred  bones  and  fragments,  which 
had  apparently  belonged  to  four  or  five  dodoes,  somewhat  differing 
from  each  other  in  size.  The  dodo  was  undoubtedly  a  pigeon,  but  it 
was  flightless,  and  its  structure  was  modified  in  conformity  with  this 
circumstance.  It  was  somewhat  larger  than  a  turkey-cock,  and  the  above 
di-scoveries  completely  authenticate  the  well-known  portrait  of  the 
dodo.  It  was  addicted,  in  some  measure,  to  animal  food,  and  it  was 
doubtless  this  fact  that  made  its  flesh  less  palatable  to  the  Dutch  settlers 
of  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries,  than  they  found  that  of  the 
pigeon.  A  specimen  of  the  dodo  was  exhibited  in  a  show,  and  the 
keeper  used  to  point  out  a  heap  of  pebbles,  some  of  which  were  as  large 
as  nutmegs,  and  which,  he  said,  the  creature  ate. 


618 


WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 


There  is  a  fierce  bird  of  prey  called  the  fish-hawk,  the  proper  name 
of  which  is  the  asprey.  He  pounces  on  the  fish,  as  the  rest  of  the  sea- 
birds  do.  First  he  wheels  round,  then  he  poises  himself  in  the  air,  and 
then  he  drops,  swift  as  an  arrow.  In  a  few  seconds  he  appears  again, 
the  water  dripping  from  his  plumage.     He  carries  a  fish  in  his  mouth, 

3^^  which  is  still  alive 

and      struggling. 

But  none  of  these 

[  birds    seem   sure 

of      their     prey, 

'even  when    they 

I  have  snatched  it 

iiom  the  waves. 

It  often  hap- 
pens that  the 
great  sea-eagle  is 
close  at  hand. 
The  eagle  loves 
the  lonely  shore, 
cUid  the  steep, 
-w  lid  rocks.  He 
has  been  perched 
on  some  tree  or 
crag  watching  the 
fish-hawk.  Now 
the  time  has 
come  for  action. 
He  stretches  his 
wings,  bends  his 
white  head,  and 
swoops  like  a 
thunder-bolt  on 
the  fish-h  a  w  k, 
which,  in  his 
fright,  drops    his 

THE    WONDERFUL    SEA-EAGLE    ATTACKING  A  FLSH-HAWK.   prey,      whicll       is 

snatched  up  in  a  moment,  and  carried  off  by  the  eagle  in  his  talons. 
The  sea-eagle  lives  chiefly  on  fish,  and  has  his  nest  by  the  sea.  He 
drops  with  such  violence  on  his  prey  that  the  Italians  compare  it  to  the 
falling  of  a  piece  of  lead.  They  call  him  the  leaden  eagle,  and  he  is 
dreaded  by  the  people  who  live  near  the  coast.  He  will  carry  off  lambs 
from  the  flock,  and  all  the  smaller  animals  he  can  get ;  and  he  will  even 


WONDERFUL    BIRDS.  619 

attack  the  cattle.  No  one  who  has  not  seen  the  manner  of  attack 
would  believe  it  possible.  First,  the  eagle  dashes  into  the  sea  and  wets 
his  plumage  ;  next,  he  rolls  himself  on  the  beach  until  he  is  covered 
with  sand.  After  that,  he  rises  up  into  the  air  and  hovers  over  an 
unfortunate  ox.  The  ox  goes  on  quietly  feeding,  until,  all  at  once,  a 
shower  of  sand  comes  into  his  eyes.  The  eagle  has  flung  the  sand, 
and  now  he  begins  to  clap  his  wings  and  fling  more  sand,  and  startle 
and  terrify  the  ox  as  rriuch  as  he  can.  He  even  strikes  it  with  blows 
from  his  great  strong  pinions.  The  ox  is  half-blinded,  and  so  frightened 
that  it  almost  loses  its  senses.  It  rifns  headlong  hither  and  thither, 
until  at  length  it  either  drops  down  from  fatigue,  or  rushes  over  the 
cliff,  and  being  dashed  to  pieces,  becomes  an  easy  prey  to  his  enemy. 
Now  and  then  the  eagle  meets  with  his  match,  for  instance  when  he 
attacks  the  dolphin.  The  dolphin  is  a  sea-animal,  a  little  like  a  whale, 
only  not  so  large.  The  claws  of  the  eagle  are  entangled  in  the  skin  of 
the  fish.  He  cannot  get  them  free,  and  as  the  dolphin  dives  to  the 
bottom  of  the  sea,  it  carries  the  eagle  with  it. 

A  very  different  bird  from  the  pugnacious,  ravenous  eagle  is  the 
harmless  pigeon,  beautiful  in  appearance,  and  far  more  capable  of  being 
domesticated  than  the  wild  bird  of  the  forest  and  mountain. 

A  vast  army  of  pigeons  makes  its  home  in  the  forests  of  our  country. 
If  you  went  into  the  forest  where  they  live,  you  would  find  the  trees 
beaten  and  broken.  Great  branches  lie  strewed  on  the  ground.  And 
the  ground  is  as  much  trampled  do\Vn,  as  if  an  army  of  soldiers  had 
been  there.  The  pigeons  have  done  all  the  mischief.  When  they  have 
eaten  up  all  the  nuts  and  acorns,  and  every  bit  of  fruit  they  can  find, 
and  have  destroyed  as  much  as  they  have  eaten,  they  go  to  another 
place.  The  whole  army  of  pigeons  rises  into  the  air  with  a  rushing 
noise  like  thunder.     They  fly  so  high  that  nobody  can  shoot  them. 

Accounts  are  given  of  a  very  remarkable  flight  of  these  birds  in  one 
of  our  Western  States,  which  lasted  several  days.  It  was  a  wonderful 
sight.  The  air  was  full  of  pigeons.  On  they  swept — and  on — and 
on.  There  seemed  no  end  to  them.  Their  wings  shone  and  glistened 
in  the  sun  ;  and  looked  now  green,  now  purple,  and  kept  changing 
color  every  minute.  For  three  days  this  army  of  pigeons  kept  flying 
past.  It  was  a  mile  in  breadth  ;  and  it  was  two  hundred  and  forty 
miles  long  !  The  rushing  noise  made  by  the  wings  of  the  pigeons  was 
so  great,  that  horses  on  the  road  took  fright,  and  people  could  hardly 
hear  themselves  speak.     This  strange  flight  is  a  matter  of  history. 

Another  bird,  the  rook,  has  very  singular  habits  and  characteristics. 
Rooks,  like  men,  have  not  all  the  same  nice  sense  of  justice.  Some 
of  them  are  honest,  obliging  and  industrious,  others  knavish,  idle  and 


620 


WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 


mischievous.  In  the  spring  months  in  particular,  when  they  are  all 
busy  building  nests,  or  repairing  old  ones,  certain  evil-doers  invade  their 
neighbors'  store  of  sticks  to  save  themselves  the  trouble  of  collecting 
materials  in  a  more  laborious  and  lawful  way.  This,  to  some,  may  appear 
a  very  venial  crime,  but  what  a  plank  is  to  a  carpenter  a  twig  is  to  a 

crow,  and  to  pilfer 
the    one  is  as   bad 
as    to    purloin    the 
other.    But  as  often 
as  offences  of  this 
\ind    are  detected, 
a  complaint  is  made 
to  .tlie  proper  quar- 
ter, and  the  delin- 
quent   tried    and 
punished  by  his 
peers.      Some  vet- 
eran   bird    acts    as 
chief    justice,    and 
from  the  bustle  that 
goes    forward,    the 
cawing    of    some 
rooks  and  the  silence  ot  others,  it  is  plain  that  the 
court  proceed?  upon  system,  though  we  cannot  sub- 
scribe to  the  startling  opinion  that  they  examine  wit- 
nesses and  empanel  a  jury.     The  presiding  rook,  who 
sits  on  a  bough  above  all  the  others,  is  heard  croaking 
_    last  of  all,  and  when  sentence  is  pronounced  pun- 
■^  ishment  follows  very  promptly.     Blither  the  culprit 
is  seized  and  pecked  most  severely,  or  the  nest  con- 
taining the  ill-gotten  twigs  is  pounced  upon  and  de- 
molished, until  not  one  stick  is  left  upon  another. 

THE    M.'VRVELOUS    EMERALD    BIRD    OF    P.\R.AD1SE. 

None  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  bird  world  ap- 
proach the  Paradiseidae  in  elegance  of  shape  and 
beauty  of  plumage ;  and  there  is  something  so 
superb,  and  at  the  same  time  so  unearthly,  in  their 
appearance,  that  it  is  hardly  to  be  wondered  at  if  the  fancy  of  the  early 
voyagers  supposed  them  to  be  fit  denizens  of  the  Garden  of  Eden. 
The  most  extraordinary  legends  at  one  time  prevailed  about  them. 
It  was  said  that  they  lived  wholly  upon  dew,  and  passed  their  lives  in 
long  aerial  voyages ;  that  they  so  spurned  the  earth  as  never  to  touch 


WONDERFUL    BIRDS.  621 

it  until  the  moment  of  death  approached  ;  that  they  never  rested  except 
when  suspending  themselves  from  the  branches  of  trees  by  the  shafts 
of  their  two  tail-feathers  ;  and  it  is  still  a  belief  of  the  Malays  that  for 
raising  their  young  they  retire  to  the  untroubled  groves  of  Paradise. 
These  fables  partly  arose  in  their  peculiar  habits,  and  partly  in  the 
Papuan  custom  of  tearing  off  their  legs  before  sending  them  to  market, 
which  led  the  European  navigators  to  suppose  that  they  were  all  wings 
and  body.  Then,  again,  owing  to  the  singular  looseness  of  their  plum- 
age, they  always  fly  against  the  wind.  Add  to  this,  that  they  dwell  in 
the  recesses  of  the  vast  virgin  forests,  afar  from  the  haunts  of  men,  and 
that  their  song  or  cry  is  very  characteristic,  and  it  is  not  difficult  to 
understand  how  they  came  to  be  invested  with  so  many  fabulous  attri- 
butes, and  made  the  subjects  of  so  many  romantic  stories. 

The  Paradiseidae  are  confined  exclusively  to  the  Australo-Malay 
Islands — having  probably  their  true  habitat  in  Papua  or  New  Guinea. 
In  the  tropical  forests  of  these  islands  they  live  in  large  troops ;  and  as 
they  fly  on  undulating  wing,  or  perch  on  the  summit  of  the  tallest  trees, 
they  lend  an  additional  beauty  to  the  landscape  by  the  rare  splendor  of 
their  many-colored  plumage.  TRey  shun  the  noontide  heat,  and  seek 
their  food,  which  consists  principally  of  fruit,  in  the  morning  and  even- 
ing. They  show  a  great  partiality  for  the  fruit  of  the  fig  and  teak  trees, 
but  do  not  disdain  an  occasional  meal  of  insects,  of  which,  however,  they 
reject  the  horny  or  scaly  case,  legs  and  wings.  They  are  polygamous ; 
that  is,  the  male  has  several  mates,  from  whom  he  is  easily  distinguished 
by  the  superior  bravery  of  his  appearance.  Moreover,  they  recognize 
a  form  of  government ;  a  flock  of  forty  or  fifty  birds  flying  always  under 
the  direction  of  a  single  bird,  which  the  Papuans  call  their  chief.  Their 
cries  are  very  peculiar,  and  seem  to  differ  according  to  the  meaning  they 
are  intended  to  convey  ;  their  congratulatory  note,  on  meeting  one 
another,  resembles  the  cawing  of  a  raven,  but  is  more  diversified  in  its 
gradation,  and  may  be  expressed  as  '*  he,  he,  ho,  haw,"  frequently  re- 
peated and  rapidly.  Sometimes  they  appear  to  issue  a  call  or  summons, 
the  notes  resembling  the  syllables  "  whock,  whock,  whock,"  uttered  in  a 
kind  of  barking  tone,  and  so  loudly  as  to  be  audible  at  a  considerable 
distance 

The  best-known  species  is  the  emerald  bird  of  paradise,  of  which  it 
has  been  said  that  it  possesses  plumage  which  in  one  part  glitters  with 
all  the  dazzling,  gem-like  hues  of  the  humming-bird,  in  another  is  soft, 
warm,  and  delicately  tinted,  and  in  another  is  dyed  with  a  rich  intensity 
of  coloring  that  needs  a  strong  light  to  bring  out  its  depth  of  tone  ;  and 
yet  the  torrent  of  graceful  and  softly-tinted  plumes  that  flow  with  such 
luxuriant  redundance  of  changeful  curves  over  the  body,  are  in  them- 


622  WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 

selves  sufficient  to  place  the  emerald  bird  of  paradise  in  the  first  rank 
of  beauty.     It  is  the  queen  of  all  wonders  found  with  wings. 

It  has  been  asserted  of  this  glorious  creature,  that  it  surpasses  in 
beauty  the  whole  of  the  feathered  creation.  This  is  a  bold  eulogium, 
but  we  are  not  disposed  to  quarrel  with  it ;  nor  will  the  reader,  if  he 
succeeds  in  realizing  to  himself  what  manner  of  bird  it  applies  to  : — a 
throat  of  the  brightest  emerald ;  a  canary -tinted  neck  shading  its  color 
gradually  into  the  fine  chocolate  of  the  other  parts  of  the  body ;  wings 
of  a  warm  reddish-brown,  like  the  leaf  of  the  chestnut  in  autumn,  from 
which  droops,  as  it  were,  a  cloud  of  loose,  golden  plumes,  in  graceful, 
feathery  tufts.  The  chocolate-colored  tail  is  short,  but  projecting  from 
it  are  two  very  long  shafts  of  the  same  hue,  longer  even  than  the  silken 
plumes  of  the  sides.  Surely,  the  fairy  creature  which  is  clothed  in 
plumage  of  this  bright  and  varied  character  must  be  "  a  thing  of  beauty  " 
and  "  a  joy  for  ever!"  It  would  be  worth  a  voyage  to  see  it  fluttering 
through  its  leafy  forest-haunts,  and  streaming  its  brilliant  plumes  against 
the  wind!     In  color  it  is  nothing  less  than  a  flying  .rainbow. 

THE    BEAUTIFUL    HUMMING-BIRD. 

Under  the  shade  of  a  tree,  at  the'end  of  one  of  the  twigs,  hangs  a 
tiny  little  nest.  It  hangs  in  the  air,  and  is  as  light  as  a  feather.  It  is 
made  of  moss,  and  down,  and  whatever  the  bird  could  find.  It  is  very 
snug,  and  two  eggs  the  size  of  peas,  and  as  white  as  snow,  lie  within 
it.  Flowers  scent  the  air,  and  yonder  is  a  deep  wood.  The  bird  is 
about  the  tiniest  creature  you  ever  saw.  Its  body  is  no  bigger  than  a 
walnut,  but  its  feathers  are  more  lovely  than  can  be  described.  It  has 
a  green  crest,  on  its  head,  which  sparkles  like  a  little  star.  The  colors 
on  its  body  are  green,  and  gold,  and  purple.  You  can  scarcely  tell 
where  one  ends,  and  another  begins.  Humming-birds  live  in  many 
places  where  it  is  hot.  They  are  found  in  India,  and  in  our  own  coun- 
try. The  woods  and  groves  are  alive  with  them.  They  flash  about 
here,  and  there,  clad  in  the  fairest,  brightest  colors  The  eye  is 
never  tired  of  watching  them. 

The  humming-bird  will  finish  her  dinner  with  a  sip  of  honey,  but 
she  also  wants  something  more  substantial.  There  are  a  great  many 
insects  hidden  at  the  bottom  of  the  flowers.  She  .spies  them  out,  with 
that  bright  eye  of  hers.  Then  she  darts  her  long  tongue  into  the  mid- 
dle of  them.  An  insect  sticks  to  it,  for  the  tongue  is  sticky,  as  if  it 
had  been  rubbed  with  glue.  The  insect  is  drawn  into  her  mouth  ;  she 
swallows  it,  and  then  darts  out  her  tongue  for  another.  All  this  time, 
she  is  hovering  over  the  flower,  and  humming  with  her  wings.  When 
she  has  had  enough  insects,  she  sips  a  little  honey,  and  flies  back  to 
her  nest. 


WOiNDERFUL    BIRDS.  623 

There  is  a  singular,  winged  little  creature  to  be  met  with  in  South 
America,  which  is  quite  as  wonderful  as  the  bird  just  described,  and, 
in  fact,  much  like  it.  A  traveler  has  thus  referred  to  it :  A  little  girl 
of  our  party  came  running  to  me,  and  with  face  all  aglow,  said,  "  I 
have  not  shown  you  my  humming-bird  yet.  I  keep  it  in  a  cage  in  the 
house  for  fear  the  others  should  get  at  it;  but  it  takes  a  flight  by  itself 
every  day,  and  comes  back  again  when  it  wants  a  sip  of  sirrup,  or 
wishes  to  go  to  roost.  I  must  show  you  some  nests  of  the  beautiful 
little  birds  which  they  have  built  not  far  off."  I  accompanied  her  to  a 
little  distance,  where,  hanging  to  some  long,  pendant  leaves,  she  poin- 
ted out  two  little  purse-shaped  nests,  composed,  apparently,  of  some 
cottony  material  bound  together  with  spider-web.  A  graceful  little 
bird  was  sitting  in  each  of  them,  with  tails  having  long,  pointed  feath- 
ers. The  upper  part  of  their  bodies  were  of  a  green  bronze,  except 
the  tail-coverts,  which  were  of  a  somewhat  rusty  red ;  while  the  tails 
themselves  were  of  a  bronzed  tint,  broadly  tipped  with  white.  While 
we  were  looking,  the  mate  of  one  of  the  birds  came  up  and  perched 
close  above  the  nest.  As  we  were  going  away  I  saw  two  others  pass 
by  us,  of  the  same  size,  it  seemed  to  me.  Another  settled  on  a  flower 
near  at  hand,  when  the  idea  seized  me  that  I  could  catch  it.  I  struck 
it  with  my  hat,  and  down  it  fell.  Stooping  down,  what  was  my  sur- 
prise to  find,  instead  of  a  humming-bird,  a  moth  so  exactly  in  shape 
and  appearance  like  the  humming-birds,  that  it  was  no  wonder  I  had 
been  deceived.  The  moth,  however,  though  stunned,  was  not  killed. 
On  taking  it  to  the  hut  I  compared  it  with  her  tame  pet,  and  was 
struck  by  the  remarkable  similarity  in  the  shape  of  the  head  and  posi- 
tion of  the  eye.  The  extended  proboscis  represented  the  long  beak 
of  the  bird,  while  at  the  end  of  the  moth's  body  was  a  brush  of  long 
hairs,  which,  as  it  flew  along,  being  expanded,  looked  very  much  like 
the  feathers  of  the  bird's  tail.  The  resemblance,  of  course,  is  merely 
superficial,  their  internal  construction  being  totally  different. 

THE    WONDERFUL    BELL-BIRD. 

Continuing  our  journey  as  we  were  paddling  on,  we  were  almost 
startled  by  hearing  a  sound  like  a  bell  tolling  in  the  midst  of  the  forest. 
It  ceased,  and  we  paddled  on,  when  again  it  struck  our  ears  loud  and 
clear.  Again  it  came  within  the  space  of  a  minute,  and  we  almost  ex- 
pected to  see  some  church  steeple  peeping  forth  through  an  opening  in 
the  primeval  forest.  We  tried  to  ascertain  from  our  young  Indian  com- 
panion what  it  could  mean,  but  he  only  nodded  his  head,  as  much  as  to 
say,  "I  know  all  about  it,"  and  then  he  gave  a  glance  down  at  his  bow 
and  quiver  which  lay  by  his  side.  We  went  on  for  some  minutes  more, 
the  sound  of  the  bell  reaching  our  ears  as  before,  and  then  began   to 


624 


WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 


look  up  eagerly  into  the  trees.  Suddenly  we  saw,  on  the  topmost 
bough  of  a  tree  overhanging  the  water,  a  beautiful  white  bird,  about  the 
size  of  a  jay.  At  the  same  time  there  came  forth  from  where  it  stood 
a  clear  bell  sound,  and  we  saw  from  its  head  a  black  tube,  rising  up 
several  inches  above  it.  Our  Indian  boy  cautiously  put  his  hand  out 
and  seized  his  bow.  In  an  instant  he  had  fitted  an  arrow  to  the  string. 
Away  it  flew,  and  down  fell  the  bird  fluttering  in  the  water.  We  pad- 
dled on,  and  quickly  had  it  on  board.  I  could  not  help  feeling  sorry 
that  he  had  killed  the  beautiful  creature,  whose  note  had  so  astonished 

us.  It  was,  I  found, 
a  specimen  of  the 
^omewhat  rare 
uid  very  wonder- 
ful bell-bird.  From 
the  upper  part  of 
the  bill  grows  a 
fleshy  tubercle 
about  the  thick- 
ness of  a  quill, 
sparingly  covered 
w  ith  minute  feath- 
ers. It  was  now 
hanging  down  on 
one  side,  quite  lax. 
It  was  evident, 
therefore,  that  the 
bird,  when  alive, 
elevated  it  when 
excited  by  singing 
or  some  other 
cause;  indeed, 
NESTS  OF  THE  PENDULiNE  TITMOUSE.  afterwards,  on  ex- 

amining it,  we  found  it  connected  with  the  interor  of  the  throat,  which 
further  convinced  us  of  this  fact,  and  made  it  plain  beyond  question. 

A  large  volume  might  easily  be  written  on  the  wonders  of  bird's 
nests.  Every  different  kind  of  bird  has  a  different  kind  of  nest,  and 
each  pair  always  adhere  to  the  peculiar  style  of  architecture  of  the  par- 
ticular species  to  which  they  belong.  So  characteristic  is  the  nest,  that 
an  experienced  collector  could,  when  shown  one,  immediately  name 
the  bird  by  which  it  was  constructed. 

Birds  themselves  differ  so  much  in  form,  in  size  and  in  their  modes 
of  life,  that  we  should  expect  to  find  great  differences  in  the  require- 


WONDERFUL    BIRDS.  G25 

ments  of  their  young  ;  but  it  would  be  a  hopelessly  long  task  to  attempt 
to  give  even  an  outline  of  the  various  constructions  which  are  employed. 
All  we  shall  do  will  be  to  mention  some  of  the  most  curious  of  these 
beautiful  contrivances,  and  to  point  out,  wherever  possible,  the  reasons 
which  appear  to  have  guided  the  little  architects  in  their  plan. 

There  is  a  little  bird  found  in  India,  and  known  by  the  name  of  the 
tailor-bird.  On  a  leaf  or  two  at  the  extremity  of  a  slender  twig  is  the 
little  cradle  made.  If  one  leaf  be  sufficiently  large,  the  edges  are  drawn 
together  so  as  to  form  a  pouch,  in  which  the  nest  is  formed.  To  pre- 
serve the  pouch,  the  parent  birds  twist  vegetable  fibre  into  a  fine  thread, 
and  by  the  help  of  their  bills"  and  feet  actually  bore  holes  through  the 
edges  of  the  leaf  and  stitch  them  together.  If  one  leaf  be  considered 
too  small,  then  another  growing  by,  or  a  dead  one,  is  stitched  on 
to  it,  so  as  to  form  a  pouch  roomy  enough  to  contain  the  expected 
family.  The  inside  is  then  completed  by  being  carefully  lined  with 
down  and  feathers.  This  is  truly  a  rocking-cradle,  for,  hanging  from  a 
leaf,  it  is,  of  course,  moved  by  every  breath  of  wind ;  but  the  little 
tailor-bird  has  a,  formidable  enemy,  which  it  is  necessary  to  avoid. 
Tree-snakes  infest  the  trees  in  India,  and  young  birds  and  eggs  form 
their  favorite  prey.  Did  the  tailor  employ  his  art  anywhere  but  on  the 
finest  twigs,  the  snake  would  be  able  to  visit  his  domicile  ;  but  by  plac- 
ing his  nest  in  the  position  he  selects,  the  unwelcome  intrusions  are 
completely  prevented. 

The  nests  of  the  pensile  weaver-bird  are  also  curiosities.  They  are 
always  suspended  from  the  twigs  of  trees  overhanging  water,  and  form 
an  object  of  curiosity  to  the  traveler  in  Africa.  Each  consists  of  a 
hollow  globe,  which,  when  rendered  soft  and  warm  by  being  lined  with 
feathers,  constitutes  the  nest  properly  so  called  ;  but  the  peculiar  feature 
of  this  construction  is  the  passage  by  which  the  weaver  enters  his  home. 
There  is  a  tube  about  a  foot  or  fifteen  inches  in  length,  made  of  the 
same  material  as  the  nest ;  one  end  of  this  tube  opens  into  the  chamber, 
the  other  goes  down  to  within  a  few  inches  of  the  surface  of  the  water. 
Into  this  nest  none  but  a  flying  creature  could  enter.  It  cannot  be  ap- 
proached but  by  the  tube,  and  to  the  mouth  of  this  tube  there  is  access 
neither  by  land  nor  water,  but  only  through  the  air.  The  object  of  this 
curious  contrivance  is  doubtless  the  same  fear  of  snakes  which  guides 
the  tailor-bird.  The  instinct  of  these  ingenious  creatures  shows  them 
how  to  evade  their  active  and  insinuating  enemy,  who  dares  not  venture 
out  upon  the  slender  twigs  from  which  these  nests  are  suspended.  The 
weaver-birds  are  so  called  from  the  mode  in  which  they  make  their 
nests  and  the  tubes  which  hang  from  them.  These  are  formed  of  dried 
grasses,  which  are  so  beautifully  interwoven  as  to  form  a  very  compact 
40 


626 


WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 


and  strong  case.  Thus  these  birds  have  anticipated  man  in  weaving, 
as  the  tailor-birds  have  in  sewing. 

The  nests  of  the  sociable  grosbeak,  a  bird  found  in  South  Africa,  are 
worthy  of  notice.  It  may  be  described  as  a  colony  of  nests  packed  under 
one  roof.    Like  our  common  crow  and  many  other  birds,  the  grosbeak  is 

fond  of  the  society 
of  its  kind ;  but, 
unlike  them,  it  is 
not  satisfied  with 
having  its  neigh- 
bor's nests  on  ad- 
jacent branches  of 
trees ;  they  must  all 
be  close  together. 
When  a  number  of 
these  birds  agree 
in  forming  a  habi- 
tation, the  first 
thing  to  be  made 
is  the  roof.  A  large 
and  lofty  tree  is 
.  selected,  and  in  the 
[  topmost  branches 
of  this  the  birds, 
numbering  perhaps 
some  hundreds, 
commence  their 
labors.  With  coarse 
grass  they  form  the 
roof,  strengthening 
it  by  inter^veaving 
the  fibres;  this  hav- 
ing been  accom- 
plished by  the  joint 
,y^X.x.,.^<:<       "  -^-^J^  -^"-^  efforts  of  the  com- 

NESTS  OF  THE  CAPE   TITMOUSE.  munity,  cach  indi- 

vidual pair  constructs  its  own  nest  under  the  shelter  thus  provided. 
These  are  placed  side  by  side,  and  when  the  whole  are  finished  the 
entire  under  surface  is  covered  with  the  circular  openings  leading  to 
each  nest.  Three  or  four  eggs  are  laid  by  each  female,  and  as  many 
as  three  hundred  and  twenty  nests  have  been  counted  under  one  roof. 
The  feeding  and  rearing  of  a  thousand  young  makes  a  very  busy  scene. 


WONDERFUL    BIRDS. 


627 


It  is  not  known  what  may  be  the  object  which  is  gained  by  this  union 
of  birds  into  a  repubhc ;  possibly  it  may  be  for  mutual  protection 
against  some  common  enemy. 

Not  merely  in  nest-building  do  the  feathered  tribes  show  their  instinct 
and  sagacity.  Mr.  Ball,  the  eminent  naturalist,  relates  the  following 
anecdote  of  a  raven.  When  he  was  a  boy  at  school,  a  tame  raven  was 
very  attentive  in  watching  their  cribs  or  bird-traps,  and  when  a  bird 
was  taken,  the  raven  endeavored  to  catch  it  by  turning  up  the  crib ; 
but  in  so  doing  the  bird  always  escaped,  as  the  raven  could  not  let  go 
the  crib  in  time  to  seize  it.  After  several  vain  attempts  of  this  kind,  the 
raven,  seeing  another  bird  caught,  instead  of  going  at  once  to  the  crib, 
went  to  another  tame  raven,  and  induced  it  to  accompany  him,  when 
the  one  lifted  up  the 
crib,  and  the  other 
bore  the  poor  cap- 
tive off  in  triumph. 

From  the  nest  of 
the  smallest  bird  we^ 
pass,  to   that    of    a; 
great  bird    upwards 
of  five  feet  hieh.    It'Zf^^ 


THE    SAGACIOUS    CROW. 


is  found  on  the  sea- 
coast  of  Africa,  and'Tv 
is  called  the  flam- 
ingo. The  plumage 
of  these  noble  birds 
is  most  splendid, 
being  a  combination 
of  carnation  hues 
with  delicate  white. 
A  row  of  them  standing  together  is  a  most  striking  spectacle.  The  neck 
is  long,  but  the  bill  is  so  strangely  shaped  that  it  seems  difficult  to 
understand  how  it  is  used  for  procuring  food.  The  nest  is  curiously 
constructed,  and  their  mode  of  sitting  upon  it  is  most  extraordinary. 
They  scrape  together  a  hillock  of  earth  ;  then,  a  hole  having  been  made 
in  the  top,  two  or  three  eggs,  each  as  large  as  a  goose-egg,  are  laid.  The 
female  sits  upon  them,  with  her  legs  resting  at  either  side  on  the  ground, 
or  sometimes  even  in  shallow  water,  from  which,  as  a  sort  of  island,  the 
hillock  rises. 

One  of  the  greatest  wonders  in  natural  history  is  the  flight  of  birds. 
We  have  been  all  our  lives  so  accustomed  to  see  birds,  that  we  are  not 
now  prone  to  marvel  at  the  wonders  of  their  flight.     We  must  meditate 


THE  IMMENSE  FLAMINGO  AND  ITS  CURIOUS  NEST. 
628 


WONDERFUL    BIRDS. 


629 


on  the  beautiful  arrangements  by  which  they  are  enabled  to  raise  them- 
selves in  the  air  and  propel  themselves  through  it,  and  we  must  remember 
how  utterly  futile  all  man's  attempts  to  fly  or  make  flying-machines  have 
proved,  and  then  we  are  in  a  condition  to  appreciate  the  marvel  which 
is  daily  before  our  eyes. 

The  frigate-bird  is  endowed  with  magnificent  powers  of  flight.  His 
wings  stretch  to  an  expanse  of  about  ten  or  twelve  feet ;  his  body  is 
about  three  feet  long ;  his  bill  is  very  powerful,  and  adapted  for  seizing. 
His  feet  are  webbed,  but  very  small ;  he  has  but  little  use  for  them,  his 
home  being  in  the  air,  hundreds  of  leagues  away  from  land,  He  is  seen 
soaring  high  above  the  ocean,  but  on  its  bosom  he  never  rests.     When 


THE    FAK-FLYiN(j    FKIGATK-BIKD. 

he  seeks  repose  he  finds  it  aloft  in  the  air.  His  foot  rarely  .touches  land 
except  at  the  time  for  pairing,  making  nests,  and  rearing  young.  How 
is  all  this  ?  The  expanse  of  his  wing  is  so  vast,  and  his  body  is  so 
light,  that  he  can  soar  with  little  or  no  exertion.  Still  it  is  difficult  to 
see  how  this  would  enable  him  actually  to  sleep  on  the  wing,  as  it  is 
believed  he  does.  A  more  close  examination  shows,  however,  that  his 
bones  are  hollow,  and  that  there  is  a  large  pouch  communicating  with 
his  lungs  and  with  the  cavities  in  the  bones.  This  pouch  he  can  inflate 
with  air,  and  thus  render  himself  buoyant ;  the  sustaining  power  thus 
acquired,  added  to  that  of  the  wings  is  sufficient  to  keep  him  up. 

If  his  home  be  in  the  air,  if  he  neither  dive  into  the  sea  for  fish,  nor 


630  WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 

search  on  the  land  for  other  food,  whence  does  he  derive  his  sustenance? 
Impelled  by  hunger,  he  descends  from  the  lofty  regions  where  it  is  his 
delight  to  dwell.  Whether  the  sea  be  rough  or  calm,  he  glides  along 
over  the  water,  and  any  unwary  fish  approaching  the  surface,  on  being 
detected  by  his  keen  eye,  is  pounced  upon  instantaneously  and  swal- 
lowed, his  dexterity  in  fishing  being  most  extraordinary. 

But  the  frigate-bird  has  other  resources ;  though  he  cannot  dive  into 
the  sea  to  catch  fish,  he  avails  himself  of  the  labors  of  birds  which  can. 
He  watches  one  of  the  birds  which  dive ;  he  sees  him  emerge  success- 
fully, and  fly  off  with  his  prey.  Instantly  the  frigate-bird  is  down  upon 
him  with  a  swoop  of  terrific  velocity.  The  frightened  diver  drops  his 
fish  in  mid-air ;  the  frigate-bird  poises  himself  again,  darts  down  with 
another  swoop,  and  seizes  the  fish  ere  it  reaches  the  water. 

THE    MYSTERIOUS    BUTTER    BIRD. 

Humboldt  records  a  visit  to  Caripe,  in  South  America,  where  is  the 
cavern  of  the  guacharo  bird  ;  and  our  knowledge  of  this  wonder  is 
derived  from  his  most  interesting  narrative.  Among  the  natives  in  the 
country  around,  this  cavern  is  celebrated  for  its  great  size,  for  the 
mysterious  birds  which  haunt  its  inmost  recesses,  for  the  river  which 
flows  from  it,  and  for  the  superstitious  belief  that  in  its  gloomy  depths 
is  the  abode  of  the  spirits  of  their  departed  ancestors.  The  name  which 
it  bears  signifies  "  the  mme  of  fat,"  because  from  the  young  of  the  birds 
which  inhabit  it  an  immense  quantity  of  fat  is  annually  obtained. 
These  birds  are  about  the  size  of  our  common  fowl,  with  wings  which 
expand  to  three  feet  and  a  half  All  day  long  they  dwell  in  the  cavern, 
and,  like  our  fowls,  only  come  forth  at  night.  They  subsist  entirely  on 
fruits,  and  have  very  powerful  beaks,  which  are  necessary  to  crack  the 
tough  nuts  and  reeds  which  form  part  of  their  food. 

The  approach  to  the  cavern  where  they  are  found  is  along  the  bed 
of  a  river,  in  a  valley  celebrated  for  its  beauty  and  the  salubrity  of  its 
climate.  The  immediate  entrance  is  surrounded  by  the  most  gorgeous 
tropical  vegetation.  The  hill,  into  the  depths  of  which  it  penetrates 
for  upwards  of  half  a  mile,  is  clothed  with  trees  of  immense  height. 
The  mouth  is  a  splendid  arch  upwards  of  seventy  feet  high  ;  the  river 
which  flows  from  it  has  a  fringe  of  vegetation  along  its  banks,  which 
gradually  diminishes  as  the  gloom  increases. 

The  cave  is  so  straight  that  the  traveler  can  enter  for  some  distance 
without  being  obliged  to  light  his  torch.  As  he  proceeds  over  the 
somewhat  rough  ground  which  forms  the  bed  of  the  river,  he  begins  to 
hear  from  afar  the  hoarse  cries  of  the  guacharo  birds  ;  and  when  he  has 
arrived  at  the  dark  parts  of  the  cavern  the  noise  is  perfectly  terrific, 
thousands   of  the  birds  uttering   their  piercing    cries    simultaneously. 


WONDERFUL   BIRDS. 


631 


These  screams  re-echo  from  the  surrounding^  walls,  and  when  it  is 
remembered  that  they  take  place  in  pitchy  darkness,  it  will  be  easy  to 
understand  the  superstitious  terrors  which  the  Indians  associate  with  the 
spot.  At  half  a  mile  from  the  entrance  the  river  forms  a  cascade,  and 
beyond  this  the  cavern  slightly  changes  in  direction.  Nothing  will 
persuade  the  timid  Indians  to  advance  further  than  this  lonely  spot. 

Midsummer  is  the! 
harvest  time  for  the 
fat.        The    Indians 
enter  the  cave  armed 
with  long  poles.  The  | 
nests  are  attached  to 
holes    in    the    roof 
about       sixty      feet  i 
above    their   heads.  I 
They    break     these ! 
with  the  poles,  ant 
the  young  birds  fall] 
down    and    are    in- 
stantly killed.     Un- 
derneath     t  h  e  ir| 
bodies  is  a  layer  of 
fat,  which  is  cut  off, 
and    is    the    object] 
sought.         At     the  1 
mouth  of  the  cavern 
huts  are  erected  with 
palm-leaves,       and 
there,    in     pots     of 
clay,    the   n  a  t  i  \'  o  s 
melt  the   fat  which 
has  been    collected,  j 
This  is  known  as  the  I 
butter   of    the 
guacharo  ;    it   is    so  tiik  hormsill  i'f.i-.dink  its  voiNd. 

pure  that  it  may  be  kept  for  upwards  of  a  year  without  becoming  rancid. 
At  the  convent  of  Caripe  no  other  oil  is  ever  used  in  the  kitchen  of  the 
monks,  and  no  other  could  answer  their  purpose  so  well. 

This  shows  what  wonders  abound  in  the  bird-world,  and  what 
singular  instincts  and  habits  the  feathered  creation  exhibits.  In  the 
Celebes  Islands  there  is  a  remarkable  bird  called  the  hornbill.  It  has  a 
curious  nest.     The  female  selects  the  hollow  of  a  tree,  and  at  the  proper 


632  WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 

time  retires  to  it,  where  she  makes  a  kind  of  couch  of  her  own  feathers^ 
lays  her  eggs,  hatches  them  and  abides  with  her  young  until  they  are 
fully  fledged.  The  male,  meantime,  plasters  up  the  entrance  to  the 
nest,  all  except  a  narrow  slit,  adapted  to  the  form  of  his  beak,  through 
which  he  feeds  his  mate.  As  a  consequence,  it  is  said,  the  voluntary 
prisoner  grows  quite  fat,  while  the  poor  husband  gets  so  lean  and  weak 
that  any  sudden  change  of  temperature  overcomes  him.  Not  all  the  birds 
of  remarkable  construction  and  habits  are  confined  to  warm  climates. 
The  cold  and  desolate  regions  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  poles  are  in- 
habited by  numerous  animals  which  rejoice  in  the  climates  of  those  frozen 
seas,  and  flourish  under  circumstances  that  would  prove  fatal  to  animals 
less  well  protected  than  they  are.  These  animals  are  nearly  all  aquatic. 
The  polar  bear  loves  the  ice  and  the  icy  cold  water.  His  favorite  prey,, 
the  seal,  lives  almost  exclusively  therein.  The  waters  abound  with 
different  kinds  of  fish  which  make  food  for  the  seals,  and  for  thousands 
of  birds  whose  sole  nourishment  they  are. 

One  of  the  most  curious  of  these  birds  is  called  the  king  penguin. 
He  is  a  most  extraordinary  creature,  not  only  in  appearance,  but  also 
in  his  mode  of  life.  He  is  upwards  of  three  feet  high,  and  his  plumage 
is  short  and  waterproof  He  has  no  wings,  but  instead  of  them  small 
flappers  that  appear  something  like  arms.  His  feet  are  webbed,  and 
placed  so  far  back  that  when  standing  he  is  upright  like  a  man ; 
whereas  in  ordinary  birds  the  body  is  more  or  less  horizontal.  His 
flesh  is  rank  and  oily,  and  underneath  the  skin  is  a  layer  of  fat,  w  hich 
serves  to  protect  him  from  the  cold. 

This  bird  is  found  in  great  numbers  in  Macquarrie  Island  in  the  South 
Pacific  Ocean,  and  a  most  interesting  account  of  its  habits  has  been 
given  by  a  naturalist,  who  visited  the  locality.  The  number  which 
inhabited  the  spot  was  enormous,  but  as  thirty  or  forty  thousand  were 
continually  landing,  and  the  same  number  going  to  sea,  it  was  impos- 
sible to  arrive  at  an  exact  estimate.  On  shore  they  were  arranged 
as  regularly  as  a  regiment  of  soldiers,  and  in  as  compact  a  manner  ;  the 
young  birds  in  one  place,  the  moulting  birds  in  another,  the  sitting  hens 
in  a  third,  the  clean  birds  in  a  fourth  ;  and  so  strictly  is  the  order  kept, 
that  if  a  bird  of  one  class  intrude  itself  into  the  ranks  of  another  it  is 
instantly  ejected.  The  females  hatch  the  eggs  by  keeping  them  close 
between  their  thighs,  and  if  approached  during  the  time  of  incubation, 
move  away  carrying  the  eggs  Avith  them.  At  this  time  the  male  bird 
goes  to  .sea  and  collects  food  for  the  female,  which  becomes  very  fat. 
After  the  young  is  hatched,  both  parents  go  to  sea,  and  bring  home 
food  for  it.  It  soon  becomes  so  fat  as  scarcely  to  be  able  to  walk,  the 
old  birds  getting  very  thin.     They  sit  quite  upright   in  their  roosting 


WONDERFUL   BIRDS. 


633 


places,  and  walk  in  the  erect  position  until  they  arrive  at  the  beach,  when 
they  throw  themselves  on  their  breasts  in  order  to  encounter  the  very 
heavy  sea  met  with  at  their  landing  place.  They  lay  but  one  egg,  of 
a  whitish  color,  and  twice  the  size  of  that  of  the  domestic  goose. 


THE    WONDERFUL    PENGUINS    AND    OTHER    ARCTIC    BIRDS. 

As  the  penguin  has  no  wings,  he  is,  of  course,  unable  to  fly ;  and  as 
his  movements  on  land  are  very  awkward,  the  sea  is  the  display  of  his 
powers.  In  swimming  and  diving  he  is  unrivalled.  Here  his  abortive 
wings  are  of  great  value  to  him  ;  they  act  as  fins  or  paddles  which  assist 
his  hind   feet  in  propelling  him  through  the  water.     He  sometimes^ 


^634  WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 

when  coming  to  the  surface  after  a  dive,  leaps  from  the  water  into  the 
air,  and  down  again  Hke  a  fish,  for  which,  indeed,  in  this  manoeuvre  he 
might  easily  be  mistaken.  Fish  form  his  sole  food  and  the  food  of  his 
young,  and  his  wonderful  powers  of  diving  are  used  in  catching  them. 

Living  on  islands  and  in  localities  uninhabited  by  man,  the  penguins 
have  not  learned  the  dread  of  man  which  other  animals  exhibit.  Illus- 
trative of  this  point,  Mr.  Darwin  gives  us  the  following  interesting 
account :  One  day,  having  placed  myself  between  a  penguin  and  the 
water,  I  was  much  amused  by  watching  his  habits  ;  it  was  a  brave  bird, 
and  till  reaching  the  sea,  regularly  fought  and  drove  me  backwards. 
Nothing  less  than  heavy  blows  would  have  stopped  him  ;  every  inch  he 
gained  he  firmly  kept,  standing  close  before  me  erect  and  deter- 
mined. While  thus  opposed  he  continually  rolled  his  head  from  side 
to  side  in  a  very  odd  manner.  This  bird  is  commonly  called  the  jackass 
penguin,  from  its  habits,  while  on  shore,  of  throwing  its  head  back- 
wards and  making  a  loud,  strange  noise,  very  like  the  braying  of  that 
animal  ;  but  while  at  sea  and  undisturbed,  its  note  is  very  deep  and 
solemn,  and  is  often  heard  in  the  night-time.  In  diving,  its  little  plume- 
less  wings  are  used  as  fins,  but  on  the  land  as  front  legs  ;  when  crawling 
(it  may  be  said  on  four  legs)  through  the  tossocks  or  on  the  side  of  a 
grassy  cliff,  it  moved  so  very  quickly,  that  it  might  easily  have  been 
mistaken  for  a  quadruped.  The  manner  in  which  the  young  are  fed  is 
very  curious.  The  old  bird  makes  a  great  noise,  between  quacking  and 
braying  ;  after  having  thus  chattered  for  a  minute,  it  puts  its  head  down 
and  opens  its  mouth  widely,  into  which  the  young  one  thrusts  its  beak 
and  takes  the  food  provided  for  it. 

The  variety  of  strange  sounds  uttered  by  various  birds  has  been 
duly  noted  by  ornithologists  and  bird-fanciers.  Some  are  more  teach- 
able than  others,  and  it  is  to  these  specimens  that  the  epithet  of  "  talk- 
ing "  is  strictly  applicable.  The  bullfinch  learns  to  whistle  tunes,  to 
sing  in  parts  and  even  pronounce  words.  We  have  from  an  authentic 
source  an  account  of  a  talking  canary.  Its  parents  had  formerly  suc- 
cessfully reared  many  young  ones,  but  three  years  previously  they  had 
hatched  only  one  out  of  four  eggs,  which  they  immediately  neglected 
by  commencing  the  rebuilding  of  a  nest  upon  the  top  of  it.  On  this 
being  discovered  the  unfledged  and  forsaken  bird,  all  but  dead,  was 
taken  away  and  placed  in  flannel  by  the  fire,  when,  after  much  attention, 
it  was  restored  and  then  brought  up  by  hand.  Thus  treated,  and  away 
from  all  other  birds,  it  became  familiarised  with  those  persons  only 
who  fed  it ;  consequently,  its  first  singing  notes  were  of  a  character 
totally  different  to  those  usual  with  the  canary.  Constantly  being 
talked  to,  the  bird,  when  about  three  months  old.  astonished  its  mis- 


WONDERFUL   BIRDS. 


636 


tress  by  repeating  the  endearing  terms  used  in  talking  to  it,  such  as 
"Kissie,  kissic,"  with  its  significant  sounds.  Tliis  went  on,  and  from 
time  to  time,  the  bird  repeated  other  words,  and  for  hours  together, 
except  during  the  moulting  season,  it  astonished  all  w^ho  heard  it  by 
ringing  the  changes  according  to  its  own  fancy,  and  as  plainly  as  any 
human  voice  could  articulate  them,  on  several  words.  The  usual  sing- 
ing notes  of  the  bird  were  more  of  the  character  of  the  nightingale, 
mingled  occasionaly  with  the  sound  of  the  dog-whistle  used  about  the 
house.  It  whistled  also  very  clearly  the  first  bar  of  the  tune  entitled 
"America,"  and  was  evidently  capable  of  high  attainments. 

Several  birds  approach  the  faculty  of  talking,  mimicry  and  imitation 
of  peculiar  sounds.  The  Chinese  starling,  in  captivity,  is  very  teach- 
able, imitating  words,  and  even  whistling  tunes.     The  piping  crow  is 


BIRDS    THAT    TALK — PARROTS. 

named  from  its  ready  mimicry  of  other  birds ;  and  its  inntation  of  the 
chuckling  and  cackling  of  a  hen,  and  the  crowing  of  a  cock,  is  very 
perfect.  The  snowy-owl  utters  hideous  cries,  which  resemble  those  of 
a  man  in  deep  distress.  The  natural  cry  of  the  Virginia  eagle-owl  re- 
sembles the  half-suppressed  screams  of  a  person  being  suffocated  or 
throttled.  Parrots  have  presented  remarkable  instances  of  talking. 
One  whose  imitative  talent  was  reckoned  most  extraordinary,  was  pur- 
chased for  five  hundred  dollars,  out  of  a  West  India  ship  at  Bristol. 
This  bird  not  only  repeated  a  great  number  of  sentences,  and  answered 
questions,  but  was  able  to  whistle,  with  the  greatest  clearness  and  pre- 
cision, one  of  the  psalms,  "The  Banks  of  Dee,"  "God  Save  the  Queen," 
and  some  other  favorite  songs,  and  if  by  chance  it  mistook  a  note,  it 
would  revert  to  the  bar  where  the  mistake  occurred  and  finish  the  air 


636 


WONDERS    OF    THE   WHOLE    WORLD. 


with  great  accuracy.     This  bird  had  received  a  refined  education,  and 
its  breeding  and  bearing  were  clearly  that  of  a  polished  bird  of  rank. 

One  of  the  most  beautiful  birds  is  the  hoopoe,  or  lapwing,  a  native 
of  Europe  and  northern  Asia  and  Africa.  It  was  known  to  Palestine, 
and  the  Jewish  people  looked  upon  it  as  a  proscribed  bird.  It  is  rarely 
eaten  except  in  countries  where  it  is  very  abundant,  for  instance,  Egypt, 
France  and  Spain.  Marshy  ground,  ploughed  land,  wooded  districts, 
especially  such  as  are  near  the  water,  are  its  favorite  haunts.  Its  crest 
is  very  elegant,  the  long  feathers  forming  it  being  tipped  with  black. 

The  cuckoo  is  called  so  from  its  notes  which,  in  sound,  resemble  its. 
name.  It  arrives  very 
early  in  the  season,  and 
hence  is  mentioned  as 
the  harbinger  of  spring. 
Unlike  any  other  creat- 
ure that  flies,  except  our 
cow  bird,  it  has  a  singu- 
lar habit  of  depositing 
its  eggs  in  the  nests  of 
other  birds,  such  as 
sparrows,  finches  and 
larks,  and  leaving  these 
birds  to  do  its  hatching 
for  it,  and  take  care  of 
its  young.  The  little 
cuckoos  oust  the  other 
young  ones  from  the 
nest,  and  make  them- 
selves quite  at  home. 
From  this  arises  the 
German  saying,  "as  un- 
grateful as  a  cuckoo." 
The    males    are    more  the  beautiful  hoopoe 

numerous  than  the  females,  and  arc  bad  tempered  and  quarrelsome. 

There  is  a  tribe  of  little  birds  that  are  often  hunted  by  the  great 
spider.  He  is  always  on  the  look-out  for  them.  He  can  catch  them 
as  easily  as  he  does  the  humming-birds.  They  are  called  fly-catchers. 
The  fly-catcher  is  as  beautiful  as  the  humming-bird.  Her  body  is  so 
tiny  that  it  is  no  bigger  than  the  tip  of  your  finger,  and  is  as  light  almost 
as  a  feather.  She  can  sport  amongst  the  water-lilies  without  making  a 
ripple.  When  she  settles  on  the  leaves  of  the  sensitive  plant,  they 
do  not  shrink.     Her  weight  can  hardly  be  felt.     A  large,  bright  flower, 


WONDERFUL   BIRDS. 


637 


such  as  you  meet  with  in  the  tropics,  would  make  the  Httle  fly-catchers 
a  tent,  and  afford  them  a  safe  and  secure  shelter. 

But  there  is  one  species  which  is  quite  a  giant  among  them,  for  it 
is  nearly  as  large  as  a  sparrow.  The  wings  of  the  fly-catcher  are  of 
the  most  brilliant  colors.  Sometimes  they  are  of  a  vivid  green,  and 
then  she  is  called  an  emerald  ;  or  she  will  be  compared  to  a  ruby,  or  a 
diamond  or  any  other  precious  gem.  Thousands  upon  thousands  of 
fly-catchers  glisten  and  shine  in  parts  of  the  forest  where  man  could 
not  live.  He  dare  not  brave  the  dangers  he  would  meet  with  in  these 
recesses.  The  air  is  unhealthy  and  full  of  poison.  He  would  die  of 
fever  in  a  short  space  of  time.   There  are  venomous  snakes,  and  poison- 


THE    UNciRATEFUL    CUCKOO. 

ous  plants  and  savage  beasts.     But,  in  spite  of  all  the  dangers,  the  bright 
fly-catchers  revel,  and  are  in  their  glory,  enjoying  their  forest  home. 

Among  the  decaying  stems,  and  growing  sometimes  upon  them,  are 
the  gayest  and  most  fantastic  flowers.  The  fly-catcher  hovers  over 
them.  Her  wings  move  so  quickly  you  cannot  see  them.  Her  body 
all  the  time  is  still  and  motionless.  Then  her  long  bill  is  plunged  into 
the  depth  of  the  flower,  and  an  insect  drawn  out,  or  a  sip  of  honey  taken. 
The  bird  is  a  passionate  little  creature.  If  the  flower  has  been  emptied 
of  its  sweets,  she  goes  into  a  rage.  She  will  tear  the  bright  petals  to 
pieces,  and  scatter  them  to  the  winds.  One  of  the  fly-catchers  is  very 
fond  of  bees,  as  well  as  of  honey  ;  he  is  called  the  tyrant  fly-catcher. 
He  will  take  his  stand  on  some  twdg  or  fence,  near  a  row  of  bee-hives, 


638 


WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 


and  watch  for  the  bees  to  come  in  and  out.  Then,  he  will  pounce 
down  upon  them,  one  after  the  other,  and  eat  them  up.  If  his  nest  is 
near  the  farm-yard,  no  eagle  or  hawk  dare  come  and  carry  off  the 
farmer's  chickens.  Out  will  dart  the  brave  little  fly-catcher  and  attack 
him  fiercely.  Sometimes  he  will  mount  on  the  eagle's  back  and  peck 
him  with  great  violence,  and  torment  him  so  much,  that  he  will  be  only 
too  glad  to  get  away.  In  other  instances  he  will  gather  his  compan- 
ions, pursue  the  deadly  viper,  and  in  spite  of  its  venomous  tongue  and 

efforts  to  es- 
cape, will  wor- 
ry it  to  death. 
The  Ameri- 
can kite  is  a 
large  bird  with 
long  wings  and 
f  o  r  k  e  d  tail. 
The  back 
wings  and  tail 
have  large  fea- 
thers, black  in 
color,  with  a 
metallic  lustre. 
The  flight  of 
the  kite  is  ex- 
ceedingly rapid 
\  ^^^''^^'^~''^^^*^'^%  C^^"^"-  and      graceful- 

A    HIGH-FLYER THE    KITE.  It    is    VCry   shy, 

keeps  on  the  wing  during  the  larger  part  of  the  day,  and  at  night  re- 
mains perched  on  the  highest  trees.  Its  nest  is  made  of  sticks  and 
leaves,  and  is  commonly  well  secluded.  It  can  soar  to  an  immense 
height,  but  when  on  the  ground  its  gait  is  very  awkward. 

The  falcon  is  ranked  among  birds  of  prey,  whose  pugnacious  disposi- 
tion and  rapacious  habits  distinguish  them  from  most  of  the  species  to 
be  found  in  the  world  of  birds.  It  has  a  short,  curved  bill,  with  serra- 
tions which  answer  for  teeth,  wings  wide  at  the  base,  or  next  to  the 
body,  with  long,  pointed  tips,  a  broad,  fan-like  tail,  and  a  high  degree 
of  muscular  power.  The  toes  are  long  and  slender,  with  claws  curved 
and  sharp.  Old  sportsmen  used  the  falcon  in  the  chase,  for  while  it  is 
strong  and  courageous  it  is  also  docile,  and  will  return  to  its  master 
when  called. 

A  singular  creature,  of  which  we  have  some  knowleage  in  our  coun- 
try, is  of  such  construction  that  it  is  difficult  to  determine  where  it  ranks- 


WONDERFUL    BIRDS. 


639 


in  the  animal  kingdom.  Yet,  as  it  has  wings  and  flies,  we  class  it  among 
the  birds.  The  banyan  tree,  with  its  hundreds  of  spreading  branches, 
gives  shelter  to  man  and  animals.  The  beautiful  green  pigeon  feeds  and 
lives  among  its  branches.  And  another  creature,  of  a  very  different 
species  from  the  pigeon,  makes  its  home  there.  This  Java  bat  is  so 
large,  that  when  its  wings  are  spread,  they  measure  six  feet  from  the  tip 
of  one  wing  to  that  of  the  other.  Thousands  of  these  monstrous  crea- 
tures shelter  in  the  banyan  tree  all  day.  They  hang  from  the  branches 
by  their  claws,  or  else  by  the  hook  that  is  on  their  wings.     They  hang 


THE    LANNER    FALCON. 

with  their  heads  downwards,  fast  asleep.  If  any  one  disturbs  them, 
they  utter  sharp,  shrill  cries,  and  begin  to  struggle  in  a  very  awkward 
manner.  Their  claws  are  so  sharp,  and  take  such  fast  hold  of  the  tree, 
that  they  cannot  in  a  moment  get  loose.  When  evening  comes,  the 
bat  wakes  up,  and  begins  to  feel  hungry.  He  unlooses  himself  from 
the  branch  and  flies  out,  flapping  his  great  leathern  wings.  Thousands 
of  bats  fly  out  at  the  .same  time,  like  a  cloud.  The  mother  bat  will  have 
her  little  one  sticking  to  her  breast,  transporting  it  easily. 

Insects  and  little  birds,  and  mice  and  rats,  are  the  bat's  food.     But  he 


640 


WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 


has  a  great  liking  for  ripe  fruit,  and  is  almost  sure  to  go  off  to  some 
garden  and  rob  it.  The  bats  settle  on  the  trees,  and  commit  frightful 
depredations.  The  poor  man's  garden  is  robbed  as  well  as  the  rich 
man's.  But  the  owner  of  the  garden  often  takes  his  revenge.  In  the 
clear  moonlight  he  can  see  the  bats  coming,  flying  at  a  slow,  steady 
pace,  and  in  a  straight  line.  He  loads  his  gun  and  takes  his  stand,  and 
before  the  first  bat  has  reached  the  tree  there  is  a  sharp  report  and  a 
rattling  sound,  and  down  will  drop  the  great  bat,  shot,  perhaps,  through 
the  head.     Others  that  venture  near  are  apt  to  share  the  same  fate. 


THE   IMMENSE  JAVA  BAT. 

Other  winged  creatures  are  equally  marx'clous.  The  bittern  is  one. 
It  belongs  to  the  heron  family,  and  frequents  localities  that  are  low  and 
marshy.  It  is  famous  for  the  peculiar  sound  it  makes  at  night,  a  kind 
of  booming  unlike  tliat  of  any  other  creature.  Three  species  of  the 
bittern  are  found  in  our  own  country,  and  the  bird  is  also  common  to 
different  parts  of  Europe.  Like  the  dove,  it  is  mentioned  in  Scripture. 
Though  not  building,  like  the  stork,  on  the  tops  of  houses,  it  resorts 
to  ruined  structures.  It  seems  to  be  a  lonely,  desolate  bird,  which 
will  serve  to  explain  some  of  the  allusions  of  the  sacred  writers. 


WONDERFUL    BIRDS, 


641 


The  thrush  is  the  name  of  a  fine  httle  bird  belonging  to  a  family  that 
contains  some  of  the  sweetest  songsters  in  the  world.  It  is  met  with  in 
the  eastern  part  of  our  country,  its  locality  extending  as  far  west  as 
the  Mississippi  valley.  It  has  a  varied  color,  brown  on  the  upper  part 
of  the  body,  brightest  on  the  head,  and  pure  white  below,  with  yellow 
legs  and  brown  bill.  When  it  sings,  its  notes  are  not  many,  but  they 
rise  and  fall  in  cadence,  and  are  rich  and  mellow.  Its  food  consists  of 
insects,  berries  and  other  small  fruits.  It  is  a  high  flyer,  and  is  strong 
on  the  wing. 

The  earth  has  many 
treasures  that  man 
risks  his  life  to  get. 
There  are  pearls  in  the 
ocean,  and  there  is  gold 
in  the  mine,  and  coal 
deep  in  the  pit  where 
it  would  make  your 
head  giddy  to  look 
down.  Man  risks  his 
life  every  day  to  get 
something  or  other 
that  Nature  has  put 
almost  out  of  his  reach. 
But  who  would  risk 
his  life  for  a  bird's ' 
nest?  In  China  the 
rich  people  have  a 
dainty  dish,  and  it  is 
made  of  birds'  nests. 
No  matter  how  hard 
they  are  to  get,  the 
Chinaman  must  have  them  for  his  table.  They  are  sold  in  the  mar- 
ket, and  he  buys  them.  The  nests  come  from  the  island  of  Java. 
The  coast  of  Java  is  very  steep,  and  the  cliffs  have  great  holes  or  caves  in 
them.  The  waves  toss  and  roar  about  the  caves,  and  numbers  of  birds 
fly  in  and  out.     You  can  hardly  see  them  for  the  spray. 

The  bird  has  a  long  name  ;  but  as  it  belongs  to  the  swallow  tribe,  we 
will  call  it  a  swallow.  There  seems  no  place  for  the  nest  to  be  built 
upon.  But  the  bird  has  found  one.  She  fastens  it  to  the  roof  and  sides 
of  the  cave.  These  are  the  nests  that  the  Chinaman  likes  to  eat.  The 
men  are  let  down  from  the  top  of  the  cliff  by  a  rope-ladder,  till  they 
reach  the  cave.     They  find  the  floor  covered,  as  it  always  is,  with  the 


THE    CURIOUS    BITTERN. 


642 


WONDERS    OF    THE   WHOLE   WORLD. 


THE   SWEET-SINGLNG    THRUSH. 


sea.     They  have  to  cling  to  the  rough  stones  that  stick  out  of  the  sides 
of  the  cave,  and  get  a  footing  as  they  can.     When  they  have  got  to 

the  roof,  they  fasten  ropes  round  the 
stones  from  side  to  side  of  the  cave, 
and  make  a  kind  of  rough  bridge. 
On  this  bridge  they  have  to  stand 
while  they  pull  down  the  nests. 

What  danger  these  poor  men  are 
in  !  One  false  step  and  they  would 
be  lost.  They  dare  not  be  let  down 
^0-  the  cliff,  until  they  have  offered 
up  a  prayer.  They  ask  their  gods 
to  take  care  of  them,  and  they  place 
gifts  on  the  tomb  of  the  man  who 
first  found  out  the  cave.  The  nests 
are  thought  so  good  to  eat,  because 
they  are  made  of  a  kind  of  sea-weed. 
The  bird  swallows  the  sea-weed,  and  then  brings  it  up  in  her  mouth, 
quite  soft  and  like  pulp.  She  adds  layer  to  layer  until  she  has  built 
her  nest  large  enough.  If  the  nests  are  old,  they  are  not  thought 
worth  taking.  They  are  i  >  Ai^'^i^ 
like  jelly  and  have  no  '  b  L-^A^ 
taste.  But  the  Chinese 
cook  puts  in  so  many 
spices  and  other  things, 
that  he  makes  them  vcr; 
nice,  indeed.  The  people 
of  Japan  know  that  the|i 
birds'  nests  are  only  made  |s 
of  sea-weed.  They  get 
the  same  sea-weed,  and 
beat  it  soft,  and  boil  it  to  a 
jelly.  Then  they  make- 
mock  birds'  nests,  and 
bring  them  to  the  market 
to  sell  as  a  luxury. 

One  of  the  most  in- 
teresting species  of  birds  is 
comprised  in  what  may  be 
called    the     dove    family,  the  turtle  dove. 

The  turtle  dove  is  a  general  name  given  to  several  small  pigeons. 
They  are  not  so  large  as  the  ordinary  domestic  pigeon,  have  a  smaller 


WONDERFUL   BIRDS.  643 

bill,  longer  toes,  and  a  wedge-shaped  tail.  They  feed  on  the  ground, 
and  roost  in  trees.  More  than  a  dozen  species  are  to  be  found  in 
Europe,  India,  and  Africa.  They  are  migratory,  and  are  commonly 
seen  in  flocks  of  about  twenty.  A  peculiar  interest  belongs  to  the 
turtle  dove  from  the  fact  that  it  was  employed  in  the  Jewish  sacrifices. 
From  its  habit  of  pairing  for  life,  and  its  fidelity  to  its  mate,  it  was  a 
symbol  of  purity,  and  an  appropriate  offering. 

One  of  the  largest  varieties  of  pigeons  is  the  ring  dove,  measuring 
sixteen  or  seventeen  inches  in  length.  It  is  an  arboreal  species,  perch- 
ing on  trees,  and  making  its  nest  among  *the  branches.  It  produces 
two  eggs  and  then  rears  its  little  ones,  doing  this  usually  twice  a  year. 
The  color  of  its  breast  is  a  reddish  purple ;  the  sides  of  the  neck  area 


^. 


•3^1 


THE    RING    DOVE. 

glossy  green,  flanked  by  a  patch  of  white,  which  nearly  forms  a  collar. 
It  is  found  in  even  severe  climates,  and  sometimes  migrates  to  escape 
extreme  cold,  being  sensitive  to  the  various  changes  of  the  seasons. 

Many  tropical  birds  are  marv^els  in  their  way,  and  some  of  the 
forests  in  the  islands  of  the  sea  are  the  home  of  feathered  tribes  which 
are  an  amazement  to  the  traveler.  Lories  display  their  vivid  plumage 
on  the  branches  above  his  head;  gleaming  kingfishers  dart  like  light- 
ning into  the  current  of  the  slow  stream  that  creeps  by  his  side  ;  his 
ears  are  filled  with  the  noisy  cries  of  cockatoos  and  parroquets,  rising 
in  shrillest  clamor  above  the  more  musical  strains  of  the  few  song- 
birds that  inhabit  the  green  recesses. 

One  of  the  denizens  of  the  forest  is  the  great,  black  cockatoo — a 


644  WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 

bird  which,  to  a  small,  weak  body,  indifferently  supported  on  long, 
weak  legs,  adds  a  colossal  head,  ornamented  with  a  superb  crest,  and 
armed  with  a  portentous  hooked  bill,  surpassing  all  other  bills,  one 
would  think,  in  size  and  strength  !  Well  may  it  be  called  the  Goliath  ! 
Apart  from  the  enormous  dimensions  of  its  head  and  bill,  it  is 
distinguished  by  some  remarkable  characteristics.  Its  cheeks  are 
covered  with  a  naked  skin,  as  is  the  case  in  the  macaw,  and  they  are 
of  a  bright  blood-red  color.  The  plumage  is  entirely  black,  yet 
assumes  a  greenish  gray  tint — from  an  abundant  powdery  white  secre- 
tion scattered  over  the  feathers.  The  tail  is  very  short.  The  immense 
bill  incloses  a  curiously  small  and  slender  tongue,  unlike  that  of  any 
parrot — or,  indeed,  of  any  other  bird  ;  cylindrical  in  form,  capable  of 
being  considerably  protruded  from  the  mouth,  and  terminated  by  a 
cloven-horned  extremity.  It  breaks  up  its  food  with  its  powerful 
beak,  and  then,  protruding  its  cylindrical  tongue,  takes  up  a  portion 
in  the  cleft  at  the  extremity  of  the  organ  ;  the  tongue  is  then  retracted 
within  the  bill,  and  passed  along  the  palate,  where  a  small  projection, 
coming  in  contact  with  the  morsel  of  food,  detaches  it,  and  causes  it 
to  fall  into  the  throat. 

This  bird  is  found  in  the  lower  parts  of  the  forests,  generall}'  by 
itself,  sometimes  with  one  or  two  of  its  kind.  It  flics  slowly,  and  makes 
but  little  noise  in  flying.  It  lives  upon  seeds  and  fruits,  but  more 
particularly  on  the  kernel  of  the  kanary-nut ;  which  we  may  conclude 
to  be  its  special  food,  from  the  manner  in  which  it  gets  at  it.  So 
exceedingly  hard  is  the  shell  of  the  kanary-nut,  that  only  a  heavy 
hammer  can  crack  it,  and  as  it  is  nearly  triangular  in  shape,  with  a 
perfectly  smooth  outside,  it  would  seem  to  defy  the  efforts  of  any  bird. 

The  cockatoo,  however,  takes  one  endways  in  its  bill,  and  holding  it 
firmly  by  a  pressure  of  the  tongue,  cuts  a  transverse  notch  by  a  lateral 
sawing  motion  of  its  keen-edged  lower  mandible.  This  done,  it  grasps 
the  nut  with  its  foot,  and  biting  off  a  piece  of  leaf,  retains  it  in  the 
deep  cleft  of  the  upper  jaw ;  and  again  seizing  the  nut,  which  is  pre- 
vented from  slipping  by  the  elastic  tissue  of  the  leaf,  fixes  the  edge 
of  the  lower  jaw  or  mandible  in  the  cleft,  and  by  a  powerful  nip  breaks 
off  a  piece  of  the  shell.  Again  taking  the  nut  in  its  claws,  it  inserts 
the  elongated  extremity  of  its  sharp-pointed  bill,  and  picks  out  the 
kernel,  which,  bit  by  bit,  is  then  laid  hold  of  by  the  extensive  tongue. 
We  see,  then,  that  every  detail  of  form  and  structure  in  this  bird's 
remarkable  bill  has  its  special  use — that  everything  is  in  its  place,  and 
that  there  is  a  place  for  everything. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 


WONDERS  OF  THE  INSECT  WORLD. 


Extraordinary  Strength  of  Insects — Their  Jumping  Power — The  Sprightly  Flea — The  White 
Ant — Ants'  Intelligence — Insects  that  Keep  a  Dairy — The  Brilliant  Lantern-Fly — The 
Wonderful  Bees — The  Venomous  Scorpion — The  Ruinous  Weevil — A  Fly's  Mouth — 
Butterfly  Wonders — The  Palmer  Worm — The  Painted  Lady— A  Singular  Fly-Trap — 
The  Sagacious  Spider — Doctor  Livingstone  Poisoned — The  Bloated  Chego — Educated 
Fleas — The  Mail-Clad  Beetle — Destructive  Locusts — The  Enterprising  Silkworm — A 
Great  "  Bore  " — The  Poppy-Cutter — Poisonous  Insects — The  Gad- 
F!y — The  Leaf  Insect— Insects  Counterfeiting  Death. 

'ANY  people  have  observed  how  out  of  proportion  a 
jump  of  a  flea  is  to  its  size.  A  flea  is  not  more  than 
an  eighth  of  an  inch  in  length,  and  it  jumps  a  yard  ; 
in  proportion  a  lion  ought  to  jump  two-thirds  of  a 
mile.  Pliny  shows  that  the  weights  carried  by  ants 
appear  exceedingly  great  when  they  are  compared 
with  the  size  of  these  indefatigable  laborers.  The 
strength  of  these  insects  is  still  more  striking,  when 
one  considers  the  edifices  they  are  able  to  construct, 
and  the  devastations  they  occasion.  The  white  ant 
constructs  habitations  many  yards  in  height,  which  are  so  firmly  and 
solidly  built,  that  the  buffaloes  are  able  to  mount  them,  and  use,them  as 
observatories ;  they  are  made  of  particles  of  wood  joined  together 
by  a  gummy  substance,  and  are  able  to  resist  even  the  force  of  a  hurri- 
cane.    Man  could  scarcely  build  a  more  solid  edifice. 

There  is  another  circumstance  which  is  worth  being  noted.  Man  is 
proud  of  his  works  ;  but  what  are  they,  after  all,  in  comparison  with 
those  of  the  ant,  taking  the  relative  heights  into  consideration  ?  The 
largest  pyramid  in  Egypt  is  one  hundred  and  forty-six  yards  high,  that 
is,  about  ninety  times  the  average  height  of  man  ;  whereas,  the  nests 
oi  the  white  ants  are  a  thousand  times  the  height  of  the  insects  which 
construct  them.  Their  habitations  are  thus  twelve  times  higher  than 
the  largest  specimen  of  architecture  raised  by  human  hands.  We  are, 
therefore,  far  beneath  these  little  insects,  as  far  as  strength  and  the  spirit 
of  working  go.  The  destructive  power  of  these  creatures,  so  insignifi- 
cant in  appearance,  is  still  more  surprising.  During  the  spring  of  a 
single  year  they  can  effect  the  ruin  of  a  house  by  destroying  the  beams 
and  planks.  It  is  well  known  what  destruction  is  caused  when  a  swarm 
of  locusts  alight  in  a  cultivated  field  ;  and  it  is  certain  that  even  their 

(045) 


646  WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 

larvae  do  as  severe  injury  as  the  perfect  insect.  All  this  sufficiently 
proves  the  destructive  capabilities  of  these  little  animals,  which  we  are 
accustomed  to  despise. 

The  average  weight  of  man  being  one  hundred  and  forty-two  pounds, 
and  his  power  of  traction  being  one  hundred  and  twenty-four  pounds, 
the  proportion  of  the  weight  he  can  draw  to  the  weight  of  his  body  is 
only  as  eighty-seven  to  one  hundred.  With  the  horse,  the  proportion  is 
not  more  than  sixty-seven  to  one  hundred,  a  horse  one  thousand  three 
hundred  and  fifty  pounds  in  weight  only  drawing  about  nine  hundred 
pounds.  The  horse,  therefore,  can  draw  little  more  than  half  his  own 
weight,  and  a  man  cannot  draw  the  weight  of  his  own  body.  This  is  a 
very  poor  result,  if  compared  with  the  strength  of  the  cockchafer,  or 
may-bug.  This  insect,  in  fact,  possesses  a  power  of  traction  equal  to 
more  than  fourteen  times  its  own  weight.  If  you  amuse  yourself  with 
the  children's  game  of  making  a  cockchafer  draw  small  cargoes  of  stones, 
you  will  be  surprised  at  the  great  weight  which  this  insignificant-looking 
animal  is  able  to  manage.  The  bee  can  draw  twenty  times  the  weight 
of  its  body ;  a  beetle  forty-two  times  its  own  weight.  From  this  it 
follows  that  if  the  horse  possessed  the  same  strength  as  this  last  insect, 
or  if  the  insect  were  the  size  of  a  horse,  either  of  them  would  be 
able  to  draw  one  hundred  and  fifty-five  thousand  pounds.  The  propor- 
tion between  the  muscular  strength  of  ijisccts  and  the  dimensions  of 
their  bodies,  would  not  appear  to  be  on  account  of  their  muscles  being 
more  numerous  than  those  of  vertebrate  animals,  but  on  account  of 
greater  jntrinsic  energy  and  muscular  activity.  The  articulations  of 
insects  may  be  considered  as  solid  cases  which  envelop  the  muscles, 
and  the  thickness  of  these  cases  appears  to  decrease  in  a  singular 
manner  according  to  the  size  of  the  creature.  The  relative  bulk  of  the 
muscles  being  less  in  the  smaller  species  than  in  the  larger,  it  is  necessary 
to  explain  the  superior  relative  strength  of  the  former  by  supposing  them 
to  possess  a  greater  amount  of  vital  energy. 

These  astonishing  phenomena  will  perhaps  be  better  understood  if 
we  consider  the  obstacles  which  insects  have  to  overcome  to  satisfy 
their  wants,  to  seek  their  food  and  to  defend  themselves  against  their 
cmemies.  To  meet  these  requirements  they  are  marvelously  constructed 
for  both  labor  and  warfare,  and  their  strength  is  superior  to  that  dis- 
played by  all  other  animals.  It  is  also  much  greater  than  that  of  the 
machines  we  construct  to  replace  manual  labor.  They  represent 
strength  itself  God's  workmen  are  infinitely  more  powerful  than  those 
invented  by  the  genius  of  man,  which  we  call  machines.  A  close  ob- 
server relates  the  following  anecdote  of  a  three-horned  beetle,  which  is 
not  larger  than  the  ordinary  English  stag-beetle  ;  this  insect  astonished 


WONDERS    OF   THE    INSECT    WORLD.  647 

me  by  a  proof  of  its  vast  strength  of  body.  When  it  was  first  brought 
to  me,  having  no  box  immediately  at  hand,  I  was  at  a  loss  where  to 
put  it  until  I  could  kill  it ;  but  a  quart  bottle  of  milk  being  on  the  table, 
I  clapped  the  beetle  for  the  present  under  that,  the  hollow  at  the  bottom 
allowing  him  room  to  stand  upright.  Presently,  to  my  surprise,  the 
bottle  began  to  move  slowly,  and  glide  along  the  smooth  table,  pro- 
pelled by  the  muscular  power  of  the  imprisoned  insect,  and  continued 
for  some  time  to  perambulate  the  surface,  to  the  astonishment  of  all 
who  witnessed  it.  The  weight  of  the  bottle  and  its  contents  could  not 
have  been  less  than  three  pounds  and  a  half,  while  that  of  the  beetle 
was  about  half  an  ounce  ;  so  that  it  readily  moved  a  weight  one  hundred 
and  twelve  times  exceeding  its  own.  A  better  notion  than  figures  can 
convey  will  be  obtained  of  this  feat  by  supposing  a  lad  of  fifteen  to  be 
imprisoned  under  the  great  bell  of  St.  Pauls,  which  weighs  twelve 
thousand  pounds,  and  to  move  it  to  and  fro  upon  a  smooth  pavement 
by  pushing  within. 

The  white  ants,  already  referred  to,  are  met  with  in  the  savannahs  of 
North  America,  in  Guyana,  in  Africa,  in  New  Holland  and  even  in 
Europe,  whither  they  hav^e  been  imported.  One  traveler  relates  that 
in  Guyana,  he  saw  the  negroes  besieging  certain  strange  buildings, 
which  he  calls  ant-hills.  They  dared  not  attack  them,  except  from  a 
distance,  and  with  fire-arms,  although  they  had  taken  the  precaution  of 
digging  all  around  them  a  little  trench  filled  with  water,  in  which  the 
beseiged  would  be  drowned  if  they  made  a  sortie.  These  were  the 
white  ants'  nests.  The  workers  are  a  fifth  of  an  inch  long,  the  body 
soft  and  of  an  extreme  delicacy,  but  the  sharp  mendibles  or  jaws  capa- 
ble of  attacking  the  hardest  bodies.  The  soldiers  are  twice  as  long,  and 
weigh  as  much  as  fifteen  workers,  and  may  be  distinguished  by  their 
enormous  horned  head,  armed  with  sharp  pincers.  The  male  weighs 
as  much  as  thirty  workers,  and  attains  to  a  length  of  nearly  four-fifths 
of  an  inch.  But  another  female  leaves  all  these  dimensions  far  behind. 
She  attains  to  six  inches  in  length,  and  weighs  as  much  as  thirty 
thousand  workers.  By  a  hideous  contrast,  the  head  alone  does  not  in- 
crease in  size.  She  is  always  motionless  and  captive  in  her  cell,  entirely 
occupied  in  laying.  Her  fecundity  surpasses  all  bounds  :  sixty  eggs 
a  minute,  more  than  eighty  thousand  a  day.  This  prodigious  laying  goes 
on  during  the  whole  of  the  year.  The  larger  she  is,  the  more  fruitful, 
the  more  inexhaustible,  this  terrible  insect-mother  seems  to  be  the  more 
adored  by  the  fanatical  rabble.  She  seems  to  be  their  beau  ideal,  their 
poetry,  their  enthusiasm.  If  you  carry  away  with  any  rubbish  a  portion 
of  their  city,  you  see  them  instantly  set  to  work  at  the  breach  to  build 
an  arch  which  may  protect  the  venerated  head  of  the  mother,  to  recon- 


648 


WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 


Struct  her  royal  cell,  which  will  become  (if  there  are  sufficient  materials) 
the  centre,  the  base  of  the  restored  city.  If  all  other  species  did  not 
combine  to  destroy  them,  this  truly  prodigious  mother  would  make 
them  masters  of  the  world,  and  its  only  inhabitants.  The  fish  alone 
would  be  left ;  but  insects  would  perish.  It  suffices  to  be  remembered 
that  the  mother-bee  does  not  produce  in  a  year  what  the  female  white 

ant  can  produce  in  a  day. 
By  her  they  would  be 
enabled  to  devour  every- 
thing ;  but  they  are  weak 
and  tasty,  and  so  every- 
thing devours  them. 
In  fact,  birds  are  very 
greedy  after  termites ; 
poultry  destroy  immense 
quantities  of  them.  Other 
ants  give  chase  to  them 
and  eat  them  by  legions. 
The  negroes  in  Southern 
Africa  cannot  be  sated 
with  them.  They  gather 
such  as  have  fallen  into 
the  water,  and  roast  them 
like  coffee ;  thus  pre- 
pared, they  eat  them  by 
handfuls,  and  find  them 
delicious.  The  Indians 
smoke  the  termites'  nests, 
and  catch  those  that  have 
wings.  They  knead  them 
up  with  flour,  and  make 
a  sort  of  cake  of  them. 
Travelers,  moreover,  all 
agree  in  speaking  of 
them  as  very  nice  food, 

THE    MONSTROUS    WHITE   ANT    MOTHKR.  .  ,     .     n 

Male  (A),  Woiker  (B),  Soldier  (C).  compamig  their  flavor  to 

that  of  marrow  or  of  a  sugared  cream,  and  of  excellent  quality. 

When  Doctor  Franklin  was  in  Paris,  as  he  sat  quietly  and  alone  at 
his  breakfast  one  morning,  he  saw  a  number  of  black  ants  busy  with 
the  contents  of  the  sugar-bowl.  He  drove  them  away,  but  they  re- 
turned. Again  he  dispersed  them,  but  in  a  few  minutes  they  were  seen 
climbing  from  lump  to  lump,  as  if  nothing  had  happened.     To  try  their 


WONDERS    OF    THE    INSECT    WORLD.  649 

ingenuity,  he  had  the  sugar-bowl  suspended  by  a  string  from  the  ceil- 
ing. They  endeavored  to  reach  it  by  standing  on  each  other's  backs ; 
several  mounted  in  that  manner  and  reached  upwafds,  but  in  vain  ;  the 
chain  of  ants  fell  down  as  fast  as  it  was  raised.  After  repeated  at- 
tempts they  went  away,  and  he  supposed  they  had  given  up  the  matter  ; 
but  presently  he  saw  them  descending  the  string,  and  dropping  down 
upon  the  lumps  of  sugar.  They  had  scaled  the  walls,  traversed  the 
ceiling  and  discovered  another  road  to  the  treasure. 

Like  our  common  bee,  ants  live  in  large  communities.  The  ant-hill, 
the  residence  of  these  communities,  is  a  wonderful  construction,  made 
of  earth.  It  is  about  the  form  and  size  of  a  washing-basin  turned  up- 
side-down, and  contains  within  it  innumerable  chambers  and  galleries, 
made  by  the  energy  and  industry  of  its  little  inhabitants.  If  a  small 
piece  of  this  house  be  broken,  and  the  interior  examined,  it  presents  a 
scene  of  wondrous  activity.  Some  ants  rush  hither  and  thither;  some 
seize  the  eggs  which  have  been  exposed,  and  hurry  with  them  to  a 
place  of  safety ;  others  apply  themselves  to  repairing  the  breach. 
While  thus  engaged,  the  ants,  on  meeting,  are  often  observed  to  stop, 
and,  touching  each  other  with  their  feelers,  apparently  have  the  power 
of  communicating  their  ideas,  and  agreeing  as  to  their  work. 

INSECTS    THAT    KEEP    COWS. 

Wonderful  are  the  observations  which  have  been  itiade  about  these 
little  animals  ;  not  the  least  of  them  is  the  discovery  that  some  ants 
keep  what  may  be  called  milch  cattle.  There  is  a  small  insect  inhabit- 
ing trees,  and  the  leaves  and  stems  of  plants.  It  is  well  known  in 
green-houses,  where  its  presence  is  greatly  detested  by  gardeners,  who 
use  all  means  in  their  power  to  get  rid  of  it.  This  little  insect,  called 
the  aphis,  is  the  milch  cow  to  which  the  ants  are  indebted  to  for  an  im- 
portant part  of  their  sustenance.  At  certain  times  of  the  year  the 
plants  tenanted  by  the  aphis  are  frequented  by  multitudes  of  ants,  their 
object  being  to  obtain  a  fluid  which  is  secreted  in  the  body  of  the 
aphis.  This  fluid,  scarcely  inferior  to  honey  in  sweetness,  comes  from 
them  in  drops,  and  is  eagerly  sought  by  the  ants.  The  aphis,  with  its 
mouth  fastened  into  the  bark  of  the  tree,  is  continually  drinking  in  the 
sap,  which,  after  having  passed  through  its  body,  comes  out  as  this 
sweet  fluid.  An  ant  is  seen  to  caress  an  aphis  with  its  feelers,  and  im- 
mediately the  latter  yields  a  drop  of  its  honey,  which  is  greedily  swal- 
lowed by  the  ant. 

More  than  this,  by  common  consent  it  appears  to  be  arranged  that 
the  aphides  on  a  particular  branch  shall  belong  to  the  ants  of  a  particu- 
lar nest,  and  any  other  ant  intruding  on  their  preserves  is  treated  with 
summary  justice.     The  ants  love  their  useful  allies,  will  defend  them 


BIRTH  OF  THE  WONDERFUL  LANTERN-FLY. 
GoO 


WONDERS   OF    THE    INSECT   WORLD.  651 

from  aggression,  and  may  be  seen  to  carry  them  about  in  their  mouths. 
Some  kinds  of  ants  treat  their  cattle  in  a  still  more  curious  way — they 
keep  them  in  their  own  nest  and  supply  them  with  their  necessary  food. 
When  the  aphis  lays  eggs  the  ants  undertake  the  charge  of  them, 
bringing  them  out  to  the  sun,  and  moistening  them  with  their  tongues, 
thus  using  all  means  to  increase  their  stock  of  cattle  by  successfully 
hatching  the  eggs.  Such  valuable  property  as  the  aphides  are  nat- 
urally tempts  the  attacks  of  robbers.  Tenants  of  a  neighboring  hill  often 
make  a  raid  with  a  view  to  capture  them,  and  their  owners  fight  for 
them  with  valor,  knowing  as  they  do  how  essential  to  the  life  of  the 
colony  is  their  stock  of  milch  cattle,  which  must  therefore  be  defended. 

INSECTS  THAT    SHINE    IN  THE    DARK. 

Equally  marvelous  is  the  tribe  of  insects  that  have  luminous  proper- 
ties. One  of  the  most  beautiful  features  of  the  savannahs  in  the  tropics 
Is  the  fire-fly.  When  the  stars  shine  forth,  the  broad  grassy  meadow 
becomes  illuminated  with  a  thousand  glittering  lamps,  almost  as  if  it 
reflected  the  vault  of  heaven  from  its  surface  ;  and  the  thicket  and  the 
forests  are  often  full  of  their  tiny  but  brilliant  lights,  flitting  from 
flower  to  flower  through  the  air,  or  shedding  a  mild  refulgence  over 
the  surrounding  foliage.  It  is  said  that  the  South  American  Indians, 
when  they  travel  at  night,  attach  several  of  them  to  their  hands  and 
feet,  instead  of  carrying  a  lantern,  whilst  their  wives  use  them  for 
candles  in  the  performance  of  their  evening  household  duties. 

Many  of  the  Indian  tribes  regard  them  with  quite  a  childish  pleasure, 
not  only  using  them  to  adorn  the  hair  of  the  girls,  but  decorating  their 
holiday  attire  with  them,  as  well  as  the  trappings  of  their  horses,  for  which 
purposes  they  often  collect  large  numbers  on  feast  days,  when  they  amuse 
themselves  in  quite  a  theatrical  fashion,  dressing  in  the  most  fantastic 
costumes,  with  masks  and  skins,  to  represent  various  animals.  There 
are  a  great  many  species  of  fire-fly  known — perhaps  more  than  a 
hundred — most  of  them  indigenous  to  America,  and  distributed  over 
the  whole  territory  from  New  England  to  Chili. 

From  time  immemorial  the  nature  and  habits  of  bees  have  formed  a 
study  for  the  curious,  and  an  endless  occasion  for  wonder.  The  female, 
or  queen,  is  smaller  than  the  male,  and  has  a  longer  body  than  the 
working  bees,  and  the  wings,  shorter  in  proportion,  cover  only  the  half 
of  its  body,  whereas  with  the  other  bees  they  cover  it  entirely.  The 
only  part  she  has  to  play  is  that  of  laying  eggs,  and  so  she  has  no  pal- 
ettes and  brushes.  The  sovereign  is,  as  suits  her  supreme  rank,  exempted 
from  all  work.  She  is  always  escorted  by  a  certain  number  of  working 
bees,  who  brush  her,  lick  her,  present  honey  to  her  with  their  trunks, 
save  her  every  kind  of  fatigue,  and  compose  a  train  worthy  of  her  femi- 


652  WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 

nine  majesty.  One  very  remarkable  fact  is  that  only  one  queen  lives  in 
each  hive.  Perfect  sovereign  of  this  tiny  state,  she  rules  over  a  people 
of  some  thousands  of  workers.  It  is  not  rare  to  find  twenty-thousand 
working  bees  in  a  hive,  and  all  submissively  obey  their  sovereign.  The 
number  of  males  is  scarcely  one-tenth  part  of  that  of  the  working  bees  ; 
and  they  only  live  about  three  months.  The  workers  represent  the  active 
life  of  the  community. 

The  exterior  of  a  hive  gives  the  best  idea  of  this  people,  essentially 
laborious.  From  sunrise  to  sunset,  all  is  movement,  diligence,  bustle  ; 
it  is  an  incessant  series  of  goings  and  comings,  of  various  operations 
which  begin,  continue,  and  end,  to  be  recommenced.  Hundreds  of  bees 
arrive  from  the  fields,  laden  with  materials  and  provisions  ;  others  cross 
them  and  go  in  their  turn  into  the  country.  Here,  cautious  sentinels 
scrutinize  every  fresh  arrival  ;  there,  purveyors,  in  a  hurry  to  be  back 
at  work  again,  stop  at  the  entrance  to  the  hive,  where  other  bees  unload • 
them  of  their  burdens  ;  elsewhere  it  is  a  working  bee  which  engages  in 
a  hand-to-hand  encounter  with  a  rash  stranger  ;  further  on  the  surveyors 
of  the  hive  clear  it  of  everything  which  might  interfere  with  the  traffic 
or  be  prejudicial  to  health  ;  at  another  point  the  workers  are  occupied 
in  drawing  out  the  dead  body  of  one  of  their  companions ;  all  the  out- 
lets are  besieged  by  a  crowd  of  bees  coming  in  and  going  out,  the  doors 
hardly  sufficing  for  this  hurrying,  busy  multitude.  All  appears  disorder 
and  confusion  at  the  approaches  to  the  hive,  but  this  tumult  is  only 
so  in  appearance ;  an  admirable  order  presides  over  this  emulation  in 
their  work,  which  is  the  distinctive  feature  in  bees.  A  very  simple 
calculation  may  serve  to  give  us  an  idea  of  this  prodigous  activity. 
The  opening  of  a  well-stocked  hive  gives  passage  to  one  hundred  bees 
a  minute,  which  makes,  from  five  o'clock  in  the  morning  till  seven 
o'clock  in  the  evening,  eighty  thousand  re-entrances,  or  four  excur- 
sions for  each  bee,  in  a  population  of  twenty  thousand  workers. 

Let  us  now  follow  their  occupations  from  the  moment  in  which  they 
establish  themselves  in  a  hive.  The  workers  begin  by  stopping  up  all 
the  openings  except  one  door,  which  is  always  to  remain  open.  A 
certain  number  set  out  to  look  for  a  resinous  and  sweet-scented  substance, 
known  under  the  name  of  propolis,  which  is  destined  to  cover  the  inner 
surface  of  the  hive,  as  its  name  shows,  which  is  derived  from  a  Greek 
word  signifying  outskirts,  or  suburb.  This  gum  is  viscous  and  very 
adherent.  The  bee  works  it  up  into  balls,  and  carries  it  in  this  form  to 
the  hive,  where  other  laborers  take  possession  of  it.  They  seize  the 
pellet  with  their  mandibles,  or  jaws,  and  apply  it  to  cracks  which  they 
have  to  make  air-tight.  They  use  the  propolis  for  another  purpose  still, 
which  deserves  to  be  mentioned. 


WONDERS   OF   THE    INSECT    WORLD. 


653 


It  hap-peiis,  sometimes,  that  an  enemy  penetrates  into  their  hive,  and 
that  the  bees  are  not  strong  enough  to  cast  this  intruder  out  of  their 
dwelling.  What  do  they  do?  As  soon  as  they  have  discovered  the 
invasion  of  their  domicile,  they  set  upon  the  impudent  intruder  and 
sting  him  to  death.  But  how  can  they  drag  out  the  dead  body,  which 
is  often  very  heavy,  such,  for  instance,  as  a  slug  ?  On  the  other  hand, 
it  would  be  dangerous  to  abandon  its  carcass  in  the  midst  of  the  hive. 
A  Roman  Emperor  said  that  the  dead  bodies  of  our  enemies  always 
smelt  good.  This  is  not  the  opinion  of  the  bees.  They  know  that  if 
they abandon  the 
carcass  in  the  S 
hive  it  would  in- 
fect the  place,  to 
the  great  danger 
of  their  health. 
They  therefore 
embalm  it.  They 
encase  it  in  pro- 
polis, which  pre- 
serves it  from 
putrefaction.  It 
is  said  that  the 
art  of  embalming 
was  practised  for 
the  first  time  by 
the  ancient 
Egyptians.  It 
is  an  error.  The 
first  inventors  of 
this  art  were 
ingenious  bees. 

If,  instead  of  a 
slug,  it  is  a  snail 

whose  evil  genius  has  conducted  it  into  the  interior  of  a  beehive,  the 
proceeding  is  more  simple.  The  moment  he  has  received  one  sting, 
the  snail  retires  under  the  protecting  roof  of  his  movable  house.  The 
bees  thereupon  at  once  wall  him  in  by  closing  the  opening  to  his  shell 
with  this  material.  The  shell  is  then  cemented  to  the  floor  of  the  hive, 
and  the  house  of  the  poor  moUusk  becomes  its  tomb,  and  remains  thus 
in  the  midst  of  the  hive,  as  a  sort  of  decorative  tumulus.  When  the 
sides  of  the  hive  are  well  closed,  the  bees  lay  the  foundations  of  their 
cells.     It  was  not  formerly  so  easy  to  observe  the  details  of  the  work 


WONDERFUL    CLUSTER 


BEES. 


654  WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 

done  by  the  bees  as  it  is  at  the  present  day  ;  for  these  insects,  once  in 
their  hives,  have  a  great  aversion  to  the  Hght.  If  they  are  put  into  a 
glazed  hive,  their  first  care  is  to  shut  up  all  the  windows,  either  by  plaster- 
ing them  over  with  propolis,  or  by  forming,  by  means  of  the  well-mar- 
shalled battalion  of  working  bees,  a  sort  of  living  curtain. 

When  the  working  bees  begin  to  construct  their  hives  they  divide  the 
work  among  themselves.  A  first  detachment  is  employed  to  gather  the 
wax,  which  is  the  building  stone  of  our  little  architects.  It  is  easy  to 
perceive  the  little  plates  of  wax  by  slightly  raising  the  last  rings  of  the 
bee's  body.  The  working  bees  suspend  themselves  from  the  roof  of  the 
hive  in  such  a  manner  as  to  form  festoons.  The  first  clings  to  the  roof 
with  his  front  legs,  the  second  hooks  himself  on  to  the  hind  legs  of  the 
first,  and  so  on.  They  in  this  manner  form  chains,  fixed  by  the  two 
ends  to  the  roof,  which  serve  as  a  bridge  or  ladder  to  the  bees  which 
join  this  assembly.  The  result  of  all  this  is  at  last  a  cluster  or  swarm 
of  bees  which  hangs  down  to  the  bottom  of  the  hive.  In  this  attitude 
they  remain  at  first  motionless,  waiting  till  the  honey  in  their  stomachs 
is  changed  into  wax.  When  the  wax  is  sufficiently  elaborated  in  its 
organs,  one  of  them  detaches  itself  from  the  group  of  which  it  forms  a 
part.  It  takes  between  its  legs  one  of  the  flakes  of  wax  adhering  to 
the  rings  of  its  body,  kneads  it  with  its  mandibles,  moistens  it  with  its 
saliva,  and  gives  it  the  appearance  of  a  soft  filament,  which  it  sticks  on 
to  a  projecting  point  of  the  roof.  To  this  first  layer  it  adds  others, 
till  it  has  exhausted  all  its  wax.  Then  it  leaves  its  post,  and  returns 
to  the  fields  ;  another  worker — another  mason,  as  they  are  sometimes 
called — succeeds  it,  and  continues  the  laying  of  the  foundations. 
Presently  shapeless  blocks  of  wax  hang  down  from  the  roof  It  is  in 
these  blocks  that  other  workers,  with  their  mandibles,  hollow  out  and 
form  the  first  cells.  While  the  workers  continue  to  prolong  the  founda- 
tion wall,  and  whilst  the  first  cells  are  being  shaped,  new  ones  are 
roughly  sketched  out  or  rough-hewn,  and  the  work  advances  with  a 
marvelous  rapidity. 

The  honeycombs  are  the  result  of  two  layers  of  cells  placed  back  to 
back,  arranged  in  such  a  way  that  the  bases  of  the  one  become  the 
bases  of  the  other,  the  base  of  each  little  cell  being  formed  b>-  the 
union  of  the  bases  of  three  opposite  cells.  The  bees  begin  by  forming 
the  base  of  the  cell ;  they  then  add  the  six  sides,  or  walls,  which  are  to 
complete  the  hexagonal  cup.  At  the  same  time  others  set  to  work  on 
the  opposite  side  of  the  comb,  and  construct  little  cells  back  to  back 
with  the  cells  of  the  front  surface.  They  do  not  finish  them  off  at 
once.  New  workers  succeed  tho.se  who  merely  mark  out  the  work, 
being  occupied  in  planing  down  the  rough-hewn-cells,  and  in  reducing 


WONDF.KS    OF    THE    INSECT    WORLD. 


655 


the  walls  to  the  desired  thickness.  This  work  is  accomplished  with 
an  incredible  celerity,  for  the  bees  can  build  as  many  as  four  thousarrd 
cells  in  twenty-four  hours.  There  is  very  good  reason  for  the  hexa- 
gonal form  being  adopted  by  the  bees  in  constructing  their  cells, 
as  it  involves  a  question  of  economy,  which  these  insects  have  solved 
in  their  most  admirable  manner. 

The  bee  is  a  producer,  a  benefit  to  man,  who  enjoys  its  labor  and 
pays  no  price.  There  are  insects,  however,  whose  sole  mission  appears 
to  be  destruction.     This  may  be  said  of  the  scorpion.     The  scorpion 


THE    DEADLY    SCORPION. 

is  one  of  the  largest  and  most  malignant  of  the  insect  tribe.  It  some- 
what resembles  the  lobster  in  general  appearance,  but  is  much  more 
hideous.  It  is  from  two  to  four  inches  in  length.  It  lives  upon  other 
insects,  but  kills  and  devours  its  own  species  also.  It  frequents  dry 
and  hot  places,  and  lies  under  stones  and  in  the  crevices  of  old  ruins. 
The  bite  of  the  scorpion  is  generally  fatal,  but  not  always  so.  The 
poison  is  injected  by  means  of  a  sharp,  curved  sting  at  the  end  of  the 
six-jointed  tail.  It  occasions  great  pain,  inflammation,  and  hardness, 
with  alternate  chills  and  burning,  and  fortunate  is  the  one  who,  having 
been  stung,  recovers  from  the  dangerous  wound. 


656 


WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 


The  tribe  of  weevils  must  also  be  classed  among  destructive  agents. 
One  may  know  them  by  their  head  prolonged  into  a  snout  or  trunk, 
by  their  rudimentary  mouth,  and  by  their  elbowed  antennae,  or  horns. 
About  twenty  thousand  species  are  said  to  exist.  They  feed  on  vege- 
tables. Their  larvae  are  soft,  whitish  worms,  without  legs,  with  very 
small  heads,  and  live  in  the  interior  of  the  stalks  or  seeds  of  plants, 
often  occasioning  enormous  damage.  They  are  one  of  the  plagues  of 
agriculture.  Each  of  our  dry  vegetables,  each  variety  of  our  cereals, 
has  in  this  immense  family  its  particular  enemy.  The  pea  weevil,  which 
is  brown  with  white  spots,  comes  out  of  the  pea  at  the  end  of  the 
summer.  The  female  lays  her  eggs  on  peas  which  are  ripe,  and  still 
standing,  in  which  the  larva  scoops  out  a  habitation,  and  then  makes 
ils  exit  by  a  ciicular  hole.     It  lemains  at  rest  all  the  winter,  and  is  not 

hatched  till  to- 
wards the  follow- 
ing spring.  The 
bean  weevil  marks 
each  bean  with 
many  black  spots. 
The  wheat  weevil, 
ofa  darkish  brown, 
lays  its  eggs  on 
the  g  r  a  i  n  s  ,  o  f 
which  the  larvae 
then  eat  the  inte- 
rior. A  host  of 
ways  of  getting 
•  x'<s^v---^?^"-c^-:  v- -" ''^■^-t^^-^^        rid  of  the  weevil 

THE  WEEVIL  UNDEVELOPED  AND  FULL  GROWN.  have  bccn  pro- 
posed. The  best  means  is  to  store  grain  properly,  and  to  keep  the 
heap  well  aired,  driving  out  the  pest  by  this  simple  process. 

All  vegetables,  the  vine,  fruit  trees,  the  ash,  pines,  as  well  as  grains, 
are  eaten  by  some  weevil  or  other.  One  species  takes  the  precaution 
of  cutting  half  through  the  young  stems  and  the  stalks  of  the  buds  of 
the  pine,  so  that  the  sap  flows  only  with  difficulty  into  the  withered 
organ,  and  cannot  suffocate  the  young  larvae.  Other  weevils  hollow 
out  galleries  between  the  wood  and  the  bark  of  different  trees,  when  in 
the  larva  state,  and  devour  the  leaves  in  the  adult  state.  They  are 
sometimes  so  numerous  in  the  forests  that  the  trees  are  tattooed  all 
over  by  the  larvs.  Whole  forests  of  oaks,  aged  from  thirty  to  forty 
years,  have  been  ruined  by  their  ravages.  One  species,  hairy,  and  of 
a  tawny  color,  are  a  terrible  plague  to  pine  forests.     In  one  season  in 


WONDERS    OF    THE    INSECT    WORLD.  657 

the  Forest  of  Hartz,  one  million  five  hundred  thousand  trees  were 
destroyed  by  these  insects.  Often  have  the  priests  implored  in  the 
churches  the  Divine  clemency,  to  put  an  end  to  the  devastations  made 
b}'  them. 

One  genus  has  the  antcnn.ie  very  long;  they  exceed  in  some  of  the 
species  two  or  three  times  the  length  of  the  body.  The  larvae  are 
large  whitish  worms,  which  li\e  in  the  wood  of  trees, the  adult  insects 
frequenting  flowers  and  rotten  trees.  In  the  month  of  June  one  meets 
them  on  the  oaks,  whose  larva  scoops  out  its  galleries  in  the  interior 
of  the  tree,  and  often  occasions  much  damage. 

Another  tribe  comprises  what  are  called  lady-birds.  These  little 
globular,  smooth  insects,  red  or  yellow,  with  black  spots,  are  very  use- 
ful to  us,  for  they  clear  the  trees  of  other  mischievous  insects.  Their 
larvae  make  use  of  their  front  legs  to  carry  their  prey  to  their  mouths. 
When  danger  threatens  a  lady-bird  it  hides  its  feet  under  its  body,  and 
remains  sticking  to  the  stem  of  the  bush.  If  you  touch  it,  it  allows 
itself  to  fall  to  the  ground,  but  sometimes  opens  its  wings  and  flies  off 
rapidly.  It  also  exudes  from  the  articulations  of  its  body  a  yellow 
liquid,  of  a  pungent  and  disagreeable  odor.  This  is  the  only  means  of 
defence  possessed  by  this  little  inoffensive  and  withal  useful  being. 

AN    EXTRAORDINARY    MOUTH. 

The  weevil  is  an  out-door  insect.  There  are  insects  that  boldly  step 
inside  the  house,  and  are  familiar  objects,  yet  of  most  marvelous  con- 
struction. The  eye  of  a  common  fly  has  four  thousand  lenses,  or 
reflectors,  each  of  use  in  the  matter  of  vision,  yet  no  part  of  fly 
structure  is  more  wonderful  than  the  mouth.  Watch  a  common  fly 
alight  on  a  piece  of  sugar.  From  the  under  surface  of  the  head 
apparently  is  unfolded  a  long  organ  looking  hke  an  additional  leg ; 
and  with  this  the  fly  scrapes  the  sugar,  licks  up  the  cream,  spoliates 
the  jam,  and  effects  destruction  in  other  and  varied  ways.  To  under- 
stand what  the  organ  is,  let  us  briefly  glance  at  the  typical  structure  of 
the  insect  mouth.  Four  sets  of  organs  or  appendages  compose  the 
mouth.  There  is  first  an  upper  lip,  then  a  pair  of  large  jaws — forming 
a  tube  or  tongue  in  butterflies — and  last  of  all  a  lower  lip.  In  a  beetle 
the  chief  mouth  organs  are  the  greater  and  lesser  jaws,  while  in  a  bee 
or  wasp  the  jaws  are  also  well  developed  for  the  work  of  the  hive,  but 
the  under  lip  forms  a  tongue,  wherewith  the  bee  sucks  up  honey  from 
the  flowers.  Now  in  the  fly  the  mouth  parts  are  of  a  modified  nature. 
Speaking  generally,  the  jaws  are  represented  by  small  bristle-like 
organs,  and  the  upper  lip  is  developed  ;  but  it  is  the  labium,  or  under 
lip,  which  comes  to  the  front  in  the  development  of  the  fly's  mouth. 
Here  it  forms,  as  in  the  bee's,  the  chief  organ  of  nuitrition.  It  is  the 
42 


058  WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 

under  lip  which  we  see  unfolded  from  beneath  the  Head  when  the  fly 
attacks  the  sugar.  And  when  we  place  this  organ  beneath  the  micro- 
scope, we  can  readily  discover  the  secret  of  its  service. 

The  tongue,  as  we  may  term  the  under  lip,  consists  of  a  stalk,  highly 
movable  and  muscular,  at  the  end  of  which  a  couple  of  broad  leaves 
expand  out  from  the  middle  to  form  a  sucker-like  organ,  beautifully 
adapted,  for  licking  up  fluids,  and  for  scratching  solid  matters  also. 
This  fan-like  end  is  supported  on  a  firm  tubular  frame  work,  acting  as  a 
set  of  springs  to  open  and  shut  the  fans,  while  the  microscope  shows  us 
that  this  structure  is  really  like  a  file  or  rasp  in  its  nature.  We  can 
understand  then,  readily  enough,  how  such  a  muscular  organ  can  be 
used  for  the  purposes  of  fly  nourishment.  When  after  a  summer  of 
flies,  the  morocco  covers  of  our  books  and  the  finely  polished  surface 
of  our  furniture  are  scratched  and  eroded,  we  can  readily  appreciate 
the  cause  of  the  damage.  With  this  it  wages  war  even  on  ourselves. 
For,  as  a  famous  authority  on  insects  remarks,  it  is  by  its  means  that 
the  fly  teases  us  in  the  heat  of  summer,  when  it  alights  on  the  hand  or 
face  to  sip  the  perspiration  as  it  exudes  from  and  is  condensed  upon 
the  skin,  thus  causing  an  irritation  which  is  an}-thing  but  pleasant. 

THE    WONDERS    OF    BUTTERFLY    LIFE. 

Some  of  the  old  workers  in  stained  glass  who  made  the  grand  col- 
ored windows  for  ancient  cathedrals  and  monasteries,  were  fond  of 
producing  figures  of  a  gaudy  butterfly,  when  they  wished  to  represent 
the  idea  of  the  resurrection  from  the  dead.  The  butterfly,  with  its  ex- 
panded wings,  gay  colors  and  lively  flight,  was  to  them,  as  it  is  to  us, 
a  proof  that  beauty  could  follow  hideousness  in  the  ordinary  course  of 
nature,  and  it  was  an  emblem  that  the  immortal  spirit  would  cast  off 
the  gross  body  of  our  senses  and  animal  mind.  What  a  difference 
there  is  between  a  green  and  yellow  caterpillar,  covered  with  bunches 
of  hair  here  and  there,  and  not  smelling  over  nice,  that  gorges  cabbage- 
leaves  hour  after  hour  and  day  after  day,  and  the  delicate  white  butter- 
fly, with  its  black  spot  on  its  large  wings,  its  long  proboscis,  which 
rarely  is  used,  its  silky  body,  pretty,  long  horns  and  hesitating  flight ! 
The  caterpillar  becomes  a  chrysalis,  and  this  the  perfect  insect.  To 
the  eye  there  is  a  decided  change  of  form — a  metamorphosis ;  but  to 
the  anatomist  there  are  proofs  of  internal  and  external  changes  in  the 
construction  of  the  tissues  and  organs  that  are  most  wonderful. 
Whence  does  the  butterfly  derive  its  wings  ?  There  is  no  trace  of  them 
in  the  hairy  and  thick  skin  of  the  caterpillar.  If  a  caterpillar  is  dis- 
sected, the  skin  is  noticed  to  cover  some  muscular  fibres,  by  which  the 
insect  lengthens  or  shortens  its  body  and  crawls,  and  inside  these  is  the 
cavity  through  which  the  green  blood  circulates,  and  which  surrounds 


WONDERS    OF    THE    INSECT    WORLD. 


659 


the  great  stomach.  There  are  no  traces  of  wings,  and  therefore  it  is 
not  correct  to  say  that  the  caterpillar  contains  the  imperfect  organs  of 
the  perfect  insect.  But  when  the  caterpillar  has  grown  to  Its  full 
length,  and  cabbages  have  become  rare,  it  retires  to  a  quiet  nook  and 


THE    GORGEOUS    BUTTERFLY,    WITH    CATERPILLARS    AND    CHRYSALIS 

begms  to  dm.inish  in  length.     It  fixes  its  hind  legs  tightly  to  a  board 
or  tree,  by  weaving  a  little  web  with  its  mouth,  then  it  curves  its  body 

he.d  r','  '     1     •''^'^  °"  °""  ''^"  °^  ''  ^"  '^'^  ^^'°°^'  ^"d  throwing  its 
head  backwards,  it  curves  its  body  to  the  other  side,  fixing  the  thread 


660  WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 

on  the  opposite  side  on  the  wood.  The  caterpillar  then  straightens  it- 
self, and,  being  securely  lashed  by  its  feet,  and  tied  tightly  by  its  silken 
girdle  to  the  wood,  it  changes  its  skin,  and  from  under  the  old  one  ap- 
pears the  queer-looking  thing,  without  legs,  mouth  or  hairs,  called  the 
chrysalis.  This  has  a  brown  skin,  and  on  either  side  of  the  body  is  a 
sort  of  fold ;  and  within  this  the  process  of  wing-making  is  going  on 
all  through  the  winter,  although  the  chrysalis  never  moves  and  does 
not  cat  or  drink.  The  pretty  body  and  the  delicate  head  are  being 
formed  within  the  brown  skin,  and  even  the  stomach  is  undergoing 
alteration  in  form,  while  the  muscles  of  the  caterpillar  are  being  changed 
into  those  which  can  move  the  wings  and  legs  of  the  butterfly. 

A    M.\RVELOUS    TRANSFORMATION. 

At  last,  on  some  fine  spring  day,  the  brown  skin  of  the  chrysalis 
splits,  and  the  butterfly  comes  out  with  its  wings  nicely  folded.  It 
soon  gains  energy  in  the  sun,  and  breathes  the  fresh  air,  the  wings  un- 
fold and  become  stiff,  and  the  little  creature  flies  off  with  a  careless 
flight,  but  in  a  manner  which  no  mechanism  yet  invented  can  enable 
man  to  imitate.  Examined  under  a  strong  magnifying  power,  the 
wings  are  most  beautiful.  They  consist  of  a  fine  membrane,  quite 
transparent ;  it  has  two  layers,  and  between  them  are  the  rib-like 
markings,  which  are  really  tubes  formed  by  myriads  of  rings  of  mem- 
brane placed  side  by  side.  These  tubes  are  the  breathing  apparatus, 
and  the  air  passes  into  them  and  is  carried  by  other  tubes  into  the 
body,  and  amongst  the  muscles,  and  even  around  the  stomach.  On 
the  layers  of  membrane  are  rows  of  very  small,  dark  dots,  one  row 
regularly  succeeds  another  until  the  wings  outside  and  inside  are 
covered. 

The  beautiful  proboscis,  which  is  curled  up  under  the  head  of  the 
butterfly,  is  very  different  from  the  sharp,  crushing,  cabbage-eating 
jaws  of  the  caterpillar.  It  is  rarely  used  ;  but  when  some  very  tempt- 
ing flowers  are  near,  the  insect  may  unfold  it  and  place  its  tip  in  the 
honey  at  the  bottom  of  the  flower.  There  is  a  small  bag  in  the  gullet 
which  is  connected  with  the  proboscis,  and  it  contracts  and  expels  all 
the  air  out  of  the  sucker.  Then,  when  the  end  touches  the  honey,  the 
bag  dilates,  and  the  sugary  liquid  rushes  up.  The  butterfly  takes  but 
little  food,  for  the  caterpillar  had  laid  in  such  a  store,  that  it  furnishes 
the  new  clothes  of  the  perfect  insect  and  its  food  as  well.  The  cater- 
pillar has  this  use,  that  it  can  .spin  a  thread,  which  in  some  kinds  is  a 
true  silk,  but  the  butterfly  has  nothing  of  the  kind  to  do.  The  butter- 
fly lays  eggs  and  glues  them  to  the  dry  substance  nearest  the  future 
food  of  the  young,  and  every  species  regularly  chooses  the  same  kind 
of  tree  or  shrub,  generation  after  generation. 


WONDERS    OF   THE    INSECT   WORLD. 


6G1 


Closely  resembling  the  butterfly  is  the  palmer  worm,  mentioned  often 
in  the  Jewish  writings  as  a  destructive  insect,  and  regarded  as  a  pest  and 
a  judgment  whenever  it  made  its  appearance.  Its  beauty  is  not  at  all 
in  keeping  with  its  destructive  power. 

There  is  a  very  pretty  butterfly  called  the  painted  lady,  ^\•hich  is 
common  in  some  parts  of  England,  and  it  is  very  celebrated  for  its 
swarms,  which  have  been  known  to  pass  over  great  distances.  Most 
insects,  and  especially  moths  and  butterflies,  live  exclusively  in  one 
country,  in  some  particular  island,  or  on  part  of  a  continent,  but  the 

\ 


THE    VARIEGATED    PALMER    WORM. 

painted  lady  is  common  in  Europe.  Asia  and  Southern  Africa  ;  more- 
over, it  has  been  found  in  Australia,  Japan  and  America.  A  vast  swarm 
of  these  butterflies,  formmg  a  column  from  ten  to  fifteen  feet  broad, 
was  once  seen  in  one  of  the  Swiss  cantons.  The  myriads  of  beautiful, 
winged  creatures  flew  onward  in  regular  order  from  north  to  south  with 
great  rapidity.  In  the  month  of  March  of  the  same  year,  a  similar 
swarm  was  observed,  south  of  Switzerland,  flying  from  north  to  south, 
and  at  night  the  butterflies  alighted  and  covered  the  plants  and  flowers. 
These  insects  must  have  congregated  together,  in  the  first  instance. 


662  WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 

from  considerable  distances,  and  a  common  impulse  directed  them  in 
their  flight.  These  emigrations  from  one  country  to  another  do  not 
•occur  in  the  lifetime  of  every  painted  lady,  but  only  now  and  then  after 
the  lapse  of  many  years.  Many  insects  emigrate  pretty  regularly  from 
one  country  to  another,  and  yet  live  solitary  lives  until  the  time  for 
moving  commences ;  then,  like  the  swallows,  they  collect  together  by 
some  wonderful  instinct,  and  fly  away  in  enormous  multitudes.  The 
lady-birds,  the  locusts  and  the  daddy-longlegs,  are  familiar  examples. 

VENUS'    INGENIOUS    FLY-TRAP. 

Fly-traps  are  well-known  in  the  animal  kingdom  to  every  one  who 
has  eyes,  or  at  least  who  uses  them.  The  delicate  web  of  the  spider, 
and  the  deeply  cut  and  broad  mouth  of  the  swallow,  at  once  suggest 
themselves  as  illustrations  from  among  our  animals.  The  spider,  sitting 
at  home  at  ease,  waits  the  entanglement  of  his  prey  in  his  stake-nets, 
while  the  swallow  opens  his  large  sweep-net,  and,  dashing  through 
myriads  of  may-flies  or  clouds  of  midges,  secures  hundreds  of  them. 
Both  animals  thus  obtain  their  food ;  and  other  singular  fly-traps  could 
be  enumerated  from  the  animal  kingdom  equally  well  adapted  to  supply 
the  necessities  of  their  different  owners.  But  that  a  vegetable  should 
have  an  exquisitely  constructed  and  perfect  apparatus  of  this  kind  is 
very  remarkable,  when  it  is  remembered  that  plants  differ  very  markedly 
from  animals  in  regard  to  their  food.  For,  while  animals  live  on  organ- 
ized substances — that  is,  on  plants  or  other  animals — vegetables  live  on 
inorganic  substances,  and  a  plant  or  an  animal  is  of  use  to  a  living  vege- 
table only  when  by  decay  it  is  resolved  into  its  inorganic  constituents. 
It  is,  then,  unlikely  that  a  fly  could  supply  a  plant  with  food,  and  yet 
a  more  perfect  fly-trap  than  the  leaves  of  the  diona^a  cannot  be  imag- 
ined, or  one  more  successful  in  capturing  its  prey. 

This  little  plant  is  a  native  ot  the  sandy  bogs  in  the  pine  barrens  of 
North  Carolina.  It  grows  to  a  height  of  from  six  to  twelve  inches, 
producing  a  loose  head  of  large,  whitish  flowers.  The  flower-.stalk  rises 
from  a  rosette  of  yellowish-green  leaves,  spreading  on  the  ground. 
Each  leaf  is  divided  by  a  deep  incision  into  two  portions,  the  lower  being 
a  broadly-winged  footstalk,  and  the  upper  the  blade  or  true  leaf  itself 
This  upper  portion  is  the  fly-trap — the  most  curious  part  of  the  plant 
— and  demands  a  careful  description.  It  is  roundish,  and  divided  into 
two  equal  parts  by  a  strong  mid-rib.  The  margins  are  fringed  with  a 
row  of  strong  spiny  bristles,  so  that  it  may  be  likened  to  two  upper 
eyelids  joined  at  their  bases.  The  leaf  is  a  little  hollow  on  either  side 
of  the  mid-rib,  the  upper  surface  is  dotted  with  minute  reddish  glands, 
and  each  hollow  is  furnished  with  three  slender  bristles.  The  sensitive- 
ness of  the  leaf  chiefly  resides  in  these  bristles.     If  an  insect  alights  on 


WONDERS    OF    THE    INSECT    WORLD. 


663 


the  leaf,  and  touches  one  or  more  of  them,  the  sides  suddenly  close 
with  a  force  so  great  as  to  imprison  the  little  creature,  notwithstanding 
all  its  efforts  to  escape.  The  fringe  of  bristles  on  the  opposite  sides  of 
the  leaf  interlace  like  the  fingers  of  the  two  hands  clasped  together,  or 


like  the  teeth  of  a  steel  trap.  Ihe  nisect  is  not  crushed  or  suddenly- 
destroyed,  but  is  retained  firmly  imprisoned  until  it  ceases  to  move, 
which  would  generally  mean  until  it  was  dead,  and  then  the  leaf  slowly 
expands.  When  the  bristles  are  irritated  by  man,  the  leaf  quickly 
closes,  remains  closed  for  a  short  time,  then  slowly  expands,  ready  to 


664  WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 

« 

close  again  if  newly  irritated.  But  if  it  be  caused  to  make  repeated 
efforts  at  short  intervals,  its  movements  become  languid,  or  the  sensi- 
bility is  altogether  exhausted,  and  is  recovered  only  by  a  period  of 
repose.  Flies  are  often  caught  in  other  ways,  as  we  all  know,  their 
great  enemy  cunningly  setting  a  snare  for  them,  from  which  it  is  im- 
possible for  them  to  escape  when  they  become  entangled. 

WONDERS    OF    THE    SPIDER's   THREAD. 

That  any  creature  could  be  found  to  fabricate  a  net,  not  less 
ingenious  than  that  of  the  fisherman,  for  the  capture  of  its  prey;  that 
it  should  fix  it  in  the  right  place,  and  then  patiently  await  the  result,  is 
a  proceeding  so  strange,  that  if  we  did  not  see  it  done  daily  before  our 
eyes  by  the  common  house-spider  and  garden-spider,  it  would  seem 
wonderful.  But  how  much  is  our  wonder  increased  when  we  think  of 
the  complex  fabric  of  each  single  thread,  and  then  of  the  mathematical 
precision  and  rapidity  with  which,  in  certain  cases,  the  net  itself  is 
constructed ;  and  to  add  to  all  this,  as  an  example  of  the  wonders 
which  the  most  common  things  exhibit  when  carefully  examined,  the 
net  of  the  garden-spider  consists  of  two  distinct  kinds  of  silk.  The 
threads  forming  the  concentric  circles  are  composed  of  a  silk  much 
more  elastic  than  that  of  the  rays,  and  are  studded  over  with  minute 
globules  of  a  viscid  gum,  sufficiently  adhesive  to  retain  any  unv/ary 
fly  which  comes  in  contact  with  it.  A  net  of  average  dimensions  con- 
tains eighty-seven  thousand  of  these  globules,  and  a  large  net  of 
fourteen  or  sixteen  inches  in  diameter,  one  hundred  and  twenty 
thousand  ;  and  yet  such  a  net  will  be  completed  by  one  species  in  about 
forty  minutes,  on  an  average,  if  no  interruption  occurs  ! 

Across  the  sunny  paths  of  Ceylon,  where  the  forest  meets  the  open 
country,  and  which  constitute  the  bridle-roads  of  the  island,  an  enor- 
mous spider  stretches  its  web  at  the  height  of  from  four  to  eight  feet 
from  the  ground.  The  cordage  of  these  webs  is  fastened  on  either 
side  to  projecting  shoots  of  trees  or  shrubs,  and  is  so  strong  as  to  hurt 
the  traveler's  face,  and -even  lift  off  his  hat,  if  he  is  so  unlucky  as  not 
to  see  the  line.  The  nest  in  the  centre  is  sometimes  as  large  as  a  man's 
head,  and  is  continually  growing  larger,  as  it  is  formed  of  successive 
layers  of  the  old  webs  rolled  over  each  other,  .sheet  after  sheet,  into  a 
ball.  These  successive  envelopes  contain  the  limbs  and  wings  of 
insects  of  all  descriptions,  which  have  been  the  prey  of  the  spider  and 
his  family,  who  occupy  the  den  formed  in  their  midst.  There  seems  to 
be  no  doubt  that  the  spider  casts  the  web  loose  and  rolls  it  round  the 
nucleus  in  the  centre  when  it  becomes  overcharged  \\ith  carcases,  and 
them  proceeds  to  construct  a  fresh  one,  which  in  its  turn  is  destined  to 
be  folded  up  with  the  rest. 


WONDERS    OF    THE    INSECT   WORLD.  665 

A  gentleman  relates  that  he  has  often  tested  the  intelligence  and 
perseverance  of  the  geometrical  spider  by  the  following,  it  must  be 
admitted,  aggravating  experiment.  Taking  a  piece  of  paper  and  rolling 
it  between  his  fingers,  he  has  thrown  it  into  the  web,  taking  care  that 
it  is  not  heavier  than  the  weight  of  a  fly.  The  spider  runs  along  with 
alacrity  towards  his  supposed  prey,  and  soort  discovering  its  unpalatable 
nature,  carefully  disentangles  it,  and  drops  it  clear  of  the  web  to  the 
ground  by  stretching  out  his  first  pair  of  legs,  just  as  a  human  being 
might  reach  out  his  arm.  He  then  returns  to  his  place  in  the  centre, 
and  in  a  moment  or  so  a  piece  of  paper  is  thrown  into  another  part  of 
the  web.  The  spider  acts  as  before,  and  will  do  so,  without  much  vari- 
ation, a  few  times.  The  fifth  or  sixth  time  he  rushes  at  the  paper  with 
an  appearance  of  anger,  or  runs  an  inch  or  two  along  the  strands  as  if 
enraged,  and  then  back  again  ;  pauses  a  moment  or  so,  as  if  to  recover 
his  equanimity,  and  then  goes  briskly  to  his  disappointment,  and  again 
carefully  disentangles  the  paper.  All  these  movements,  from  the 
evident  feeling  and  intelligence  shown,  are  full  of  interest  to  the 
observer  of  nature,  and  they  are  sufficiently  varied  in  individuals  to 
make  the  experiment  worth  trying  any  number  of  times.  Occasionally, 
for  example,  the  spider,  after  he  has  been  deceived  a  few  times,  will 
stretch  out  all  his  feet  upon  the  strands,  without  moving  from  his  place, 
and  shake  his  web  angrily  ;  or  he  will  jerk  the  paper  out  much  as  one 
might  fillip  it  away  from  between  the  finger  and  thumb,  with  a  decisive 
sharpness,  very  significant  of  passion. 

The  habits  of  the  tarantula,  a  name  given  to  a  large  spider,  are  very 
curious.  Its  jaws  and  feet  are  large  and  strong ;  its  legs  and  feet  are 
furnished  with  long  stiff  spurs,  with  which  the  animal  seizes  its  prey ; 
and  its  foremost  two  pairs  of  feet  are  furnished  with  a  down,  like  a  brush, 
which  the  tarantula  employs  in  making  its  toilette',  and  in  crawling  on 
smooth  surfaces  ;  the  feet  are  terminated  by  two  strong  nails.  When 
full  grown,  it  inhabits  underground  passages,  forming  a  burrow  sunk  to 
the  depth  of  a  foot  beneath  the  surface  ;  and  this  burrow  not  only  pro- 
tects the  animal  from  the  pursuit  of  its  enemies,  but  serves  it  as  an 
observatory,  whence  it  may  dart  on  its  prey.  At  first  the  hole  sinks 
perpendicularly,  then  bends  and  forms  an  almost  horizontal  elbow,  after 
which  it  resumes  its  direction  downwards.  At  this  elbow  the  tarantula 
stands  sentry,  never  losing  sight  of  the  door  of  its  dwelling  ;  and  here 
the  creature's  eyes  glitter  like  diamonds,  rendered  bright,  like  those  of 
a  cat,  by  darkness.  Externally,  the  opening  of  the  tarantula's  burrow  is 
sitrmounted  by  a  funnel,  constructed  of  pieces  of  dry  wood,  united  by  clay, 
itnd  lined  with  a  web  spun  by  the  spider,  which  is  continued  through 
the  whole  interior  of  the  burrow.     This  prevents  the  fall  of  earth,  and 


666 


WONDERS    OF    THE   WHOLE    WORLD. 


enables  the  tarantula  by  its  claws  quickly  to  ascend  or  scale  its  fortress. 
The  Apulian  peasants  imitate  at  the  mouth  of  the  hole  the  humming 
of  an  insect  by  means  of  an  oaten  stalk,  and  so  lure  the  tarantula  to 
the  mouth  of  the  burrow,  and  capture  him.  It  is  easily  tamed.  A 
naturalist  put  two  full-grown  and  very  vigorous  male  tarantulas  together 
in  a  glass  vase,  and  then  witnessed  a  combat  fought  with  wonderful 
strategy,  until  the  ferocious  vanquisher  mortally  wounded  his  enemy 
in  the  head,  and  then  devoured  him. 

Livingstone  was  once  bitten,  when  half  asleep,  by  a  light-colored 
spider.  Feeling  something  running  across  his  forehead,  he  put  up  his 
hand  to  wipe  it  off,  when  he  was  sharply  stung  on  the  hand  and  head, 
and  the  pain  was  very  acute,  but  it  ceased  after  two  hours.     The  natives 

declare  that  there  is  a  small,  black  spider 
in  the  country  whose  bite  is  fatal,  but  the 
great  traveler  did  not  meet  with  an  in- 
stance in  which  death  could  be  traced  to 
this  insect,  though  he  saw  a  very  large 
black,  hairy  spider  an  inch  and  a  quarter 
long,  and  three-quarters  of  an  inch  broad, 
which  had  a  hook  at  the  end  of  its  front 
claws  similar  to  that  at  the  end  of  the 
scorpion's  tail.  When  these  hooks  were 
pressed  the  poison  came  out.  There  are 
spiders  in  South  Africa  which  seize  their 
prey  by  leaping  upon  it  from  a  distance 
of  several  inches.  When  alarmed,  they 
I.  Male  Chego.  2.  P'emale  Chego,  can  spring  about  a  foot  away  from  the 
dilated  with  egg-^.  3.  Egg.  object  of  their  fear.  A  large  reddish 
spider  obtains  its  food  in  a  different  manner  from  either,  by  patiently 
waiting  in  ambush,  or  by  catching  it  by  a  bound.  It  runs  about  with 
great  velocity  in  and  out,  behind  and  around,  every  object,  searching 
for  what  it  may  devour,  and  from  its  size  and  rapid  motions  excites  the 
horror  of  every  stranger.  It  does  no  harm  to  men  except  to  make  the 
nervous,  and  those  that  hate  spiders,  very  uncomfortable.  This  active 
little  insect  is  very  clever,  for  it  imitates  the  mason-spider,  and  makes  a 
nest  in  the  earth  lined  with  beautiful  soft  silk,  covered  with  a  nicely- 
fitting  trap-door  about  the  size  of  a  quarter  of  a  dollar.  When  this  is 
shut  it  is  so  cleverly  covered  with  hard  earth  that  it  cannot  be  distin- 
guished from  the  rest. 

There  is  in  South  America  an  annoying  insect  called  the  chego.  A 
traveler  gives  us  this  experience  of  a  lad  in  the  jjarty  who  was  stung, 
and  of  his  nurse  who  began  to  search  for  the  cause  of  his  painful  sensa- 


WONDERS    OF    THE    INSECT    WORLD.  667 

tions.  After  a  little  time  she  produced  between  her  finger  and  thumb  a 
creature  considerably  smaller  than  an  ordinary  flea,  which  she  had  taken 
out  aliv^e  and  uninjured.  Giving  it  a  squeeze,  she  threw  it  to  the  ground 
with  an  expression  of  anger  at  its  having  dared  to  nfblest  her  young 
master ;  and  thus  in  a  very  short  time  she  had  extracted  three  or  four 
insects  from  each  of  his  feet.  We  had,  meantime,  begun  to  feel  some- 
thing uncomfortable  in  ours,  and  on  examining  them,  we  found  that  a 
chego  had  taken  possession  of  each  of  our  big  toes.  The  chego  is  a 
black,  little  creature,  which  makes  its  way  quietly  under  the  skin,  where, 
having  got  to  a  sufficient  depth,  it  lays  its  eggs,  and  unless  removed 
immediately,  causes  annoying  and  dangerous  ulcers,  not  easy  to  cure. 

EDUCATED    FLEAS. 

Speaking  of  the  flea,  some  >'ears  ago  a  strange  little-  man,  with  a 
quaint-looking  box,  used  to  take  his  stand  in  various  parts  of  London 
as  soon  as  it  was  dusk,  during  the  winter  months,  and  silently  invite 
the  passing  crowd  to  .stay  and  take  a  peep  into  this  quaint-looking  box, 
which  was  lighted  by  a  candle  placed  inside  of  it,  the  light  of  which 
shone  through  various  colored  papers,  and  exhibited  a  transparent  de- 
scription of  the  object  for  which  he  hoped  to  gather  halfpence — "A  flea 
chained  up  by  the  neck,  alive."  A  convenient  magnifying-glass  was 
let  into  the  side  of  the  quaint  box,  in  order  that  the  object  exhibited 
might  be  the  better  viewed.  Some  were  very  quick,  according  to  this 
man's  account,  and  others  he  could  make  nothing  of  The  chains, 
cars  and  locks  vvhich  these  little  beasties  drew  were  of  silver,  and,  as 
the  strange  little  man  said,  all  constructed  by  himself.  He  had  one 
flea  which  had  been  with  him  twenty-six  months,  and  declared  that  he 
knew  of  still  older  ones,  and  he  was  accustomed  to  feed  his  fleas,  twice 
a  day,  by  allowing  them  to  suck  from  the  back  of  his  hand.  He  de- 
clared that  he  was  the  last  man  who  possessed  the  secret  of  educating 
these  lively  insects. 

We  come  now  to  that  strong  mail-clad,  brilliantly-colored  insect,  the 
beetle.  The  family  contains  the  stag  beetles.  These  are  of  great  size, 
and  their  head  is  armed  with  enormous  robust  mandibles,  which  give 
them  a  ferocious  air,  which  their  inoffensive  habits  do  not  in  any  way 
justify.  They  live  in  half-rotten  trees,  the  destruction  of  which  they 
accelerate.  Their  mandibles,  of  such  prodigious  size  only  in  the  male, 
are  of  more  inconvenience  to  them  than  they  are  of  use,  as  they  impede 
their  flight.  They  do  not  attack  other  insects,  and  live  only  on  vege- 
table juices.  The  common  stag  beetle  attains  to  a  length  of  two  inches, 
or  more,  including  its  mandibles,  and  is  of  a  dark  brown  chestnut  color. 
They  are  met  with  during  the  months  of  May,  June  and  July,  in  large 
forests,  climbing  along  trees  and  hooking  themselves  on  to  the  trunks 


668 


WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 


by  their  jaws.  The  stag  beetle  imbibes  the  hone)'ed  hquid  which  is 
found  on  oak  trees,  a  tree  it  particularly  seeks  after,  which  has  caused 
it  to  be  called  in  Swedish,  Ek-Oxe  (Oak  ox).  It  is  supposed  that  it 
eats  the  leaves  also.  Beetles  only  fly  in  the  evening,  holding  them- 
selves nearly  straight,  so  as  not  to  see-saw.  Their  larvae — which  are 
whitish,  with  russety  heads,  live  in  the  interior  of  trees,  their  existence 
in  that  state  lasting  nearly  four  years.  Many  naturalists  think  that  the 
larva  was  eaten  by  the  Romans,  and  figured  on  the  tables  of  the  rich 
patricians,  and  particularly  of  Lucullus. 

In  one  of  the  geological  formations  of  England,  which  is  called  the 
lias,  there  are  layers  of  earth  almost  entirely  formed  by  the  wing-cases 


J  IIL    UMijL  1     ^1  \(.    I.I  1   I  r  F 

of  beetles.  There  is  lime  in  the  earth,  which  has  turned  the  original 
matter  of  the  wing-cases  into  a  sort  of  hard  chalk,  and  the  layers  are 
called  insect  limestones.  It  is  at  first  difficult  to  form  an  idea  how  such 
a  vast  number  of  beetles  could  be  got  together  to  form  thick  layers  of 
their  wing-cases.  These  cases  are  the  parts  which  last  the  longest  after 
death,  and  doubtless  all  the  rest  of  the  insects  was  destroyed.  Geolo- 
gists prove  that  the  layers  containing  the  insect  remains  were  deposited 
as  silt  at  the  bottom  of  a  large  lake  or  quiet  river  ;  so  it  must  be  sup- 
posed that  during  many  years  the  beetles  frequented  the  neighborhood 
of  the  lake  and  died  on  its  surface.  Beetles  are  not  very  destructive, 
but  this  cannot  be  said  of  the  locust,  that  scourge  which  has  wrought 
devastation  in  both  ancient  and  modern  times. 


WONDERS    OF    THE    INSECT    WORLD. 


669 


The  Egyptian  plague  of  locusts  has  happened  more  than  once  since 
that  early  date.  Africa,  especially  that  part  near  to  Egypt,  has  been  at 
different  times  infested  by  myriads  of  these  creatures,  which  have  con- 
sumed nearly  every  green  thing.  The  effects  of  the  havoc  committed 
by  them  may  be  estimated  by  the  famine  they  occasioned.  St.  Augus- 
tine mentions  a  plague  of  this  kind  in  Africa  which  destroyed  no  less 
than  eight  hundred  thousand  men  in  the  kingdom  of  Massinissa  alone, 
and  many  more  in  the  territories  bordering  upon  the  sea.  It  is  also  re- 
lated that  in  the  year  591  great  hosts  of  locusts  migrated  from  Africa 
into  Italy,  and  after  grievously  ravaging  the  country  were  cast  into  the 
sea,  and  there  arose  a  pestilence  from  their  stench  which  carried  off 
nearly  a  million  of  men  and  beasts.  In  the  territory  of  Venice,  in  1478, 
more  than  thirty  thousand  persons  are  said  to  have  perished  in  a  famine 
occasioned  by  the  devastations  of  the  locusts,  and  instances  of  their 
dreadful  numbers  have  been  recorded  in  France,  Spain  and  Germany, 
and,  at  times,  in 
some  parts  of  our 
own  country,  especi- 
ally in  the  West. 

It  is  pleasant  to 
turn  away  from  such 
destructive  creatures 
as  the  locusts  to  one 
that  serves  a  much 
better  purpose.  It 
is  not  handsome, 
but,  like  many  other 
plain    things,    it    is 


THE    OAK-FEEDING    SILKWORM. 

very  useful.  The  various  diseases,  which,  for  the  last  fifteen  years,  have 
been  so  fatal  to  the  mulberry  silkworm,  have  suggested  the  idea  of  ac- 
climatizing in  this  country  other  silk-producing  worms,  if  not  with  the 
view  of  superseding,  at  least  as  auxiliaries  to  the  mulberry  species. 
Among  the  species  'which  have,  in  this  respect,  the  greatest  claims  to 
our  attention,  we  must  place  in  the  first  rank  those  which  feed  upon  the 
leaves  of  the  oak  tree.  Indeed,  the  trees  which  can  be  made  use  of  for 
their  cultivation  are  very  numerous,  and,  moreover,  the  silk  produced 
by  these  worms  appears  to  possess  superior  qualities.  There  are  three 
oak-feeding  species.  The  silk  is  as  bright  as  that  of  the  mulberry  silk- 
worm, but  a  little  less  fine  and  strong,  and  occupies  the  first  rank  after 
it.  The  eggs  were  brought  from  Japan — where  this  worm  is  reared — 
conjointly  with  the  mulberry  silkworm.  The  larvae  hatched  at  Paris 
were  green,  of  a  great  size,  remained  in  that  state  eighty-two  days  and 


670  WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 

were  easily  reared.  Their  cocoon  resembles  that  of  the  mulberry- 
species.  It  is  composed  of  a  beautiful  silk  of  a  silvery  whiteness  in  the 
interior,  and  of  a  more  or  less  bright  green  on  the  exterior.  The  moth 
is  very  large  and  beautiful,  of  a  bright  yellow  color,  approaching  orange. 
All  worms  are  not  so  valuable  as  the  one  just  described. 

Many  of  the  lower  forms  of  animal  life  possess  powers  of  boring 
which,  considering  the  soft  materials  of  which  they  are  made,  seem  very 
surprising.  It  is  hard  for  us  to  understand  how  such  animals  are  nat- 
urally provided  with  tools  adequate,  in  some  cases,  for  penetrating  into 
the  densest  timber,  or  in  others  even  into  the  solid  rock.  There  is  a 
shell  which  excavates  for  itself  a  hole  in  the  solid  rock.  This  animal 
has  no  English  name  ;  its  Latin  one  is  Pholas.  It  is  to  be  met  with  in 
limestone  rocks  on  the  sea  coast,  into  which  it  bores  holes  to  a  depth 
of  several  inches. 

It  is  still  a  disputed  point  among  naturalists  as  to  how  this  boring  is 
effected.  Some  think  that  the  animal  is  enabled  to  secrete  some  acid 
which  softens  or  dissolves  the  limestone,  while  others  think  that  it  is  by 
the  mechanical  process  of  grinding  that  it  is  accomplished.  The  pre- 
ponderance of  opinion  seems  to  lie  now  with  the  latter  view.  Another 
boring  shell  is  the  well-known  ship-worm  or  teredo.  This  burrows  into 
wood  to  a  great  depth,  and  many  an  otherwise  good  ship  has  been  ren- 
dered unseaworthy  by  the  attacks  of  this  indefatigable  borer.  Of  course 
a  metallic  coating  to  the  vessel  is  a  complete  preservative  against  their 
attacks,  and  only  in  this  way  can  their  ravages  be  prevented. 

A    NOVEL    WOOD-BORER. 

The  animal  that  accomplishes  great  excavations  in  the  trunk  of  a  tree 
is  not  a  shell-fish,  but  an  insect.  The  hole  bored  into  the  heart  of  solid 
wood  is  about  fourteen  or  fifteen  times  longer  'than  the  body  of  the 
beetle,  and  the  animal  must,  by  the  help  of  its  jaws,  tear  away  and  re- 
move a  bulk  of  timber  more  than  twenty  times  its  own  bulk.  We  shall 
gain  some  idea  of  the  amount  of  labor  necessary  for  this,  by  considering 
what  would  be  the  corresponding  work  that  should  be  executed  by  a 
man,  were  he  to  be  equally  adapted  with  the  beetle  for  this  kind  of 
work.  He  would  have  in  a  few  days  to  bore  into  a  mass  of  solid  timber 
a  cylindrical  hole,  about  eighty  or  ninety  feet  long,  and  about  three  feet 
in  diameter. 

When  the  eggs  of  the  beetle  are  hatched,  the  little  animal  that  comes 
from  them  is  at  that  stage  of  its  existence  utterly  unlike  its  parents ; 
and  it  is  equally  true  of  every  other  insect,  that  in  the  early  stages  of 
its  existence  it  is  utterly  unlike  in  appearance,  in  food  and  habits,  to  the 
parents  from  whom  it  has  sprung.  The  food  which  supports  the  little 
grub  is  the  solid  wood  of  the  tree  itself.     Thus  the  little  creature  finds, 


WONDERS    OF    THE    INSECT    WORLD.  671 

the  moment  it  becomes  conscious  of  its  existence,  the  food  which  nature 
intended  for  it  surrounding  it  in  boundless  profusion.  At  once  it  com- 
mences to  eat  the  wood  that  is  under  it,  and  thus  it  speedily  excavates 
for  itself  a  little  hole,  the  bottom  of  which  gradually  deepens  as  the  in- 
sect proceeds.  Its  brothers  and  sisters,  likewise  hatched  about  the 
same  time,  commence  each  to  eat  their  small  hole,  and  thus  from  the 
main  tunnel  a  number  of  small  holes  gradually  extend  through  the 
trunk,  all  commencing,  of  course,  from  the  hole  originally  made  by  the 
parent  insect,  and  radiating  from  it  in  lines  nearly  straight. 

POPPV    FLOWER    CUTTERS. 

There  is  a  certain  class  of  bees  which  construct  nests  or  rather  make 
a  home  of  the  petals  of  flowers.  These  bees  are  called  "  flower  cutters." 
The  species  here  described  use  the  leaves  of  the  scarlet  poppy  exclu- 
sively, and  are  called  "poppy  flower-cutters."  Nothing  can  exceed  the 
exquisite  workmanship  of  their  home,  or  the  delicate  material  of  which 
it  is  constructed.  The  female  does  the  work.  A  nice,  dry  place  is 
selected  in  a  sandy  soil,  in  which  she  digs  a  perpendicular  hole,  the 
sides  of  which  are  padded  until  they  are  hard  and  solid.  She  then 
searches  for  a  young  poppy,  selects  the  most  delicate  and  beautiful 
leaf,  from  w^hich  a  small  piece  is  cut  and  carried  in  a  hole.  In  pushing 
this  down  it  is  necessarily  crumpled  up ;  but  the  little  architect  fully 
understands  her  business,  and  in  a  short  time  every  wrinkle  is  removed, 
and  the  gaudy  tissue  is  rendered  perfectly  smooth.  Another  piece  is 
then  introduced  and  managed  in  the  same  way,  and  so  on  until  a  nest 
is  completed  which,  for  beauty  of  workmanship  and  softness  of  texture, 
would  rival  the  downy  couch  of  an  eastern  princess.  In  this  are  placed 
the  egg  and  future  sustenance  of  the  young  poppy  cutter.  She  seems 
to  know  she  has  built  "  in  the  sand,"  and  before  closing  it  up  she  care- 
fully folds  in  the  upper  four  edges  of  the  lining,  so  that  no  grain  of 
sand  can  fall  inside.  The  hole  is  then  fenced  up  so  that  no  trace  of  it 
can  be  seen,  but  within  which  has  begun  one  of  those  singular  meta- 
morphoses which  have  excited  the  w^onder  and  admiration  of  naturalists 
in  all  the  world.  They  are  small  insects,  velvety  black,  with  a  white 
down  on  parts  of  the  body,  and  not  without  traces  of  beauty. 

POISONOUS    INSECTS. 

There  is  a  fly  in  South  Africa  whose  bite  is  very  fatal  to  oxen,  and  as 
these  are  the  drawers  of  the  great  wagons  of  the  travelers,  this  very 
annoying  insect  often  prevents  very  important  journeys.  The  tsetse  is 
not  much  larger  than  a  common  house-fly,  and  is  nearly  of  the  same 
brown  color  as  the  honey-bee.  The  after  part  of  the  body  has  three  or 
four  yellow  bars  across  it ;  the  wings  project  beyond  this  part  consider- 
ably, and  it  is  remarkably  alert,  avoiding  most  dexterously  all  attempts 


THE  CURIOUS   POPPY  CUTTERS. 


672 


WONDERS    OF   THE    INSECT    WORLD.  673 

to  capture  it  with  the  hand.  Its  peculiar  buzz  when  once  heard  can 
never  be  forgotten  by  the  traveler  whose  beasts  of  burden  are  domestic 
animals  ;  for  it  is  well  known  that  the  bite  of  this  poisonous  insect  is 
certain  death  to  the  ox,  horse  and  dog.  In  one  journey,  Livingstone, 
who  was  not  aware  of  any  great  number  of  the  tsetse  having  alighted 
on  his  cattle,  lost  forty-three  fine  oxen  by  its  bite.  He  watched  the 
animals  carefully,  and  did  not  believe  that  a  score  of  flies  were  ever 
upon  them.  A  remarkable  feature  of  the  bite  of  the  tsetse  is  its  perfect 
hnrmlessness  to  man  and  wild  animals,  and  even  calves  so  long  as  they 
continue  to  suck  the  cows.  The  poison  is  not  inserted  by  a  sting,  but 
by  the  long  proboscis  which  comes  from  the  mouth.  This  consists  of 
three  blades,  the  two  external  being  shields  to  protect  the  central 
lancet  which  has  a  poison  bag  at  its  root.  The  fly  simply  sticks  this 
into  the  skin  just  like  a  gnat  or  gad-fly,  and  after  sucking  the  blood 
until  its  body  swells  up,  it  departs.  In  the  case  of  oxen,  no  immediate 
effects  of  the  bite  come  on;  but  in  a  few  days  the  eyes  and  nose  begin 
to  run,  the  coat  stares  as  if  the  animal  were  cold,  and  although  it  con- 
tinues to  graze  it  gets  thinner  and  weaker.  After  a  while  diarrhoea 
carries  it  off  Very  often  fine  cattle  in  good  condition  perish  soon 
after  the  bite  from  an  affection  of  the  brain.  All  the  tissues  of  the 
animals  become  rotten.  The  mule,  ass  and  goat  do  not  become 
poisoned  by  the  sting  of  the  tsetse ;  and  buffaloes,  zebras,  and 
antelopes  do  not  suffer  more  from  these  pests  than  from  other  flies. 
The  tsetse  keeps  to  certain  places,  otherwise  no  cattle  could  exist  in 
South  Africa ;  and  although  it  does  not  poison  the  antelopes,  yet  it 
sucks  their  blood  and  evidently  lives  upon  them.  Consequently,  when 
any  country  infested  by  the  fly  has  its  game  driven  away,  the  tsetse 
die  off. 

Another  insect,  common  in  eastern  Africa,  is  a  kind  of  tick,  and  it 
gets  between  the  toes  or  fingers,  for  it  is  not  bigger  than  a  pea.  It 
sucks  the  blood  until  quite  full,  and  becomes  of  a  dark  blue  color. 
The  skin,  although  very  yielding,  is  so  tough  that  no  pressure  will 
destroy  the  insect.  After  the  bite  there  are  sensations  of  tingling  and 
itching  which  gradually  ascend  the  limb  ;  and  the  pains  in  the  stomach 
commence  and  are  accompanied  with  violent  vomiting.  Recovery  is 
slow  under  these  circumstances,  but  if  these  peculiar  symptoms  do  not 
take  place,  the  poison  which  produces  them  gets  into  the  larger  veins, 
and  severe  and  often  fatal  fever  sets  in. 

In  the  same  districts  where  these  ticks  live  there  is  a  kind  of  ant,  red 

in  color,  very  fierce,  although  small,  and  which  attacks  every  living 

thing      It  is  very  fond  of  meat,  and  when  an  ox  is  slaughtered  in  the 

neighborhood  of  its  nests,  fires  of  straw  have  to  be  burned  all  night 

43 


674  WONDERS    OF   THE   WHOLE   WORLD. 

around  the  carcass.  They  have  no  fear,  and  attack  with  equal  ferocity 
the  largest  as  well  as  the  smallest  animals.  They  are  very  useful  in 
ridding  the  country  of  dead  animal  matter,  and  when  they  visit  a  hut 
they  clear  it  completely  of  the  destructive  white  ants  and  other  vermin. 
Rats,  mice,  lizards  and  even  large  snakes  surfeited  from  feeding  fall  a 
prey  to  these  tiny,  but  numerous  ants.  The  tsetse  and  this  ant  have  a 
great  enemy  in  a  large,  gaunt,  long-legged,  hornet-looking  fly  which  is 
about  an  inch  in  length.  It  is  a  tiger  in  its  way,  for  it  springs  upon  the 
smaller  insects,  and  after  sucking  their  blood  throws  their  bodies  aside. 

STRANGE    FREAKS    OF    THE    GAD-FLY. 

If  on  a  fine  hot  summer  day  the  caterpillar  which  eats  away  all  the 
leaves  of  the  gooseberry  bushes,  leaving  the  stalks  sticking  up,  is  watched, 
a  very  small,  black  fly  with  a  very  long  body,  a  sharp-looking  tail,  and 
long  wings,  will  be  often  seen  hovering  about.  This  fly  moves  quickly, 
and  finally  sees  the  plump  caterpillar.  It  rushes  at  it  like  a  tiger,  and 
pokes  its  tail  under  the  skin  of  the  unfortunate  gooseberry-leaf  eater. 
From  that  moment  the  caterpillar  has  a  small  egg  under  its  skin  which 
.soon  becomes  a  grub.  The  grub  lives  on  the  juices  of  the  wretched 
caterpillar,  and  when  it  dies  comes  forth  ready  to  attack  the  next  gene- 
ration of  gooseberry-leaf  eaters. 

Now  the  same  sort  of  occurrence  has  rendered  the  gad-fly  an  intoler- 
able nuisance  to  horses  and  cattle.  Nearly  every  quadruped,  whether 
wild  or  tame,  has  a  special  gad-fly.  The  gad-fly  of  the  ox  is  the  largest, 
and  chooses  a  nice,  plump  young  ox,  and  alighting  on  its  back  like  any 
other  fly,  close  to  the  back-bone,  it  pierces  the  hide  and  lays  an  egg  in 
the  fine  fat.  The  ox  darts  away  bellowing,  and  if  there  are  others  near, 
they  know  what  has  happened,  and  rush  away  either  into  the  bushes  or 
into  the  water,  where  the  fly  cannot  follow.  A  small  swelling  forms 
over  the  so-called  bite,  and  if  it  is  cut  open  a  small  white  worm  is  seen. 
It  lives  on  the  fat,  and  grows  until  the  next  year.  Then  it  has  to  eat 
its  way  out  of  the  skin,  and  when  it  has  done  so  there  are  plenty  of 
starlings  and  other  birds  ready  to  devour  it.  But  if  it  falls  safely  to  the 
ground  it  burrows,  and  after  living  as  a  chrysalis,  turns  to  the  perfect 
fly  in  August. 

The  gad-fly  of  the  horse  has  a  still  more  wonderful  life.  It  is  often 
seen  late  in  the  summer  very  busy  about  horses,  and  if  watched  will  be 
observed  to  dart  suddenly  upon  some  part  of  the  hair  which  the  horse 
is  in  the  habit  of  licking.  The  fly  balances  itself  for  a  moment  and 
then  deposits  an  egg  on  one  of  the  hairs,  and  fixes  it  by  a  gummy 
secretion.  Perhaps  fifty  or  a  hundred  eggs  are  thus  laid,  and  then  the 
fly  dies.  The  young  worm  is  sometimes  carried  into  the  stomach  with 
the  food,  and  gives  no  pain  to  the  horse.     When  in  the  stomach,  it  fixes 


WONJJERFUL  WALKING  LEAF. 


675 


676  WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 

itself  to  the  coats  by  means  of  a  set  of  hooks,  and  scoops  out  a  Httle 
hole  into  which  its  head  is  plunged  ;  and  there  it  remains  until  the  early 
part  of  the  summer  of  the  following  year,  feeding  on  the  secretions  of 
the  stomach.  It  becomes  an  inch  in  length,  breaks  off  from  its  hooks, 
and  passes  out  with  the  offal.  Once  on  the  ground  the  grub  digs 
down,  becomes  a  chrysalis,  and  in  a  few  weeks  changes  into  a  perfect 
gad-fly.     By  such  a  strange  process  is  it  brought  into  being. 

THE   SINGULAR    LEAF    INSECT. 

Nature's  curiosities  abound  in  every  part  of  the  globe.  The  leaf 
insects  are  found  in  most  very  warm  countries,  but  those  from  China 
and  the  East  Indies  are  the  best  known.  These  insects  are  large,  gro- 
tesque-looking things,  uncommonly  like  a  set  of  short,  yellow  twigs 
joined  together  by  faded  leaves.  The  limbs  of  the  insects  are  long  and 
slender,  but  flattened  out  in  some  places,  and  their  bodies  are  either 
excessively  slender  and  twig-like  or  are  flattened  and  large.  The  color 
of  the  insect  when  it  is  alive  blends  so  perfectly  with  the  tints  of  the 
surrounding  leaves  and  boughs,  that  a  careless  observer  would  pass  it 
by  as  a  part  of  a  plant.  Hence  the  name  of  the  leaf-insect.  The 
female  insect  has  a  large,  flat  body  with  fine,  projecting  edges,  and  when 
the  wings,  with  their  delicate  lace-work  markings,  are  folded  over  it, 
the  whole  looks  like  a  crumpled  and  faded  leaf  This  appearance  is 
increased  by  the  flat,  leaf-like  expansions  on  the  limbs,  and  by  the  curi- 
ous markings  on  the  fore  part  of  the  body,  which  joins  the  hind  part 
just  as  some  leaves  are  attached  to  twigs  having  round  swellings  on 
them.  The  males  usually  have  a  long  and  slender  body,  and  the  arms 
start  from  it  just  as  small  branches  do  from  larger  ones.  They  are 
remarkably  quiet  insects,  and  will  remain  perfectly  still  for  a  long  time, 
and  in  very  peculiar  positions.  The  males  are  very  pugnacious,  and 
can  be  made  to  fight  most  desperately  by  placing  them  opposite  each 
other.  They  lift  up  their  bodies,  and  use  their  long  arms  like  sabres, 
and  squeeze  and  bite  until  one  is  worsted,  and  compelled  to  give  up. 

INSECTS    PLAYING    THAT    THEY    ARE    DEAD. 

Some  insects  are  very  skilful  in  counterfeiting  death.  This  is  a 
common  device  among  spiders,  moths,  and  various  species  of  beetles, 
and  varies  in  character  according  to  the  habits  of  the  species.  Many 
of  the  moths,  when  they  think  themselves  in  danger,  draw  their 
antennae  as  well  as  their  wings  close  to  their  body,  and  in  this  state  they 
may  be  tossed  about  without  manifesting  the  smallest  sign  of  life  or 
motion,  as  many  of  our  readers  may  have  observed  on  catching  them. 
The  common  "  miller  moth,"  known  to  most  school-boys,  is  a  remark- 
able adept  in  this  art.  The  small  gray  beetle,  which  makes  pin-holes  in 
old  furniture,  is  another  common  example  of  this  instinct.     This  little 


i 


WONDERS    OF    THE    INSECT    WORLD.  677 

beetle  has  received  from  naturalists  the  title  of  "  pertinax  "  from  its 
pertinacity  in  counterfeiting  death.  A  celebrated  Swedish  entomolo- 
gist says  that  he  has  found  it  to  equal,  if  not  exceed,  the  heroic  firmness 
of  th?  American  Indians  in  bearing  torture.  You  may  maim  them,  he 
asserts,  pull  them  limb  from  limb,  and  even  roast  them  over  a  slow  fire, 
without  making  them  move  a  joint,  or  exhibit  the  slightest  symptom 
of  suffering  pain.  Spiders,  also,  may  be  similarly  tortured  and  maimed 
when  they  counterfeit  the  attitude  of  death.  It  is  very  common,  also, 
w  ith  one  kind  of  little  beetles  to  draw  in  their  feet  and  antennae  so  as 
to  give  themselves  the  appearance  of  a  pill,  from  which  they  take  the 
name  of  pill-beetles.  The  common  wood-louse  is  also  well  known  to 
roll  itself  up  in  a  ball  when  apprehensive  of  danger,  so  that  only  the 
plates  which  form  the  covering  of  the  back  are  visible  No  doubt 
these  plates,  insignificant  as  they  may  seem,  are  an  effectual  protection 
to  the  insect  against  the  attacks  of  some  of  its  enemies.  The  black, 
purplish,  shining  beetle  which  is  found  on  almost  every  road,  deceives 
its  enemies,  the  crows,  by  setting  its  legs  as  stiffly  as  if  they  were  made 
of  iron  wire,  and  remaining  perfectly  motionless;  and,  as  the  crows  will 
only  eat  them  when  alive,  this  stratagem  is  an  effectual  protection. 
That  this  simulation  of  death  is  not  the  consequence  of  strong  convul- 
sion caused  by  fear,  is  proved  by  the  fact  that  the  insect  makes  off  with 
all  speed  the  instant  the  object  of  alarm  is  removed;  whereas,  if  it 
were  a  convulsive  attitude,  it  could  not  resume  its  movements  at 
pleasure. 


CHAPTER  XX. 
WONDERFUL  INVENTIONS. 

Machine-made  Birds  and  Animals — Jewels  that  Play  Drums  and  Fiddles — the  Wonderful 
Microscope — The  Famous  Printing  Press — The  Big  Corliss  Engine — The  Strasburg 
Clock — Agricultural  Machines — The  Enterprising  Chicken-Hatcher — A  Dog  Carriage 
— A  Strange  Vehicle — The  Locomotive — Elegant  Parlor  Car — Post  Office  on  Wheels 
— Ice  Yacht — The  Life  Boat — Swimming  Apparatus — Money  Box — 
The  Clock  Lamp — The  Two- Wheeled  Steed — A  Titanic  Hammer. 

TTEMPTS  have  been  made,  from  very  early  times,  to 
imitate  the  motions  of  animals  by  mechanical  contri- 
vances, and  some  have  been  remarkably  successful. 
The  story  of  ancient  writers,  that  Arch}'tas  constructed 
a  pigeon  that  could  fly,  but,  when  once  it  alighted, 
could  not  resume  its  movement,  is  open  to  doubt ;  but 
we  have  better  authenticated  narratives  of  equally 
wonderful  inventions  in  a  later  time,  and  in  these  cases 
their  truth  is  absolutely  certain.  It  is  said  that  a  Ger- 
man artist  constructed  an  artificial  eagle,  which,  on  the  entry  of  the 
Emperor  Maximilian  into  Nuremberg,  flew  to  meet  him,  and  returning, 
alighted  on  the  gate  of  the  city  to  await  his  approach. 

General  De  Gennes,  who  defended  the  French  colony  of  St.  Christo- 
pher, in  the  West  India  Islands,  was  remarkable  for  his  great  mechanical 
skill.  Among  other  contrivances,  he  made  a  peacock  that  walked  about 
as  if  alive,  picked  up  grains  of  corn,  and  not  only  swallov/ed  them,  but 
digested  them  in  its  stomach.  Wonderful  as  this  was,  its  ingenuity  was 
outdone  by  that  of  a  duck  made  by  a  Frenchman  named  Vaucanson, 
which  was  exhibited  in  Paris.  It  was  of  the  natural  size,  was  clothed 
with  feathers,  and  all  the  bones  of  the  living  object  were  imitated  in 
their  exact  position  by  the  mechanism  of  the  interior.  When  set  in 
motion,  it  performed  the  movements  of  a  duck'  exactly.  It  moved  its 
wings,  ate  and  drank  in  the  manner  of  the  original,  and  all  the  usual 
processes  of  digestion  were  carried  on  in  the  stomach,  partly  by  means, 
it  is  presumed,  of  a  chemical  solution.  It  also  quacked  like  a  duck,  and 
is  said,  in  drinking,  to  have  muddled  the  water  with  its  bill. 

Vaucanson  also  constructed  an  automaton  flute-player,  whicli  played 

twelve  tunes,  the  wind  issuing  from  its  mouth  in  the  ordinary  way  into 

a  German  flute,  and  the  holes  being  opened  and  shut  with  its  fingers. 

Vaucanson's  flute-player  has  since  been  imitated  with  complete  success. 

(678) 


WONDERFUL    INVENTIONS.  679 

Some  years  ago  at  an  exhibition  of  curious  mechanism  in  London,  two 
automaton  flute-players,  representing  the  figures  of  two  ladies,  seated, 
and  the  size  of  life,  were  playing  duets  in  the  manner  of  the  living 
performer,  and  producing  considerable  variety  of  tone  from  the  instru- 
ments. 

Canus,  the  mathematician,  constructed  for  the  amusement  of  Louis 
XIV.  a  small  coach  drawn  by  two  horses.  The  coachman  cracked  his 
whip,  and  the  horses  set  off,  drawing  the  coach  about  on  a  table  ;  and 
when  opposite  the  king  it  stopped,  the  page  got  down  and  opened  the 
door,  on  which  a  lady  alighted,  with  a  curtsey  presented  a  petition  to 
the  king,  and  then  re-entered  the  carriage.  The  page  then  shut  the 
door,  the  carriage  proceeded,  and  the  servant  running  after  it  jumped 
up  behind  it.  The  automaton  coach  and  horses  were  a  common  street 
exhibition  in  their  day.  Maillardet,  a  noted  mechanician,  constructed  an 
automaton  boy,  which  both  wrote  and  drew  with  a  pencil,  kneeling  on 
one  knee.  When  the  figure  began  to  work,  an  attendant  dipped  the 
pencil  in  ink,  and  adjusted  the  drawing-paper  upon  a  brass  tablet. 
Upon  touching  a  spring,  the  figure  proceeded  to  write,  or  to  execute 
landscape  drawings.  Maillardet  also  constructed  a  magician,  who 
answered  questions  inscribed  in  oval  medallions  upon  a  wall ;  one  of 
which  the  spectator  having  selected,  it  was  shut  up  in  a  spring  drawer. 
The  magician  then  rose,  consulted  his  book,  and  striking  the  wall  with 
his  wand,  two  folding  doors  flew  open,  and  displayed  the  answer  to  the 
question.  The  door  again  closed,  and  the  drawer  opened,  to  return 
the  medallion.  The  machinery  being  wound  up,  the  movements,  in 
about  an  hour,  answered  fifty  questions ;  and  the  means  by  which  the 
medallions  acted  upon  the  machinery,  so  as  to  produce  the  proper 
answers  to  the  questions,  are  stated  to  have  been  very  simple. 
Maillardet  also  constructed  other  automata,  including  a  spider  made  of 
steel,  and  a  caterpillar,  lizard,  mouse,  and  serpent,  all  with  their  natural 
movements.  His  automatic  figures,  including  a  harpsichord  player,  a 
rope-dancer,  and  a  singing  bird,  were  exhibited  in  Spring  Gardens, 
London. 

A  Parisian  jeweler  makes  brooches  and  other  ornaments  in  which 
mechanical  movements  are  introduced  and  set  in  action  by  very  small 
galvanic  batteries,  which  are  concealed  in  some  part  of  the  wearer's 
dress.  The  moving  object  may  be  a  rabbit,  which  is  made  to  strike  a 
bell  with  drumsticks  ;  the  head  of  a  skeleton  with  rolling  eyes,  and  a 
mouth  that  opens  and  shuts  ;  a  grenadier  beating  a  drum  ;  a  monkey 
playing  a  fiddle  ;  or  a  bird  moving  its  wings  as  if  in  the  act  of  flying. 
The  batteries  are  constructed  of  minute  slips  of  zinc  and  platinum,  or 
zinc  and  carbon,  which  act  in  the  same  manner  as  the  larger  arrange- 


680 


WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 


mcnts  of  the  same  kind  used  for  ordinary  purposes.  All  these  are 
mechanical  curiosities.  Equally  wonderful  are  many  of  those  inventions 
which  serve  a  useful  purpose,  and  are  a  benefit  to 
man.  The  steam  engine,  and,  in  fact,  the  whole- 
power  of  steam  and  electricity  has  come  to  be  i 
marvel  in  its  various  applications. 

It  is  doubtful  whether  any  invention  can  be 
considered  more  marvelous  than  the  microscope 
Certain  dispositions  of  pieces   of  glass  ground 
to  a  lenticular  form  furnish  man,  in  the 
telescope,  with  an  instrument  that  opens 
to  his  gaze  ever  deeper  and  deeper  regions 
of   endless  space,  and    it    is    remarkable 
that     certain      other     slightly     different 
arrangements  of  like  pieces  of  glass 
supply    him     in     the    microscope 
with   the  means    of    looking    into 
infinity  in  the   opposite  direction. 
These  two    noble   instruments  re- 
veal    to     us     the      existence     of 
otherwise      un- 
known   worlds — 
the  world  of  the 
infinitely  vast,  and 
the   world  of  the 
infinitely  minute. 

A  fine  compari- 
son between  the 
telescope  and  the 
microscope  has 
been  drawn  by 
C  h  a  1  m  er  s .  He 
says,  speaking  of 
the  two  instru- 
ments: The  one  led 
me  to  sec  a  system 
in  every  star.  The 
other  leads  me  to 
see     a    world     in 

every  atom.    The  the  marvelous  mickoscofe. 

one  taught  me  that  this  mighty  globe,  with  the  whole  burden  oi'  its 
people  and  of  its  countries  is  but  a  grain  of  sand  on  the  high  field  of 


jk 


WONDERFUL    INVENTIONS.  681 

immensity.  The  other  teaches  me  that  every  grain  of  sand  may  harbor 
within  it  the  tribes  and  famihes  of  a  busy  population.  The  one  told 
me  of  the  insignificance  of  the  world  I  tread  upon.  The  other  redeems 
it  from  all  its  insignificance  ;  for  it  tells  me  that  in  the  leaves  of  every 
forest,  in  the  flowers  of  every  garden,  and  in  the  waters  of  every  rivulet, 
there  are  worlds  teeming  with  life,  and  numberless  as  are  the  glories  of 
the  firmament.  The  one  has  suggested  to  me,  that  beyond  and  above 
all  that  is  visible  to  man,  there  may  be  fields  of  creation  which  sweep 
immeasurably  along,  and  carry  the  impress  of  the  Almighty's  hand  to 
the  remotest  scenes  of  the  universe.  The  other  suggests  to  me  that 
within  and  beneath  all  the  minuteness  which  the  aided  eye  of  man  has 
been  able  to  explore,  there  may  be  a  region  of  invisibles  ;  and  that, 
could  we  draw  aside  the  mysterious  curtain  which  shrouds  it  from  our 
senses,  we  might  there  see  a  theatre  of  as  many  wonders  as  astronomy 
has  unfolded,  a  universe  within  the  compass  of  a  point  so  small  as  to 
elude  all  the  powers  of  the  microscope,  but  where  the  wonder-working 
God  finds  room  for  the  exercise  of  all  His  attributes,  where  He  can 
raise  another  mechanism  of  worlds,  and  fill  and  animate  them  with  all 
the  evidence  of  His  glor>'. 

Microscopes  are  of  two  kinds — simple,  consisting  of  a  single  lens; 
and  compound,  consisting  of  a  combination  of  lenses.  No  name  or 
period  can  be  associated  with  the  invention  of  the  simple  microscope, 
for  a  knowledge  of  the  magnifying  power  of  convex  transparent  bodies 
must  have  existed  even  in  the  remotest  antiquity.  No  one  who  has 
■ever  observed  with  any  degree  of  attention  a  drop  of  dew  or  rain  on 
the  surface  of  a  green  leaf,  could  be  ignorant  of  the  magnifying  effect 
of  the  transparent  globule.  There  are  other  numberless  instances  in 
which  transparent  spherules  of  various  materials  are  formed  by  nature 
or  by  art,  and  of  which  the  optical  property  in  question  could  not  fail 
to  have  attracted  attention.  Of  course  such  casual  observations  must 
be  considered  as  very  different  from  that  systematic  use  of  spherical  or 
lenticular  transparent  bodies  in  the  examination  of  minute  objects, 
which  would  entitle  the  person  who  first  made  them  to  the  honor  of 
having  invented  the  simple  microscope. 

That  such  microscopes  must  have  been  known  to  the  ancients,  the 
excessively  minute  work  on  some  of  the  engraved  gems  which  have 
been  preserved  to  us,  seems  to  exclusively  prove,  for  some  of  the  work 
is  invisible  to  the  unassisted  eye.  Indeed,  Mr.  Layard  found  among 
some  glass  vessels,  in  the  ruins  of  Nineveh,  a  lenticular  shaped  jiiece 
of  rock  crystal,  which  must  have  been  formed  expressl}^  for  optical 
purposes.  Again,  from  passages  in  certain  ancient  authors,  it  would 
appear    that    glass    globules    or    globular   vessels    filled   with    water 


682  WONDERS    OF    THE   WHOLE   WORLD. 

were    known    as    "  burning-glasses,"    and    also    for   their    magnifying 
properties. 

Some  of  the  inventions  connected  with  printing  are  fitted  to  excite  the 
utmost  admiration.  Here  the  genius  of  the  human  mind  has  been  spe- 
cially displayed.  It  is  hard  to  say  when  this  "  noble  craft  and  mystery  "  did 
not  exist :  whether  an  impression  be  made  by  pressure  of  the  hand  upon 
snow,  or  by  wood  or  metal  upon  paper  or  vellum,  it  is  alike  printing  ; 
and  one  of  our  recent  discoveries,  producing  an  impression  of  a  fern,  is 
caHed  Nature-printing.  Nearly  four  thousand  years  ago,  seals  were 
impressed  upon  soft  material :  next,  characters  were  stamped  upon  clay  in 
forming  bricks,  as  in  Babylon  ;  of  which  art  examples  have  been  brought 
from  Egypt  and  from  the  buried  cities  of  Asia.  Besides  these  inscribed 
bricks,  have  been  found  the  wooden  stamps.  Brass  or  bronze  stamps, 
with  raised  characters,  with  a  handle  at  the  back,  for  printing  with  color 
upon  papyrus,  linen  or  parchment,  have  also  been  found;  the  process  re- 
sembling that  of  stamping  linen  with  marking-ink  in  our  day.  The  Ro- 
mans used  the  above  stamps,  and  it  is  strange  that  they  did  not  engrave 
sentences  upon  blocks,  and  transfer  them  to  surfaces,  to  save  the  slow 
operation  of  copying  manuscripts.  The  Chinese  claim  to  have  printed 
from  blocks  several  centuries  before  it  was  practised  in  Europe,  or  fifty 
years  before  the  Christian  era.  Next,  printing  from  pictures  engraved 
upon  wooden  blocks,  was  accomplished  in  the  thirteenth  century  ;  tlien 
playing  cards  were  taken  from  blocks  by  means  of  a  burnisher,  as  en- 
gravers on  wood  take  impressions  on  India  paper  in  the  present  day  ; 
and  next,  the  engravings  of  the  Poor  Man's  Bible,  with  the  text  printed 
in  from  moveable  types. 

Various  machines  for  making  the  impression  of  the  type  on  paper 
were  constructed,  and  various  improvements  made  from  time  to  time. 
Konig,  an  ingenious  German,  invented  a  machine  with  a  view  to  utiHz- 
ing  steam-power.  He  turned  his  attention  to  c)'lindrical  machine  print- 
ing, and  at  length  produced  a  machine  capable  of  working  one  thousand 
impressions  per  hour,  and  requiring  only  the  superintendence  of  two 
boys.  It  was  then  considered  practicable  to  extend  the  principles  and 
capabilities  of  this  machine  to  printing  a  newspaper.  Konig  obtained  a 
contract  with  the  proprietor  of  the  London  Times  newspaper,  for  two 
large  machines  to  print  his  journal ;  and  on  the  twenty-eighth  of  Novem- 
ber, 1 8 14,  the  readers  of  the  Times  were  informed  that  they  were,  for 
the  first  time,  perusing  a  newspaper  printed  by  the  application  of 
steam-power,  and  working  eleven  hundred  impressions  per  hour.  The 
ordinary  type  was  used  and  laid  upon  a  flat  surface,  and  the  impression 
was  given  by  the  form  passing  under  a  cylinder  of  great  size. 

These  machines  were  necessarily  of  a  very  complicated  construction. 


083 


■684  WONDERS    OF   THE   WHOLE    WORLD. 

and  it  may  suffice  to  say  that  each  consisted  of  a  number  of  cyHnders, 
which  so  revolved  as  to  carry  the  sheets  of  paper,  through  the  agency 
of  a  number  of  tapes  and  wheels,  placed  between  them  and  the  types  on 
the  surface  of  the  table,  which  constantly  moved  backwards  and  for- 
wards, receiving  in  turn  the  ink  from  the  inking  rollers,  and  impressing 
its  form  on  the  paper.  Each  machine  was  only  capable  of  printing  one 
side  of  the  newspaper,  and  the  sheets  thus  half  printed  by  the  one  were 
perfected  by  the  other.  These  machines  were  greatly  simplified  by 
Messrs.  Applegath  and  Cowper,  this  being  the  first  really  useful  ma- 
chine :  its  principal  improvement  consisting  in  the  application  of  two 
drums  between  the  impression-cylinders,  one  of  which  reverses  the 
sheet,  and  the  other  secures  the  register  (that  is,  one  page  falling  pre- 
cisely on  the  back  of  another),  by  retaining  it  after  the  impression  of 
the  first  form,  just  so  long  that  it  may  pass  on  to  the  second  cylinder 
in  exact  time  to  be  impressed  thereby  upon  the  second  form  ;  and  of 
the  distribution  of  the  ink  upon  a  plane  surface,  instead  of  by  a  number 
of  rollers,  by  which  Konig's  endless  tapes  and  vertical  rollers  in  rapid 
motion  convey  it  round  the  printing  cylinders,  each  of  which  always 
touches  the  type  at  the  same  corresponding  point,  the  surfaces  moving 
with  a  great  velocity. 

No  description  can  give  any  adequate  idea  of  the  scene  presented  by 
one  of  these  machines  in  full  work, — the  maze  of  wheels  and  rollers,  the 
intricate  lines  of  swift-moving  tapes,  the  flight  of  sheets  and  the  din  of 
machinery.  The  central  drum  moves  at  the  rate  of  six  feet  per  second, 
or  one  revolution  in  three  seconds ;  the  impression  cylinder  makes  five 
revolutions  in  the  same  time.  The  layer-on  delivers  two  sheets  every 
five  seconds,  consequently  fifteen  sheets  are  printed  in  that  brief  space. 
Messrs.  Hoe,  of  New  York,  have  constructed  machines  in  which  the 
type  is  fixed  on  the  central  cylinder,  which  has  a  continuous  or  rotatory 
motion,  in  contact  with  the  impression  cylinder,  set  around  it.  One  of 
these  machines  with  ten  cylinders  can  turn  out  twenty  thousand  im- 
pressions in  an  hour.  For  book  printing,  the  machine  built  by  Cottrell 
and  Babcock  has  a  high  repute.  It  is  a  marvel  of  mechanical  genius, 
and  works  with  remarkable  speed  and  precision.  It  will  be  interesting 
to  our  readers  to  know  that  the  many  thousands  of  copies  of  this  book 
which  have  been  placed  before  the  public  to  meet  the  wide  demand, 
have  been  printed  upon  these  marvelous  machines. 

A  wonderful  engine  was  that  which  moved  all  the  vast  and  compli- 
cated machinery  in  our  great  Centennial  Exhibition.  No  fires  or 
furnaces  were  allowed  in  Machinery  Hall.  The  boilers  of  the  great 
Corliss  engine  were  placed  in  a  separate  building,  and  steam  was  intro- 
duced into  the  hall  by  a  service  of  pipes. 


WONDERFUL   INVENTIONS. 


685 


The  mo  ivc  power  for  all  the  machinery  in  motion  in  this  vast  hall 
was  a  double-actmc.  duplex  vertical  engine.  It  stood  in  the  centre  of 
he  hall  and  was  built  upon  a  platform  fifty-six  feet  in  diameter,  and 
three  and  one-half  feet  above  the  floor  of  the  hall.  The  encxine  rose  to 
a  height  of  forty  feet  above  the  platform,  and  was  the  most  conspicuous- 
object  n.  the  hal  It  had  cylinders  of  forty-four  inches  in  diameter  and 
ten  feet  stroke,  the  peculiar  variable  cut-off  arrangement  being  actuated 
by  the  go^■ernor,  as  common   in  the  Corliss   engines.     Between    the 


THE    IMMENSE    CORLISS    ENGINE,    CENTENNIAL    EXHIBITION 

vertical  engines  was  a  fly-wheel  of  fifty-six  tons  weight,  thirty  feet  in 
diameter  and  twenty-four  inch  face  ;  it  made  thirty-sLx  revolutions  per 
mmute,  the  rate  being  kept  equal  by  means  of  the  governor  cut-off 
vh:ch  immediately  responded  to   any  change   in  duty,  owing  to  the 

e^oTof'^f   K  Z"^  "'.'!"""'  "'^""  ""S'>'  ""^  '"^^'^'^^   ■■"  -  -hole 
section  of  the  building,     1  he  tubular  boilers  were  twenty  in  number  in 

a  separate  building,  and  each  represented  a  nominal  power  of  seventy 

horses,  the  work  of  the  engine  at  sixty  pounds  pressure  being  about 


685  WONDERS    OF    THE   WHOLE   WORLD. 

fourteen  hundred  horse-power.  The  fly-wheel  had  cogs  on  its  periphery, 
which  matched  with  cogs  on  a  pinion  which  rotated  a  Une  of  under- 
o-round  shafting,  and  this,  by  means  of  mitre-gearing,  rotated  other  un- 
derground shafts,  so  that  motion  was  communicated  to  eight  points  in 
the  ground-plan  at  the  transept,  at  which  were  pulleys  from  which  belts 
rose  through  the  floor  and  thence  passed  around  primary  pulleys  on  the 
eight  principal  lines  of  shafting,  which  reached  from  the  transept  to  the 
extremities  of  the  east  and  west  ends  of  the  building.  The  sunk  shaft- 
ing, its  mitre-gears,  pi41ow-blocks  and  pulleys,  weighed  two  hundred 
tons,  and  these  were  found  fully  equal  to  the  immense  demand. 

Eight  main  lines  of  shafting  were  provided  for  the  machinery  in  the 
avenues  and  aisles,  the  larger  portion  being  speeded  to  one  hundred  and 
twenty  revolutions  per  minute,  and  one  line  to  two  hundred  and  forty 
revolutions  per  minute,  principally  for  the  wood-working  machines. 
With  the  subsidiary  lines,  the  length  of  shafting  was  estimated  at  ten 
thousand  four  hundred  feet,  each  main  line  of  six  hundred  and  fifty  feet 
transmitting  one  hundred  and  eighty  horse-power  to  the  various  ma- 
chines connected  with  it,  and  working  with  mathematical  precision. 

THE    WONDERFUL   CLOCK    AT    STRASBURG. 

About  the  middle  of  the  fourteenth  century  the  canon  of  Strasburg 
wished  mightily  for  a  clock  which  should  be  worthy  of  the  magnificent 
cathedral  wherein  he  would  place  it.  With  this  end  in  view,  he  invited 
the  most  learned  astronomers  and  the  most  skillful  mechanicians  to  vie 
with  each  other  in  producing  a  clock  which  should  astonish  the  wor'ld, 
and  be  no  shame  to  the  mighty  cathedral.  A  man  came  forward  ;  ?^j>d 
in  1352  the  clock  was  finished. 

The  whole  of  the  Chapter  was  convoked  to  behold  the  firs,  move- 
ments of  this  marvelous  machine,  which  surpassed  the  most  sanguine 
expectations.  A  cock,  perched  at  the  top  of  a  tower,  flapped  his  wings 
a  few  minutes  before  the  striking  of  each  hour,  to  warn  the  faithful 
against  the  suggestions  of  that  evil  spirit,  which  the  chief  of  the  Apostles 
himself  had  no  power  to  resist.  Then  Death  came,  and  struck  upon  a 
sounding  bell  as  many  strokes  as  the  hour  required,  and  an  equal  num- 
ber of  Apostles  passed  in  a  lowly  attitude  before  Christ,  who  placed  his 
hands  upon  them  in  the  attitude  of  blessing.  Finally,  the  chariot  of 
the  sun  showed  by  its  course  round  the  dial  the  months  and  the  seasons, 
and  the  hands  pointed  out  the  different  parts  of  the  day,  the  days  of 
the  week,  the  days  of  the  month,  the  age  of  the  world  and  the  >ear 
of  our  Lord. 

The  present  clock  was  commenced  by  a  clever  artist  of  Strasburg, 
M.  Schineque,  in  June,  1838,  and  finished  in  October,  1842.  The  cen- 
tral motive  power,  which  is  in  itself  a  clock  of  wonderful  precision. 


WONDERFUL   INVENTIONS. 


687 


serves  to  indicate  upon  a  dial-plate,  placed  on  the  outside  of  the  church, 
the  hours  and  their  subdivisions,  and  the  days  of  the  week,  with  the 
signs  of  the  planets  corresponding  to  them.  These  indications  are  re- 
peated inside  upon  a  double  dial,  one  showing  the  hours,  and  another 
devoted  exclusively  to  the  calendar,  showing  the  month,  the  date,  the 
Dominical  letter,  and  the  saint's  day.  Two  winged  beings  are  seated 
on  each  side  of  the  small  dial.  At  each  quarter  of  an  hour  the  right 
hand  one  strikes  upon  a  bell.     Immediate!}'  the  stroke  is  repeated  on 


s^v-',^^:^-=s^'= 


THE    WONDERFUL    LABOR-SAVING    REAPER    AT    WORK. 

all  the  dials  by  automata,  one  representing  Childhood,  one  Youth, 
another  Manhood,  and  a  fourth  Old  Age.  Death,  placed  upon  a  ped- 
estal by  the  side  of  the  Old  Man,  strikes  the  hours,  and  every  time  he 
fulfils  this  grave  mission  the  second  of  the  two  winged  figures  of  which 
we  have  spoken,  reverses  an  hour  glass. 

At  mid-day,  at  the  striking  of  the  hour,  a  procession  of  Apostles 
passes  before  Christ,  who  places  his  hands  over  them  in  the  attitude  of 
blessing  ;  at  the  same  time,  the  cock  perched  on  a  tower  flaps  his  wings 
and  crows  thrice.     On  the  ground,  in  front  of  the  clock,  stands  a  celes- 


688 


WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 


tial  globe,  demonstrating  the  daily  and  annual  motions  of  the  heavens^ 
stars  and  planets,  with  great  exactness. 

In  no  department  of  inventions  have  greater  strides  been  made  in  the 
last  kw  years  than  in  that  of  agricultural  implements.  There  is  now 
a  machine  for  almost  every  kind  of  work.  Reaping  and  mowing 
machines  have  greatly  lessened  the  labor  of  gathering  the  hay  and  grain. 

The  Buckeye  Mower  has  a  tubular  iron  frame  of  great  strength  and 
simplicity,  which  is  made  in  one  piece,  and  dispenses  almost  entirely 
with  bolts.     All  openings  for  the  shaft  bearings  are  bored  simultaneously 


THE    FAMOUS    BUCKEYE    MOWER    AT    WORK. 

by  .special  machinery,  and  an  absolute  accuracy  in  position  and  line  is 
attained.  The  gearing  is  compact  and  thoroughly  protected.  It  is  all 
placed  at  the  corner  of  the  machine  which  is  furthest  removed  from  the 
cutting  apparatus.  Shafts  and  gears  are  always  in  the  same  level  posi- 
tion, unaffected  by  any  movements  of  the  cutting  apparatus,  and  the 
motion  given  to  the  knives  is  of  an  unvarying  regularity. 

The  mower  has  a  light  cutting  apparatus  and  a  three-inch  knife  sec- 
tion. The  guard  fingers  are  of  malleable  iron.  The  cutter  bar  is 
attached  to  the  frame  of  the  machine  by  a  wrought  iron  coupling  piece, 
hinged  at  both  ends,  and  adapts  itself  to  all  varieties  of  surface,  inde- 


WONDERFUL    INVENTIONS. 


689 


pendent  of  the  movements  of  the  frame.  In  addition  to  the  coupling 
piece,  a  wrought  iron  brace  holds  the  forward  end  of  the  inside  shoe 
firmly,  and  protects  the  connecting  rod  ;  and  a  diagonal  brace  extends 
to  the  rear  end  of  the  machine,  where  it  is  hinged  in  line  with  the  inner 
joint  of  the  coupling  piece.  At  the  bar  the  extreme  points  of  the 
hinge  measure  some  twelve  inches,  at  the  frame  they  are  above  two 
feet  apart.  These  long  hinges  support  the  cutter  bar  level  on  the 
leading  wheel,  and  prevent  any  sagging  back  at  its  outer  end. 

Not  only  can  grass  and  grain  be  cut  by  machinery  but  even  chickens 
can  be  hatched  on  the  same  principle.  The  ancient  Egyptians  hatched 
and  raised  chickens  successfully  by  artificial  means,  but  in  our  day  and 
generation  all  such  attempts  have,  until  within  the  past  few  years, 
proved  failures,  or  at  best  but  partial  successes.     The  first  incubators 


THE    PATENT    HEN    AND    ITS    WONDERFUL    BROOD. 

offered  to  the  public  in  this  country  were  not  practical  enough  to  meet 
the  wants  of  poultry  raisers,  but  the  demand  for  an  incubator  that 
would  "beat  the  old  hen"  was  so  great  that  inventive  genius  was 
stimulated,  and  as  a  result  there  are  at  present  some  half  a  dozen 
different  kinds  of  incubators  that  will — if  the  manufacturer's  directions 
are  carefully  and  intelligently  followed — hatch  a  larger  per  cent  of  the 
fertile  eggs  than  the  hens.  These  incubators  are  rapidly  coming  into 
use,  and  the  time  is  not  far  distant  when  no  poultry  raiser  who  wishes 
to  raise  over  two  or  three  hundred  early  chicks  will  consider  his  outfit 
complete  without  one  or  more  incubators. 

The  principle  of  the    incubator  is  very  simple.      Eggs  will  hatch 
without  the  services  of  any  mother-hen  if  they  are  kept  at  a  certain 
temperature.     The  plan  of  the  incubator  admits  of  a  side  lamp  which 
44 


690  WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 

furnishes  heat  to  the  hatching  chamber.  This  can  be  regulated,  and 
the  process  of  getting  the  chicks  can  be  carried  on  more  evenly  than 
in  the  case  of  a  hen  that  is  compelled  occasionally  to  leave  her  nest 
for  food. 

The  advantages  to  be  derived  from  the  use  of  k  good  incubator  are 
many.  In  the  first  place,  one  can  set  a  large  number  at  any  desired 
time  without  waiting  for  sitting  hens,  and  this  is  a  matter  of  prime 
importance  to  poultry  raisers  who  desire  to  raise  any  considerable 
number  of  early  broilers  for  market.  Next,  there  is  an  actual  saving 
of  time  and  money — it  requiring  very  much  less  time  to  care  for  three 
hundred  eggs  in  a  self-regulating  incubator  than  it  would  to  care  for 
twenty-five  or  thirty  sitting  hens  that  would  be  required  to  hatch  the 
same  number  of  eggs  the  natural  way  ;  and  the  cost  of  running  the 
incubator  is  more  than  balanced  by  the  cost  of  food  necessary  for  the 
number  of  hens  that  would  be  required  to  do  the  same  amount  of 
work.  We  would  also  call  attention  to  the  fact  that  incubator  chicks  are 
always  free  from  lice  to  begin  with,  and  incubators  don't  trample  the 
life  out  of  chicks  before  they  get  fairly  out  of  the  shell. 

Incubator  chicks  that  break  the  shell  promptly  on  the  twentieth, 
twenty-first,  or  even  the  twenty-second  day  (they  will  be  out  on  time 
if  the  temperature  has  been  kept  right),  are  just  as  strong  and  healthy 
in  every  way,  and — if  properly  cared  for  after  hatching — no  more 
liable  to  die  off  "  sudden  like,"  without  any  apparent  cause  than  those 
hatched  in  the  natural  way. 

Although  the  incubator  that  eats  no  corn  and  scratches  no  garden 
beds  is  such  a  success,  yet  domestic  animals  are  good  in  their  place. 
They  have  been  employed  for  all  time  to  draw  carriages  and  the  plough. 
But  these  animal  motors  are  usually  employed  under  defective  con- 
ditions, and  therefore  without  full  profit.  The  inert  mass  of  the  animal 
remains  quite  unutilized,  his  force  only  is  used,  and  there  are  more 
objections  on  the  score  of  humanity  as  well  as  from  a  mechanical 
stand-point,  and  great  muscular  tension  with  suffering  may  be  inflicted 
upon  the  animal  which  is  continually  mounting  a  wheel,  or  some  con- 
trivance for  raising  water.  There  was  in  the  Paris  Exhibition  a 
threshing  machine,  put  in  motion  by  a  horse  walking  up  on  a  pair 
of  rollers,  which  constituted  an  "  endless  "  way,  and  we  will  now  briefly 
describe  a  machine  which  utilizes  animal  force  and  weight.  It  is  the 
invention  of  Mr.  Richard,  of  Paris,  who  has  made  many  mechanical 
apparatuses  for  industrial  purposes. 

The  principle  of  the  invention  consists  in  the  animal  utilizing  all  the 
force  resulting  from  the  dead  weight.  A  small  box  contains  the  dog 
very  easily.     In  the  illustrtaion  we  see  the  dog  at  rest,  and  in  that  ca.sv 


WONDERFUL    INVENTIONS. 


691 


maintains  his  centre  of  gravity  and  exercises  no  force  upon  the  wheel. 
But  when  the  box  is  inchned,  the  mere  weight  of  the  animal  is  suffi- 
cient merely  to  turn  the  wheel.  The  dog,  finding  himself  sliding  away, 
naturally  endeavors  to  move  forward,  and  the  rotation  of  the  wheel  is 
continued  ;  the  best  results 
are  obtained  when  the  body 
is  placed  entirely  upon  the 
descending  line,  and  the 
result  is  owing  only  to  the 
weight  of  the  animal. 
There  is  a  resting  place 
just  above  and  outside  the 
"  endless  "  way  traversed 
by  the  dog.  A  basin  with 
wat6r  is  also  provided  for 
the  animal. 

In  our  Centennial  Exhi- 
bition there  was  a  singular 
contrivance    for     utilizing 

the  weight  and  strength  of  machine  for  utilizing  dog  power. 
dogs.  It  consisted  of  a  three-wheeled  vehicle,  in  which  a  single  person 
could  sit,  and  have  his  motive  power  on  each  side  of  him.  Just  as  a 
squirrel  springs  up  on  a  movable  wheel  and  sets  it  whirling  by  its 
weight,  so  the  dogs  apply  their  power,  and  all  the  rider  has  to  do  is  to 

guide    his    singular 
conveyance. 

More    frequently 
^  horses  form  the  mo- 
tive  power    on   the 
,  1  oad.      Here    is    a 
\"ery  curious  vehicle, 
also    shown    in  the 
Centennial    Exhibi- 
E_  tion,    and    the   ex- 
planation   of  it   we 
give  in  the  words  of 
A  carriage  propelled  by  dogs.  the  anonymous  in- 

ventor: My  vehicle  will  carry  four  persons  without  counting  the  driver. 
It  is  strong,  easy  to  draw  and  can  turn  in  a  horse's  length.  The  driver 
completely  controls  the  animal,  and  no  dust  is  thrown  up  to  incon- 
venience the  sitters,  for  by  the  time  it  rises  the  car  is  well  in  advance 
of    it.     It  is  cheap,  the  harness  is  simple  and   safe.     The  horse  is 


692 


WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 


sheltered  from  heat  and  rain  and  flies.      If  he  should  fall,  there  is  no 
more  danger  to  life  and  limb  than  there  would  be  if  he  fell  in  a  carriage; 

and  last  of  all,  no 
very  showy  ani- 
mal is  needed,  so 
long  as  his  wind 
is  sound,  and  his 
legs  and  tail  re- 
spectable. Trav- 
elers in  this 
"  trap  "  can  sit  in 
any  position,  back 
to  back,  or  face  to 
face,  two  and  two. 
The  weight  is  all 
near  the  collar, 
and  the  animal  is 
under  control 
most  perfectly. 
But  dogs  and 
A  UNIQUE  VEHICLE.  horses      are     not 

swift  enough  for  our  hurrying  age,  and  we  have  a  much  faster  mode 
of  conveyance.  Whenever  the  history  of  our  time  is  written,  the 
invention  of  the  railway  and  the  locomotive  steam-engine  will  furnish 
its  most  important  and  interesting 
chapter.  Its  benefits  are  more  univer- 
sally diffused  than  any  other ;  nearly 
every  man,  woman,  and  child,  partici- 
pates in  the  profit  and  practical  comfort, 
and  even  luxur\',  to  be  enjoyed  by 
means,  of  the  railway  and  its  engine. 
All  ages  share  its  physical  complete- 
ness in  conveying  us  without  energy  or 
effort  from  place  to  place,  and  contribut- 
ing to  convenience  and  enjoyment  in  a 
more  direct  manner  than  any  other  result 
of  human  ingenuity.  It  is  the  univer.sal 
messenger  of  life,  and  is  more  tributaiy 
to  the  enjoyment  of  all  classes  than  any 
other  contrivance  to  be  named:  its  iron  ^^d  view  of  vehicle. 
roads  are  the  very  arteries  of  our  existence  as  a  commercial  and 
manufacturing  community,  and  they  largely  increase  our  pleasures,  by 


WONDERFUL    INVENTIONS. 


693 


the  delightful  change  of  scene  which  they  bring  within  the  reach  of 
all  grades  of  the  community. 

In  1784,  Watt  patented  a  locomotive  carriage  ;  and  in  the  same  year 
his  friend  and  assistant,  Murdoch,  constructed  a  non-condensing  steam 
locomotive  of  lilliputian  dimensions.  This  locomotive  was  placed  on 
three  wheels ;  the  boiler  was  of  copper  ;  the  flue  passed  obliquely 
through  it,  and  was  heated  by  a  spirit-lamp ;  the  steam  cylinder  was 
only  three-fourths  of  an  inch  in  diameter,  with  a  stroke  of  two  inches 
turning  a  crank  on  the  axle  of  the  larger  wheels,  which  werenineanda 
half  inches  high.  This  little  locomotive,  standing  not  higher  than  fifteen 
inches  above  the  ground,  could  run  at  a  speed  of  six  or  eight  miles 
per  hour.  This  model  is  interesting,  inasmuch  as  it  was  the  first  ever 
made  by  an  Englishman,  preceding  that  by  Trevithick  by  many  years. 
It  is  to  be  seen  at  South  Kensington,  in  the  Patent   Museum.     Here 


THE    STEAM   LOCOMOTIVE. 

also  is  a  small  model  of  a  locomotive  intended  for  the  common  road, 
patented  in  1802  by  Richard  Trevithick  and  Andrew  Vivian.  This  wax 
supposed  to  be  the  first  model  in  existence  of  a  locomotive.  But  in 
the  Museum  of  the  Patent-office  at  Paris,  there  is  a  model  of  a  loco- 
motiv'e  of  long  prior  date  ;  and  in  an  adjoining  church,  now  appropri- 
ated  as  a  kind  of  hospital  for  old  decayed  engines,  is  the  original 
locomotive  that  actually  ran  upon  the  road,  but  in  doing  so  killed  a 
man,  and  subjected  the  inventor  to  imprisonment. 

The  first  railway  constructed  in  the  United  States  was  a  line  of  about 
four  miles  for  the  conveyance  of  granite  from  the  quarries  at  Irving  to 
Boston  harbor,  which  was  first  opened  in  1827.  The  successful  intro- 
duction of  steam  locomotion  in  England  was  followed  by  the  formation 
of  numerous  important  lines  in  America;  and  in  1839,  more  than  three 
thousand  miles  were  completed  in  the  United  States.     Cheapness  of 


694  WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 

land  and  timber  made  the  average  cost  greatly  below  that  of  English 
railways ;  the  cost  of  several  lines  did  not  reach  twenty-five  thousand 
dollars  per  mile.  The  practice,  after  having  passed  through  various 
phases,  has  arrived  at  two  great  types  of  locomotive  for  passengers  and 
for  goods  trafific,  which  are  universally  adopted  in  this  country.  The 
passenger-locomotive  has  eight  wheels,  of  which  four  in  front  are  placed 
in  a  moveable  frame,  called  a  truck,  which  swivels  on  a  central  pivot, 
and  adapts  itself  to  the  curves  of  the  lines  ;  the  four  wheels  behind  are 
the  drivers  ;  they  are  larger  than  the  front  wheels,  and  of  equal  size  and 
coupled.  The  cylinders  are  placed  outside,  just  over  the  truck,  hori- 
zontally. 

Until  recently  the  highest  railway  in  the  world  was  in  Chili,  attaining 
an  elevation  of  four  thousand  and  seventy-five  feet  above  the  sea  level 
— a  less  height,  of  course,  than  that  to  which  Trevithick  worked  the 
stationary  engine  in  Pasco,  but  said  to  be  one  thousand  feet  higher  than 
any  other  locomotive  has  reached  except  on  our  great  Pacific  road. 
These  summit  levels  teach  engineers  greater  daring  ;  and  the  Alps, 
Cordilleras  and  Ghauts,  even  the  mighty  Himalaya  itself,  will  no  longer 
be  considered  bounds  to  the  railway  system.  Amongst  the  more 
prominent  railway  works  are  bridges  of  enormous  span.  The  widest 
single  span  of  any  railway  bridge  in  the  world  is  twelve  hundred  and 
twenty-four  feet,  carrying  the  Lexington  and  Danville  Railway,  at  an 
elevation  of  three  hundred  feet,  over  the  Kentucky  River.  The  next 
widest  span  is  that  of  the  Niagara  suspension  bridge,  connecting  the 
American  and  Canadian  railways  at  Niagara  Falls  ;  the  clear  'span  is 
eight  hundred  and  twenty-two  feet. 

Not  only  does  the  wonderful  machinery  inx'ented  in  recent  years  ad- 
mit of  a  high  rate  of  speed,  but  inventive  genius  has  taxed  itself  to  pro- 
vide for  the  comfort  and  convenience  of  travelers.  Over  our  great  Pa- 
cific thoroughfare  passengers  eat,  drink  and  sleep  on  the  train,  and  have 
every  acommodation  that  could  be  furnished  b}'  a  first-class  hotel. 
They  can  also  ride  in  parlor  cars,  fitted  as  elegantly  as  the  drawing-j 
room  of  a  lord  or  lady.  Finest  upholstery,  easy  chairs,  restful  sofas, 
electric  lights,  are  among  the  striking  features  of  our  railroad  traveling. ' 

With  regard  to  the  question  as  to  which  is  the  longest  and  which  the 
highest  railway  in  the  world,  it  may  be  stated  that  the  Union  Pacific 
line,  from  Omaha  to  Ogden,  a  distance  of  ten  hundred  and  thirty-two 
miles,  bears  the  palm  for  length.  This  line  has  been,  within  the  last 
few  years,  supplemented  by  another — the  Central  Pacific — which  carries 
the  communication  from  Ogden  to  San  Francisco,  a  further  distance 
of  eight  hundred  and  eighty  miles;  so  that  a  person  may  travel  in  one 
and  the  same  carriage  completely  across  our  continent,  from  ocean  to 


WONDERFUL  INVENTIONS. 


695 


ocean.     The  whole  distance  from  New  York  to  San  Francisco  is  three 
thousand  two   hundred  and  fifteen  miles,  and  the  journey  occupies  a 


ELEGANT  INTERIOR  OF  A  PARLOR  CAR. 

week,  the  trains  traveling  night  and  day.     The  line  between  Omaha 
and  San  Francisco  traverses  some  extraordinary  scenery  of  wild  and 


696 


WONDERS    OF    THE    WHOLE    WORLD. 


varieo  character.  At  one  point  the  Hne  crosses  the  Black  Hills  at 
an  elevation  above  the  sea-level  of  eight  thousand  two  hundred  and 
forty-two  feet ;  and  this  is  probably  the  greatest  elevation  yet  reached 
by  any  railway. 

On  all  our  great  roads  the  postal  car  is  an  institution.  While  the 
train  may  be  flying  at  the  rate  of  sixty  miles  an  hour,  the  mail  is  as- 
sorted, and  the  pouches  are  made  ready  to  be  dropped  at  various  points, 
sending  their  messages  in  all  directions. 

There  is  another  conveyance  which  must  be  ranked  among  the  won- 
derful modes  of  transpor-tation  that  have  astonished  the  world  in  recent 

times.  Yachts  are 


constructed  not 
onh'  for  sailing 
m  water,  but  also 
on  ice.  The  ice- 
}  acht  is  a  sloop, 
\\  ith  one  mast, 
one  large  sail,  and 
gcnerallyasmaller 
one,  a  framework 
i>n  runners,  and  a 
boat  connected 
\\  ith  it  for  the 
a  c  c  o  m  m  odation 
ot  the  travelers. 
The  sails  are 
ANoiked  as  in  an 
ordinary  sail-boat, 
and  the  wind  pro- 
ptls  the  craft  over 
the  smooth  ice, 
sometimes  with 
incredible    veloc- 


A    TRAVELING    POST-OFFICE. 


ity.     This  is  a  unique   contrivance,  and  a   mode  of  conveyance  quite 
marvelous  in  its  way,  but  requiring  much  skill  for  its  management. 

Conveyances  that  need  the  water  as  their  element  are  among  the 
ingeniour  inventions  which  are  well  worth  our  examination.  Among 
the  most  prominent  of  these  must  be  placed  the  lifeboat,  which  is  equal 
to  the  roughest  sea,  and  by  reason  of  its  marvelous  construction  has 
been  the  savior  of  multitudes  of  the  imperiled.  In  our  great  exhibition 
the  general  characteristics  of  the  lifeboat  took  for  their  common  prin- 
ciple of  buoyancy,  the  construction  of  an  air-tight  lining  in  the  interior 


WONDERFUL   INVENTIONS. 


69T 


of  the  boat — the  space  between  the  outward  and  inward  sides  gradually 
widening  until  a  very  broad  gunwale  was  formed.  In  other  specimens 
the  air-tight  cell  was  placed  lower,  running  in  the  form  of  a  square  or 
circular  box  round  the  boat,  but  beneath  the  seats.  A  few  specimens 
were  fitted  with  cork  belts  or  furnishings,  which  keep  the  boat  nearly 
3  3  buoyant  as  air-tight  tanks  would  do  ;  and  certainly  have  the  additional 
advantage  of  not  being  rendered  useless  by  an  accidental  blow  from  the 
sea  against  the  wreck.  The  danger,  however,  is  sought  to  be  guarded 
against  by  the  construction  of  several  air-tight  compartments — any  of 
which,  we  are  assured,  would  suffice  to  keep  the  boat,  with  her  crew, 
above  water.     The  long,  shallow  shape  of  the  boats  was  universal ;  and 


THE    WONDERFUL    ICE   YACHT. 

they  were  constructed  alike  at  stem  and  stern,  so  as  to  avoid  the  dan- 
gerous necessity  of  going  about.  One  boat  was  furnished  with  out- 
riggers, supporting  nets,  into  which  people  might  leap  from  a  ship,  while 
the  boat  was  kept  at  such  a  distance  as  to  diminish  the  risk  of  her  being 
swamped  against  the  wreck.  Others  had  their  buoyant  apparatus  in 
the  sides  beneath  the  seats ;  the  oars  double  banked ;  and  beside 
every  man  a  pump  for  getting  rid  of  the  sea  when  it  filled  the  boat. 

A  lifeboat  was  recently  experimented  with  on  our  coast :  manned 
by  thirteen  persons,  she  was  put  to  sea,  was  filled  by  a  bucket  with 
water,  and  set  sail.  The  weight  of  water  had  no  effect  upon  the  boat, 
she  maintained  her  position  ;  the  crew  then  endeavored  by  every  means 


698 


WONDERS    OF   THE   WHOLE    WORLD. 


to  sink  her,  but  in  vain.  The  boat  was  then  pitched  off  the  pier  into 
the  sea,  but  instantaneously  righted,  and  reHeved  herself  of  water ;  she 
was  then  turned  over  keel  upwards,  but  turned  into  her  proper  position 
immediately.  The  expanding  tubular  life-raft  is  formed  of  vulcanized 
India-rubber  tubes,  inclosed  in  canvas  cases  or  nettings,  lashed  to  cross 
spars,  so  as  to  form,  when  extended,  a  contrivance  for  floating  on  the 
water,  or  being  rowed  like  a  boat,  in  safety  through  a  surf  or  heavy  sea. 
There  is  also  a  collapsing  boat,  consisting  of  tubes  lashed  round  a 
boat-like  framework,  with  three  thwarts  which  shut  up  like  a  purse. 
The  bottom  is  formed  of  nettings  to  enable  the  water  to  have  a  free 
course,  and  the  thwarts  are  kept  expanded  by  means  of  "  moveable 
fishes."     This  boat  will  float  safely  in  the  roughest  sea. 

One  of  the  very  convenient  inventions  now  coming  into  use  is  an 


THE    REVERSE    OAR-LOCK THE    ROWER    FACING    THE    BOW. 

•oar-lock  with  a  reverse  action.  By  this  ingenious  contrivance  the  oars- 
man caii  sit  with  his  face  to  the  bow,  can  see  exactly  where  he  is  going, 
and  guide  his  skiff  accordingly.  Thus  there  are  wonderful  inventions 
for  traveling  by  water,  but  now  we  have  to  mention  a  novel  means  of 
swimming,  which  may  prove  useful  to  those  who  distrust  the  natural 
buoyancy  of  water,  and  their  own  power  of  keeping  afloat  or  swimming. 
The  simple  apparatus  is  the  invention  of  a  citizen  of  Alabama.  The 
machine  consists  essentially  of  a  shaft,  upon  which  a  float  is  fixed,  and 
at  the  end  of  the  shaft  is  a  small  screw  propeller.  The  shaft  is  put  in 
motion  by  a  wheel  arrangement  worked  by  the  hands,  and  by  a  crank 
worked  by  the  feet.  The  swimmer  rests  upon  the  float,  with  his  head 
well  above  water.  The  float  sustains  him,  while  the  propeller  forces 
him  through  the  water  without  his  feeling  fatigued,  at  the  rate  of  about 
five  miles  an  hour. 


WONDERFUL    INVENTIONS. 


699 


It  is  a  pity  to  be  compelled  to  state  that  modern  inventions  have 
•greatly  increased  the  destructiveness  of  implements  of  war.  Krupp's 
fifteen  inch  rifled  breech-loadin<T  gun  is  entirely  made  of  steel,  in  three 
principal  parts — the  inner  tube  which  extends  from  end  to  end  of  the 
piece,  and  two  layers  of  superimposed  steel  hoops.  Considered  as  a 
grand  mass  of  worked  metal  nothing  can  be  finer  than  this  huge  mon- 
ster. The  weight  of  the  huge  gun  is,  roughly,  fifty  tons,  and  the 
weight  of  the  projectile  is  upwards  of  half  a  ton.  The  charge  weighs 
about  a  hundred  pounds,  and  forms  a  terrific  explosive. 

For  actual  perforation  of  iron-plated  targets  of  modern  construction 
heavy  guns  are  required,  and  as  these  must  be  capable  of  throwing  a 


THE    MARVELOUS    SWIMMING    MACHINE. 

projectile  with  a  high  velocity,  they  must  be  strong  enough  to  stand 
large  charges  of  powder  The  projectiles  must  be  of  hard  material. 
The  resistance  of  wrought-iron  plates  equally  well  made  varies  as  the 
square  of  their  thickness.  Placing  them  at  an  angle  to  the  line  of  fire 
diminishes  the  effect  of  the  shot  in  the  proportion  of  the  sine  of  the 
angle  of  incidence  to  unity.  The  resistance  of  plates  to  perforation  is 
hardly  affected  by  a  backing  of  wood  simply,  but  much  increased  by  a 
rigid  backing  of  iron  combined  with  wood,  or  of  granite,  iron,  brick, 
much  of  the  shot's  effecj  being  transferred  to  the  backing,  which 
suffers  proportionately. 

Among  the  new  weapons  must  be  mentioned  that  of  which  so  much 
was  heard  at  the  commencement  of  the  Franco-Prussian  war  under  the 


700 


WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 


name  of  mitrailleuse.  It  was  a  battery  of  rifles  united  in  one  machine, 
and  the  details  of  the  construction  were  at  first  kept  concealed.  Weap- 
ons on  the  same  principle  have  since  been  added  to  the  armament  of  other 
nations.     The  Gatling  gun  has  ten  distinct  and  separate  barrels,  which 

are  screwed  into  a 
solid  revolving  piece 
at  the  breech  end, 
and  near  their  muz- 
zles pass  through  a 
circular  plate,  by 
which  they  are  kept 
parallel  to  each 
other.  The  weapon 
is  made  of  three 
sizes,  the  largest 
THE  IMMENSE  KRUPP  GUN.  firing    half   pound 

bullets,  one  inch  in  diameter,  and  the  smallest  bullets  about  half  an  inch 
in  diameter.  The  small  Gatling  is  said  to  be  effective  at  a  range  of 
more  than  a  mile  and  a  quarter,  and  it  can  discharge  four  hundred  bul- 
lets in  one  minute,  constituting  a  very  destructive  weapon. 

It  is  pleasant  to  turn  to  mechanisms  of  a  more  peaceful  character. 
Among  the  inventions  intended  to  obtain  contributions  from  the  visi- 
tors to  our  various  benevolent  institutions,  we  will  describe  a  singular 
money  box.  This 
contrivance  consists 
of  a  case  or  box, 
with  a  glass  front, 
through  which  can 
be  seen  a  landscape 
in  miniature,  with 
trees,  houses  and 
figures,  all  cut  out 
of  card  board  and 
painted  with  great 
nicety.  On  the  box 
is  a  label  requesting 
the  visitor  to  drop  a 
coin  into  it  and  await  THE  wonderful  mitrailleuse  rifle  gun. 
the  result  of  the  contribution.  When  the  penny  has  fallen  in,  it  puts 
in  motion  some  hidden  machinery,  and  then  we  see  the  people  in 
the  miniature  landscape  all  in  motion,  riding  or  walking,  or  huntings 
as  the  case  may  be. 


WONDERFUL    INVENTIONS. 


701 


Another  box  is  even  more  successful,  for  it  places  in  the  hands  of  the 
contributor  a  photograph  of  some  celebrated  person.  Rut  to  obtain  the 
photograph  we  must  contribute  a  certain  amount  of  money.  The  pic- 
ture will  not  come  out  if  we  do  not  put  in  the  proper  coins,  and  the 
apparatus  is  perfectly  fair  and  honest.  At  the  top  of  the  lower  portion, 
where  the  money  is  received,  is  a  hollow  support,  a,  which  sustains  the 
box  in  which  the  photographs  are  placed  upon  an  inclined  plane,  and 
resting  against  the  glass.  The  pieces  of  money,  in  falling,  strike  the 
extremity  of  a  vertical  balance,  which  immediately  turns  a  toothed 
wheel,  c.  The  wheel  has  as  many  teeth  as  there  are  pieces  of  money 
necessary  to  pur- 
chase the  photo- 
graph. Upon  the 
escapement  wheel 
is  a  ratchet  arrange- 
ment, D,  the  shaft 
being  moved  by  a 
cord  rolled  around 
it  and  attached  to 
a  spring,  e.  A  bolt, 
F,  moved  by  a 
spring,  is  kept  con- 
stantly pressed 
against  the  "snail,' 
D.  Then  at  each 
revolution,  as  the 
parts  of  the  machin- 
eiy  are  animated 
by  the  same  move- 
ment, the  bolt  is 
withdrawn  suffici- 
ently to  permit  a  a  money  box  th.\t  sells  photographs. 
photograph  to  fall,  and  then  the  card  next  following  will  be  ready, 
resting  upon  the  bolt.  The  photographs  being  placed  upon  an  in- 
ch ned  plane,  are  pushed  forward  by  a  moveable  frame,  g,  which  has  a 
roller  at  the  base,  so  as  one  card  falls  out  another  is  immediately  re- 
placed close  to  the  glass. 

Having  obtained  the  photograph,  let  us  present  you  with  a  descrip- 
tion of  a  singular  lamp,  by  which  you  may  see  it.  The  illustration 
represents  an  ingenious  arrangement,  which  by  means  of  combustion 
of  oil  in  a  lamp,  indicates  the  hour  of  the  night.  The  design  explains 
itself.     Two  vertical  tubes  are  fixed  above  the  reservoir  of  oil.     The 


'02 


WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 


left  tube  contains  oil,  and  is  marked  with  the  hours  ;  the  right  tube 
burns  the  oil  as  a  lamp.  The  apparatus  is  so  constructed  by  the  inven- 
tor, that  a  certain  quantity  of  oil  burns  exactly  in  one  hour  between 
two  graduations  of  the  hour  tube.  A  reflector  placed  beside  the  lamp 
enables  one  to  see  the  time  by  night  very  plainly. 

Possibly  many  of  our  readers  have  never  thought  that  it  is  a  very 
wonderful  thing  that  a  top  should  stand  in  a  perpendicular  position 
when  spinning.  Let  any  one  try  to  balance  a  peg-top  upon  its  point, 
and,  after  pronouncing  the  feat  to  be  impossible,  spin  it,  and  see  how 

readily  the  upright  posi- 
tion is  maintained ;  this 
is  the  principle  in  the 
common  bicycle.  Doubt- 
less this  species  of  vehicle 
will  come  into  common 
use  as  a  mode  of  loco- 
motion. If  it  be  true 
that  one  hundred  miles 
can  be  traveled  in  a  day 
with  little  fatigue,  there 
is  quite  sufficient  reason 
why  it  should  be  used. 
But  the  velocipede  of  the 
present  day  is  a  very  diff- 
erent machine  from  that 
with  which  we  have  been 
for  some  time  familiar. 

Hitherto  the  machine 
has  been  a  light  frame- 
work with  four  wheels, 
which  were  turned  b}-  the 
feet  of  the  driver  alter- 
A  CURIOUS  OIL  CLOCK.  "^^ely  pressing  down  two 

treadles  attached  to  cranks  upon  the  axles  of  the  wheels.  But  the 
velocipede  of  to-day  only  possesses  two  wheels,  and  these  are  in  a  hne, 
so  that  the  hinder  wheel  runs  in  the  track  of  the  former.  The  driver 
sits  upon  a  saddle,  astride  the  framework  which  holds  the  short  axles 
of  the  wheels,  and  works  the  driving-wheel  by  treadles,  and  he  guides 
the  machine  bv  the  handle.  But  what  keeps  the  bicycle  in  its  upright 
position,  for  two  wheels  in  a  line  are  as  difficult  to  balance  as  a  single 
wheel  by  itself?  The  very  same  power  which  holds  the  spinning-top 
in  its  upright  position.     Of  course  the  machine  must  be  mounted  while 


WONDERFUL    INVENTIONS. 


703 


in  motion,  or  the  passenger  must  be  supported  until  the  motion  is  com- 
menced. The  same  force  is  ilkistrated  in  the  gyroscope,  which  is  a 
heavy  rim  of  metal  round  an  axis.  When  this  is  set  in  swift  rotation 
the  axis  will  remain  stationary  in  any  position,  provided  one  of  its  ends 
be  supported.  This  strange  property  which  a  revolving  body  possesses 
is  called  the  fixity  of  the  axis  of  rotation,  and  it  is  the  result  of  a  gen- 
eral law  that  when  matter  is  in  rotation  its  axis,  or  the  line  upon  which 
it  rotates,  remains  stationary.  So  the  axes  of  the  top,  of  the  veloci- 
pede, and  of  the  gyroscope,  all  remain  in  their  various  positions  in  defi- 
ance of  the  ordinary  law  of  gravitation,  in  this  instance  set  aside. 

This  is  a  great  law,  and  we  are  much  indebted  to  it ;  for  it  is  owing 
to  its  operation 
that  our  zones 
and  the  succes- 
sion of  our  sea- 
sons I'emain  un- 
changed. The 
earth  rotates  on 
her  axis,  and  be- 
cause of  that  ro- 
tation the  posi- 
tion of  her  axis 
is  fixed.  Were 
this  not  so,  the 
Esquimaux 
might  in  a  few 
hours  be  under 
a  burning  trop- 
ical sun,  and  the 
efforts  of  the 
people  in   India  the  bicycle. 

to  keep  themselves  cool  might  be  rendered  unnecessary'  by  suddenly 
finding  themselves  within  the  Arctic  Circle.  And  so  it  comes  to 
pass  that  the  earth's  motion  is  absolutely  necessary  to  her  stability. 

Among  the  many  appliances  of  steam,  around  which  so  many 
marvelous  inventions  cluster,  the  machinery  constructed  for  heavy  iron 
work  claims  our  attention.  The  steam-hammer  has  now  become  indis- 
pensable in  every  engineering  workshop,  and  its  introduction  marks  a 
new  period  in  the  history  of  mechanical  progress.  It  was  invented  by 
James  Watt  and  Deverell,  and  patented  nearly  half  a  century  ago  ; 
next,  Mr.  Nasmyth  designed  and  applied  the  self-acting  motion,  so  as 
to  complete  the  steam-hammer  in  its  present  compact  and  manageable 


704 


WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 


form.  In  this  extraordinary  implement  or  tool,  a  heavy  block  of  cast 
iron,  sometimes  five  tons  in  weight,  and  attached  to  the  lower  end  of 
a  piston-rod  working  in  an  inverted  cylinder,  is  lifted  by  admitting  the 
steam  beneath  the  piston,  and  then  allowed  to  fall  upon  the  Avork  by 
its  own  weight ;  by  a  little  management  it  may  also  be  made  to  slide 
up  and  down  without  striking  at  all.  The  heaviest  work  is  forged 
under  the  blow  of  this  ponderous  hammer,  which  acts  with  an 
energy  that  the 
strength  of  iron 
cannot  withstand ; 
yet  it  is  kept  in 
such  control  that  a 
nut-shell  may  be 
■cracked,  or  an  cgg- 
-shell  chipped,  as 
easily  as  iron  beams 
are  welded  or 
shaped.  By  means 
of  this  machine  a 
pile  can  be  driven 
into  the  ground  in 
four  minutes  that 
previously  required 
for  the  operation 
twelve  hours.  The 
saving  of  time  thus 
effected  is  as  one 
to  one  thousand 
eight  hundred ;  and 
it  is  impossible  to 
express  more  strik- 
ingly the  power  of 
this  wonderful  tool. 
Five  or  six  hun- 
dred blows  per 
minute  can  be  struck  if  required,  or  five  blows  every  second. 

In  the  air-hammer,  compressed  air  is  employed  as  the  moving  power 
in  the  place  of  steam.  The  machine  consists  of  a  force-pump,  supply- 
ing compressed  air  to  a  reservoir,  and  a  working  cylinder  and  piston 
similar  to  those  of  a  steam-hammer,  having  mechanism  for  varying  the 
action  of  the  hammer  as  required,  and  increasing  the  rapidity  of  the 
blows  eight  hundred  strokes  per  minute. 


THE   POWERFUL   STEAM    HAMMER. 


706  WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 

One  of  the  most  useful,  successful  and  wonderful  modern  inventions 
is  the  cotton  harvester.  It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  the  disabilities 
under  which  the  cotton-growers  of  the  South  sometimes  labor  in  gather- 
ing their  crops,  owing  to  the  uncertainty  of  negro  labor  and  the 
insufficiency  of  the  labor  supply,  are  likely  to  be  entirely  removed  by 
the  introduction  of  this  cotton  harvesting  machine. 

A  satisfactory  test  was  made  on  the  main  floor  of  the  New  York 
Cotton  Exchange,  in  the  presence  of  many  brokers  and  practical 
planters.  After  the  test  the  machine  remained  on  exhibition  in  the 
Exchange  building  for  one  week,  and  a  large  number  of  gentlemen, 
interested  in  plantations,  examined  it  closely  and  with  entire  satisfaction. 
Its  efficiency  had  previously  been  very  clearly  shown  at  private  tests 
made  at  the  factory,  when  as  high  as  76 1^  per  cent,  of  cotton,  on  dry 
and  withered  plants,  was  picked  off  without  breaking  a  stalk.  The 
operation  of  the  machine  is  as  follows  : 

Four  vertical  endless  belts  are  arranged  in  a  frame  supported  upon  two 
wheels  which  furnish  the  power  to  drive  the  mechanism.  These  belts 
move  horizontally  and  carry  rotary  picker  stems,  which  are  placed  per- 
pendicular to  the  face  of  the  belt  and  journaled  thereon.  Two  of  these 
belts  are  mounted  on  each  side  of  the  machine  and  are  driven  so  as  to 
carry  the  picker  stems  rearward  in  time  with  the  forward  movement  of 
the  machine  along  the  cotton  row.  The  row  of  plants  passes  between 
the  belts,  which  by  their  movements  carry  the  picker  stems  into  the 
plant  and  to  the  rear  at  the  same  time  the  picker  stems  are  rotated  and 
wind  the  cotton  upon  themselves.  After  being  filled  with  cotton  they 
are  withdrawn  from  the  plant  by  the  movement  of  the  belt  and  pass 
into  a  receiving  compartment,  where  the  direction  of  the  rotation  of 
the  picker  stems  is  rapidly  reversed  and  the  cotton  is  unwound  and 
drops  upon  a  carrier  belt  which  in  time  delivers  it  upon  the  elavator,  by 
which  it  is  deposited  in  a  bag  in  the  rear  of  the  machine. 

The  picker  stems  are  made  of  hard  wood,  having  pointed  brass  pins 
inserted  at  a  certain  distance  from  each  other  and  inclined  to  the  surface. 
These  pins  are  suitably  protected  so  as  to  avoid  injury  to  the  unripe 
cotton  and  stalks. 

The  machine  is  fitted  with  a  tongue  and  is  drawn  by  two  horses,  one 
on  each  side  of  the  row,  and  has  a  seat  on  top  for  the  driver,  from 
which  position  he  can  direct  the  operation  of  the  machine,  stopping  or 
starting  its  parts  instantly  by  suitable  levers  within  easy  reach.  Tho 
weight  of  the  machine  complete  is  about  900  pounds. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 
WONDERS  OF  ARCHITECTURE. 

The  Moquis  and  Their  Rude  Habitations — The  Mound  Builders— Aztecs  and  Zunis — 
"Dead  Town" — Solomon's  Gorgeous  Temple — A  Famous  Temple  in  India — A  Noted 
Church  in  New  York— The  Metropolitan  Post-Office — Grand  Public  Buildings  and 
Post-Office  in  Philadelphia — The  Imposing  Capitol  at  Washington — The  Roman 
Coliseum  and  Trajan's  Renowned  Column — Arches  of  Trajan  and  Napoleon — The 
rrr-^i^i  C\  Bridge  of  Sighs — Marvelous  Palace  of  the  Escurial — The  Golden 
<-' 0  «j!(J    _^Z^      Palace  of  Nero — Architectural  Grandeur  Spoiled  by  War. 

HE  singular  houses  to  be  seen  among  the  Moquis,  the 
half-civilized  tribe  of  Indians  in  Arizona,  lead  to  the 
well-founded  supposition  that  they  are  the  last  remnants 
of  the  pre-historic  races,  including  the  Aztecs  and  Zunis, 
which  formerly  dwelt  farther  south  in  Mexico  and  New 
Mexico,  and  are  known  in  common  phraseology  as  the 
Mound  Builders.  There  are  sure  traces  of  the  Aztecs 
and  Zunis.  The  former  preceded  the  coming  of  the 
Spaniards  while  the  latter  appear  to  be  closely  allied 
with  the  Indian  tribes,  and  were  predecessors  of  races  still  existing. 
The  Mound  Builders  had  a  marvelous  method  of  constructing  their 
edifices.  They  built  with  earth,  made  excavations  in  hills,  utilized 
eminences  where  they  could,  and  by  removing  and  banking  earth 
formed  habitations  which,  in  ruined  form,  remain  to  the  present  day, 
the  memorials  of  a  people  who  have  passed  from  existence  and  almost 
from  history.     The  Moquis  only  remain. 

The  three  Moqui  towns,  on  the  one  mesa  or  eminence,  are  situated 
in  the  centre  of  an  oval  plain,  some  twenty  by  thirty  miles  in  extent. 
It  appears  to  be  walled  in  by  precipitous  mountains,  with  five  or  six 
openings  ;  but  this  is  only  in  appearance,  as  a  succession  of  rigid  mesas, 
scattered  over  the  country,  appear  to  the  traveler  at  any  point  as  forming 
a  circle.  Around  the  border,  where  it  rises  toward  the  enclosing  hills, 
the  plain  is  rich  in  bunch  and  white-seed  grass  ;  whence  toward  the 
towns  it  falls  off  to  a  horribly  barren  plain  of  dry  and  burning  sand.  From 
this  plain  the  mesa  rises,  oval-shaped  and  equally  on  every  side,  to  the 
height  of  one  thousand  or  twelve  hundred  feet.  This  rocky  mole,  of 
mingled  white  and  red  sandstone,  with  a  lower  stratum  of  soapstone,  is 
nearly  half  a  mile  long,  and  not  quite  a  quarter  wide.  From  the  edge 
the  cliff  falls  off  perpendicularly,  or  even  with  a  slight  overhang,  some 

(707) 


708 


WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 


half  way  down  ;  then  the  foothills  begin  and  slope  away  in  a  succession 
of  sandy  inclines.  At  one  place  only,  by  rock-hewn  galleries  and  dug 
and  walled  ways,  can  horses  reach  the  summit.  In  two  other  places 
persons  can  descend  or  ascend  by  toilsome  climbing.  Up  one  of  these, 
leading  to  the  main  spring,  you  might  toil  for  an  hour.  The  Moqui 
women  ascend  it  in  fifteen  minutes,  with  heavy  water  jugs  slung  on 
their  heads,  springing  from  shelf  to  shelf  of  the  rock  with  amazing  agility. 
The  three  or  four  springs  which  supply  the  place  break  out  from 
under  the  rock  about  the  point  where  the  abrupt  cliff  joins  the  foot- 


CL  KUJLS    l)\VKl.LINc».-5    Ol'     TllK    ML)(JL  I     INDIANS. 

hills,  and  can  all  be  fortified  against  the  approach  of  an  enemy  from 
below.  All  the  provision  is  stored  as  fast  as  gathered  in  the  houses, 
and  thus  they  seem  always  ready  to  sustain  a  long  siege.  As  far  as 
possible  up  the  cliffs,  where  caves  open  inward,  flats  have  been  worked 
upon  the  rock,  and  sheep  and  goat  pens  constructed  leading  into  the 
caves.  As  you  stand  upon  the  cliff  soon  after  sunrise  you  can  look 
down  hundreds  of  feet  into  the  outer  portion  of  these  pens,  and  sec  the 
Moquis  milking  their  goats   in  what  seems  like  a  great  rocky  balcony 


WONDERS    OF    ARCHITECTURE.  709 

Standing  out  from  the  wall.  All  around  extends  the  yellow  plain,  and 
as  you  walk  upon  these  heights  in  the  bright  starlight,  it  seems  tossing 
and  hea\-ing  below  like  a  sea  of  molten  brass. 

Moqui,  a  common  name  given  by  whites  and  the  other  Indians,  is 
only  the  name  of  one  town  ;  but  there  are  seven  in  all.  The  first  three 
on  this  mesa  contain  altogether  about  a  thousand  inhabitants.  Their 
houses  are  generally  square,  and  of  first-rate  architectural  design.  They 
are  built  of  flat  stones  laid  in  a  fine  cement,  which  seems  to  harden 
with  time ;  the  joists  are  of  immense  timbers,  apparently  a  species  of 
sugar  pine,  hewn  round ;  they  are  plastered  heavily  inside,  and  white- 
washed with  a  material  which  gives  a  hard,  smooth  polish.  Thus  they 
are  easily  kept  clean,  and  always  have  a  neat,  inviting  appearance ; 
indeed,  there  is  very  little  dust  or  dirt  flying  about  on  the  mesa.  Sand 
storms  raised  below,  strike  against  the  cliff  some  distance  down. 
Houses  are  built  together  in  groups,  with  but  narrow  passages  between 
and  thus  neither  town  covers  more  than  four  or  five  acres.  They  are 
two  or  three  stories  in  height,  the  stories  each  very  high  except  the 
lowest.  That  is  seldom  used  in  summer,  and  not  being  more  than  four 
or  five  feet  high,  you  would  think  it  only  a  raised  platform  on  which 
the  main  house  stood,  until  they  show  you  square  holes  opening  into 
it,  and  the  interior  arranged  for  living.  On  this,  the  second  story,  two 
or  three  feet  narrower  all  around,  rises  ten  or  twelve  feet.  Upon  the 
joists  of  this  are  piled  willows,  or  other  long  branches  two  or  three  feet 
deep,  covered  with  dirt,  which  is  again  overlaid  ^^■ith  hard  plastering, 
smoothed  and  polished,  making  at  once  roof  for  the  second,  and  floor 
for  the  third  stories.  This  is  never  more  than  half  or  a  third  as  large 
as  the  second,  and  the  upper  walls  are  often  built  directly  across  the 
lower,  and  supported  entirely  by  the  immense  joists.  The  Moquis 
sleep  on  these  roofs  altogether,  ascending  by  ladders,  or  by  the  projec- 
tion of  stone  always  built  out  at  one  of  the  corners  so  as  to  form  a  rude 
staircase.  The  better  class  carpet  their  houses  with  sheep-skins,  and 
all  have  sheep-skins  to  sit  on,  though  the  floor  is  kept  scrupulously 
clean.  There  is  not  dampness  enough  to  produce  troublesome  mold, 
even  in  the  lowest  story,  and  only  one  noisome  insect,  the  presence  of 
which  is  at  once  betrayed  by  the  whitewash,  so  it  is  easily  guarded 
against. 

Onepart  of  this  settlement  is  known  as  the  "Dead  Town,"  receiving 
this  name  from  its  forlorn  and  deserted  appearance.  The  ruins  give  a 
very  good  idea  of  the  construction  of  the  buildings.  Few  timbers  are 
used,  and  the  stony,  solid,  earthy  character  of  the  dwellings  is  evident. 
The  windows  are  small,  and  are  often  so  placed  as  to  admit  very  little 
light.     From  the  buildings  in  "Dead  Town"  it  will  be  seen  that  no 


710 


WONDERS    OF   THE   WHOLE    WORJLD. 


regular  order  of  architecture  is  followed,  yet  these  dwellings  are  won- 
derful for  their  compactness,  strength  and  comfort. 

The  rude  constructions  of  the  Aztecs,  Zunis  and  Moquis  represent 
one  extreme  of  architecture.  It  is  "  of  the  earth  earthy."  No  simpler 
style  of  building  could  be  imagined.  If  we  wished  a  specimen  of  the 
opposite  extreme  of  architecture,  the  beautiful,  ornate  and  costly,  we 
would  find  it  in  the  most  renowned  religious  edifice  of  ancient  times, 
the  far-famed  temple  of  Solomon.  Nothing  could  be  farther  removed 
from  the  style  of  building  just  described. 


RUINS    OF    A    DESERTED    AZTEC    VILLAGE. 

The  teinple  occupied  one  of  the  three  eminences  on  which  the  city 
of  Jerusalem  was  built,  and  which  is  well  known  to  the  Scripture  reader 
as  Mount  Moriah.  Though  the  term  Moriah  was  afterwards  confined 
to  the  particular  hill  on  which  the  temple  was  built,  it  originally  com- 
prehended the  several  mountains  round  about  Jerusalem.  At  the  divi- 
sion of  Judea  among  the  twelve  tribes,  it  so  happened  that,  small  as  the 
space  on  the  top  of  Moriah  was,  it  became  the  propert)'  of  two  tribes ; 
for  the  greatest  part  of  the  temple  courts  was  in  the  portion  of  Judah ; 
and  the  altar,  porch,  holy  and  most  holy  places,  were  in  the  portion 


WONDERS   OF    ARCHITECTURE.  711 

of  Benjamin.  In  its  original  state,  the  summit  of  Moriah  was  unequal, 
and  its  sides  irregular ;  but  it  was  a  part  of  the  ambition  of  the  Jewish 
kings  to  have  it  levelled  and  extended.  Almost  the  whole  of  this 
space  was  arched  under  ground,  to  prevent  the  possibility  of  pollution 
from  secret  graves  ;  and  it  was  surrounded  by  a  wall  of  excellent  stone, 
forty-seven  feet  high  ;  without  which  lay  a  considerable  extent  of  flat 
and  gently-sloping  ground,  which  was  occupied  by  the  buildings  of  the 
tower  of  Antonia,  the  gardens  and  the  public  walks. 

The  plan  and  the  whole  model  of  this  structure  was  laid  by  the  same 
Divine  Architect  as  that  of  the  tabernacle,  and  it  was  built  much  in  the 
same  form  as  the  tabernacle,  only  of  much  larger  dimensions.  The 
utensils  for  the  sacred  service  were  also  the  same  as  those  used  in  the 
tabernacle,  only  several  of  them  were  larger  in  proportion  to  the  more 
spacious  edifice  to  which  they  belonged.  The  foundations  of  this  mag- 
nificent edifice  were  laid  by  Solomon,  in  the  year  of  the  world  2992; 
and  it  was  finished  A.  M.  3000,  having  occupied  seven  years  and  six 
months  in  the  building.  The  front  or  entrance  to  the  temple  was  on 
the  eastern  side,  and  consequently  facing  the  Mount  of  Olives,  which 
commanded  a  noble  prospect  of  the  building  ;  the  holy  of  holies,  there- 
fore, stood  towards  the  west.  The  temple  itself,  strictly  so  called, 
which  comprised  the  portico,  the  sanctuary  and  the  holy  of  holies, 
formed  only  a  small  part  of  the  sacred  edifice,  being  surrounded  by 
spacious  courts,  chambers  and  other  apartments,  much  more  extensive 
than  the  temple  itself 

The  court  of  the  Gentiles  was  one  into  which  persons  of  all  nations 
were  permitted  to  enter.  The  most  common  approach  to  this  was  by 
the  east  gate,  which  was  the  principal  gate  of  the  temple.  It  was  by 
far  the  largest  of  all  the  courts  pertaining  to  the  sacred  building,  and 
comprised  a  space  of  fourteen  English  acres.  We  must  not  overlook 
the  beautiful  pavement  of  variegated  marble,  and  the  piazzas  or  covered 
walks,  with  which  this  court  was  surrounded.  The  porch  called  Solo- 
mon's was  on  the  south  side  or  front  of  the  temple,  and  was  so  called 
because  it  was  built  by  this  prince  upon  a  high  wall. 

The  court  of  the  women,  called  in  Scripture  the  new  court,  and  the 
outer  court,  was  so  designated  by  the  Jews,  not  because  none  but 
women  were  permitted  to  enter  it,  but  because  it  was  their  appointed 
place  of  worship,  beyond  which  they  might  not  go;  unless  when  they 
brought  a  sacrifice,  in  which  case  they  went  forward  to  the  court  of 
Israel.  The  gate  which  led  into  this  court,  from  that  of  the  Gentiles, 
was  the  beautiful  gate  of  the  temple,  so  called  because  the  folding- 
doors,  lintel  and  side-posts  were  all  overlaid  with  Corinthian  brass. 
The  court  itself  had  four  gates,  one  on  each  side ;  and  on  three  of  its 


712  WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 

sides  were  piazzas  with  galleries  above  them,  whence  could  be  seen 
what  was  passing  in  the  great  court.  At  the  four  corners  of  the  court 
were  four  rooms  appropriated  to  different  purposes.  In  the  first,  the 
lepers  purified  themselves  after  they  were  healed ;  in  the  second,  the 
wood  for  the  sacrifices  was  laid  up ;  the  Nazarites  prepared  their  obla- 
tions and  shaved  their  heads  in  the  third ;  and  in  the  fourth,  the  wine 
and  oil  for  the  sacrifices  were  kept.  There  were  also  two  rooms  more, 
where  the  Levites'  musical  instruments  were  laid  up ;  and  also  thirteen 
treasure  chests,  two  of  which  were  for  the  half-shekel,  which  was  paid 
yearly  by  every  Israelite ;  and  the  rest  for  the  money  for  the  purchase 
of  sacrifices  and  other  oblations.  The  court  of  Israel  was  separated 
from  the  court  of  the  women  by  a  wall.  This  was  divided  into  two 
parts,  one  of  which  was  the  court  of  the  Israelites,  and  the  other  the 
court  of  the  priests.  The  former  was  a  kind  of  piazza  surrounding  the 
latter,  under  which  the  Israelites  stood  while  their  sacrifices  were  burn- 
ing in  the  court  of  the  priests.  It  had  thirteen  gates,  with  chambers 
above  them,  each  of  which  had  its  particular  name  and  use.  Within 
this  court  stood  the  brazen  altar  on  which  the  sacrifices  were  consumed, 
the  molten  sea  in  which  the  priests  washed  and  the  ten  brazen  lavcrs 
for  washing  the  sacrifices  ;  also  the  various  utensils  and  instruments  for 
sacrificing. 

A  building  of  great  splendor  was  that  of  Solomon,  in  which  both  the 
finest  taste  and  the  most  astonishing  wealth  were  represented,  but  the 
later  glory,  even  after  the  ravages  of  war,  was  fully  equal  to  the  former. 
Herod,  having  slain  all  the  Sanhedrim  exxept  two,  in  the  first  year  of 
his  reign,  resolved  to  atone  for  it  by  rebuilding  and  beautifying  the 
temple.  This  he  was  the  more  inclined  to  do,  both  from  the  peace 
which  he  enjoyed,  and  the  decayed  state  of  the  edifice.  For,  besides 
the  common  ravages  of  time,  it  had  suffered  considerably  by  the  hands 
of  enemies ;  since  that  part  of  Jerusalem  was  the  strongest,  and  con- 
sequently the  last  resort  of  the  inhabitants  in  times  of  extremity.  After 
employing  two  years  in  preparing  the  materials  for  the  work,  in  which 
one  thousand  wagons  and  ten  thousand  artificers  were  engaged,  besides 
one  thousand  priests  to  direct  the  works,  the  temple  was  pulled  down. 
Herod's  temple  was  fit  for  divine  service  in  nine  and  a  half  years;  but 
a  great  number  of  laborers  and  artificers  were  still  employed  in  carrying 
on  the  out-buildings  all  the  time  of  our  Savior's  abode  on  earth,  and 
even  till  the  appointment  of  Gessius  Florus  as  governor  of  Judca. 

The  vast  sums  which  Herod  laid  out  in  adorning  this  structure  gave 
it  the  most  magnificent  and  imposing  form.  Its  appearance,  say.= 
Josephus,  had  everything  that  could  strike  the  mind  and  astonish  the 
sight.     For  it  was  on  every  side  covered  with  solid  plates  of  gold,  so- 


714  WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 

that  when  the  sun  rose  upon  it,  it  reflected  such  a  strong  and  dazzhng 
effulgence,  that  the  eye  of  the  beholder  was  obliged  to  turn  away  from 
it,  being  no  more  able  to  sustain  its  radiance  than  the  splendor  of  the 
sun.  To  strangers  who  approached  the  capital,  it  appeared  at  a  distance 
like  a  huge  mountain  covered  with  snow  ;  for  where  it  was  not  decorated 
with  plates  of  gold,  it  was  extremely  white  and  glistening.  The  histor- 
ian, indeed,  says  that  the  temple  of  Herod  was  the  most  astonishing 
structure  he  had  ever  seen  or  heard  of,  as  well  on  account  of  its  archi- 
tecture as  its  magnitude,  and  likewise  the  richness  and  magnificence  of 
its  various  parts,  and  the  fame  and  reputation  of  its  sacred  appurtenances. 
And  Tacitus  calls  it  a  temple  of  immense  opulence.  Its  external  glory, 
indeed,  consisted  not  only  in  the  opulence  and  magnificence  of  the 
building,  but  also  in  the  rich  gifts  with  which  it  was  adorned,  and  which 
excited  the  admiration  of  those  who  beheld  them. 

It  has  always  been  a  custom  with  eastern  countries  to  pay  special 
attention  to  their  sacred  edifices.  The  amount  of  ornamentation  is,  in 
many  instances,  surprising,  consisting  in  large  part  of  carv^ed  work,  an 
art  in  which  the  natives  of  the  East  have  always  excelled.  Some  of 
the  temples  of  India  are  marvels  of  architectural  beauty  and  decoration. 
The  pagoda  of  Chillenbaum  is  one  of  the  most  celebrated,  a  structure 
that  appears  to  rise  in  terraces,  and  exhibiting  every  variety  of  orna- 
ment. The  bas-relief  is  largely  allegorical,  and  intended  to  convey 
ideas  and  lessons  associated  with  the  worship  of  Pagod,  the  great 
Indian  idol. 

The  architecture  of  the  Assyrians  was  of  a  very  high  order 
Although  stone  was  plentiful  in  eastern  Assyria,  brick  was  preferred 
in  the  construction  of  their  edifices.  Their  most  magnificent  buildings 
were  their  royal  palaces.  Less  religious  than  the  Egyjitians  and 
Greeks,  they  showed  more  attention  to  the  king  than  to  the  gods,  and 
their  temples  were  insignificant  compared  with  the  royal  residences. 
The  most  complete  of  the  Assyrian  palaces  that  has  yet  been  uncovered 
is  that  of  Sargon,  at  Khorsabad.  It  exhibits  the  architecture  of  this 
nation,  and  also  its  decorative  art  and  sculpture,  in  their  highest  forms. 
The  palace  proper  consisted  of  a  series  of  buildings  ranged  around 
immense  courts.  The  main  building,  occupied  by  the  king,  stood  at 
the  bottom  of  the  principal  court,  and  possessed  a  perfectly  regular 
fagade,  with  a  magnificently  ornamented  gatewa>'  in  rhe  centre.  In 
the  interior  arrangements  of  the  building  there  was  neither  regularity 
nor  symmetry. 

This  building  was  most  lavishly  ornamented ;  it  comprised  six 
immense  halls,  decorated  with  sculpture,  and  some  other  smaller  rooms. 
It  was,  we  may  almost  say,  a  second  palace  grafted  on  to  the  first — a 


WONDERS    OF    ARCHITECTURE. 


715 


second  selamlik,  rivaling  in  splendor  that  of  the  seragho.  The  pas- 
sage opening  into  the  southeast  side  of  the  reception  hall  of  the 
seraglio  led  to  the  lower  platform,  and  to  the  offices.  The  lower  plat- 
form  of  the   artificial  hill    built   up  for  the    palace    of   Sargon   was 


THE    REMARKABLE    PAGODA    OF    CHILLENBAUM INDIA. 

occupied  by  the  khan  and  the  harem.  This  portion  of  the  edifice 
looked  towards  the  city,  and  communicated  directly  with  it.  In  the 
midst  was  the  khan,  properly  so  called  ;  that  is,  an  immense  square 
court,    surrounded  on    all    sides     by  buildings,   stables,  lodgings   for 


716 


WONDERS    OF    ARCHITECTURE.  717 

grftoms,  and  for  the  greater  number  of  slaves.  It  was  approached 
from  the  city  by  two  enormous  flights  of  steps  in  the  middle  of  the 
southeast  face  of  the  terrace.  An  elaborately  decorated  passage  led 
from  this  court  of  the  khan  into  the  reception  hall  of  the  seraglio ; 
two  small  doors  also  gave  direct  communication  with  the  inhabited 
rooms  of  the  palace.  To  the  right  of  the  immense  court  we  have 
just  mentioned,  the  khan,  was  a  building  of  some  extent,  with  many 
C(^urts  and  numerous  chambers,  forming  part  of  the  offices  or  common 
rooms  of  the  palace.  This  was  the  khazneh,  or  treasury ;  for  there 
were  the  stores  of  provisions  and  utensils  for  the  use  of  the  royal 
household,  as  well  as  places  of  custody  for  all  the  valuables  that  Sargon, 
in  his  dedicatory  inscription,  tells  us  he  had  acquired  by  force  of  arms 
and  stored  in  his  palace. 

The  harem  was  adjoining  the  khazneh.  It  was  a  building  of 
moderate  extent,  containing  three  courts,  the  walls  of  one  of  them 
covered  with  the  richest  decorations  in  enamelled  bricks ;  many  long 
galleries,  intended  no  doubt  for  feasts  or  festivals ;  and  lastly  a  large 
number  of  rooms  for  habitation.  This  harem  was  shut  in  as  closely 
as  possible ;  all  communication  with  the  outer  world  was  intercepted, 
and  the  women  must  have  found  themselves  in  a  real  prison.  One 
single  vestibule,  guarded  by  eunuchs,  gave  access  to  it;  this  had  two 
issues  ;  one  communicating  with  the  great  court  of  the  offices,  was  the 
entry  by  which  people  came  in  from  the  outside  ;  the  other  opening 
on  a  long,  narrow  court  leading  to  the  inhabited  apartments  of  the 
seraglio  ;  through  this  the  king  had  access  to  his  harem  without  being 
seen  by  the  public.  Behind  the  harem  was  an  enormous  tower,  or 
pyramid  in  seven  stages,  nearly  fifty  yards  high.  The  seven  stages, 
equal  in  height,  and  each  one  smaller  in  area  than  the  one  beneath  it, 
were  covered  with  stucco  of  different  colors,  and  thus  presented  to 
view  the  colors  consecrated  to  the  seven  heavenly  bodies,  the  least 
important  being  at  the  base. 

Turning  now  to  remarkable  structures  in  our  own  country,  we  have  a 
building  whose  architectual  proportions  give  one  a  good  idea  of  those 
great  business  edifices  which,  within  a  few  years,  have  been  multiply- 
ing rapidly  in  all  the  great  commercial  centers  of  our  land.  In  the 
lower  part  of  the  Cit>'  Hall  Park  stands  the  New  York  post  office,  one 
of  the  finest  buildings  on  the  continent.  The  corner-stone  was  laid  in 
June,  1869,  and  the  building  cost  upwards  of  four  million  dollars.  The 
exterior  walls  are  built  of  granite,  and  the  greatest  side-length  is  three 
hundred  feet.  The  trenches  in  which  the  retaining  walls  and  pier 
foundations  were  to  be  laid  had  to  be  completely  incased  in  sheet-piling, 
shored  across  with  timbers,  under  the  protection  of  which  the  excava- 


718  WONDERS    OF    THE    WHOLE   WORLD. 

tion  was  carried  on  and  the  masonry  laid.  The  excavation  was  done 
mostly  at  night,  the  ground  being  illuminated  by  magnesium  light. 
The  outer  walls,  and  those  of  the  court,  and  the  foundations  of  the  in- 
terior columns  are  based  on  huge  granite  blocks,  the  granite  being  laid 
on  massive  beds  of  concrete.  One  hundred  and  fifty-nine  iron  columns 
in  the  basement,  and  one  hundred  and  seventeen  in  the  first  story,  sup- 
port the  walls  and  floors.  The  piers  of  the  cellar  are  of  granite,  or 
arcaded  brick  and  iron;  the  stairs  are  of  stone  and  iron  ;  the  chimneys, 
of  stone ;  the  roof  and  its  ornaments,  of  iron,  covered  with  slate  and 
copper.  Four  large  low-pressure  boilers  supply  the  steam  for  heating 
the  entire  building.  The  roofs  of  the  corner  pavilions  rise  one  hun- 
dred and  seven  feet  above  the  sidewalk.  The  entire  circuit  of  the 
building  is  over  one-fifth  of  a  mile. 

The  style  of  architecture  is  the  classical  Italian  Renaissance,  with 
some  modifications  to  harmonize  with  the  treatment  of  the  roofs,  which 
are  French,  as  best  suited  to  such  architecture  on  a  large  scale.  The 
mansard  roof  is  covered  with  an  ironclad  cornice  and  metallic  cresting. 
The  irregular  angles  imposed  by  the  shape  of  the  lot  are  marked  by 
semi-hexagonal  pavilions.  The  main  building  line  is  withdrawn  from 
the  lower,  or  southerly  front,  to  extend  the  facade  on  that  side.  The 
roof,  square-domed,  rests  on  three  arms  of  a  Greek  cross,  out  of  the 
centre  of  which  rises  a  heavily  buttressed  cupola,  carrying  projecting 
pediments,  with  detached  columns  on  its  four  faces.  The  foot  of  the 
flagstaff,  which  surmounts  the  cupola,  is  one  hundred  and  sixty  feet 
above  the  sidewalk. 

The  centre  of  the  largest  and  northerly  front  is  relieved  by  a  broad 
pavilion  with  a  two-story  colonnade,  roofed  with  a  dome,  the  balu- 
strade of  which  is  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  above  the  sidewalk.  The 
dome  is  lighted  by  a  range  of  round  windows,  and  surmounted  by  an 
attic,  ornamented  by  a  sculptured  pediment  and  a  crown  with  the 
national  arms.  The  form  of  the  building  is,  substantially,  a  trapezoid, 
with  an  open  triangular  court  in  the  centre,  below  the  main  story;  it 
includes  a  sub-basement,  basement,  three  stories  in  the  walls,  and  a 
roof  story.  A  drive-way,  or  street,  forty  feet  in  width,  reserved  from 
the  northerly  side  of  the  ground  purchased  by  the  Government,  serves 
as  an  approach  to  that  front,  and  secures  the  perfect  isolation  of  the 
building,  with  perpetual  access  of  light  and  air  on  that  side,  as  well  as 
on  the  other  side,  whatever  changes  may  hereafter  be  made  in  the  ad- 
joining ground.  The  first  story  occupies  the  entire  space  of  the  build- 
ing, including  the  central  court,  which  is  here  roofed  with  glass  ;  the 
walls  of  which,  with  all  the  interior  partitions  of  the  stories  above,  are, 
in  this  story  and  the  basement,  carried  on  columns,  leaving  the  whole 


720  WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 

area  of  the  Post-office  roof  open  to  light  and  free  use  and  communi- 
cation. 

Equally  famous  as  a  public  building  is  the  new  Post-office  in  Phila- 
delphia, which  for  its  immense  size,  its  solid  proportions,  its  convenient 
arrangement,  and  finished  workmanship,  has  been  the  wonder  and  ad- 
miration of  all  who  have  seen  it.  It  extends  the  entire  length  of  the 
square  bounded  by  Chestnut  street  on  one  side,  and  by  Market  street 
on  the  other.  It  is  four  stories  in  height,  not  including  the  mansard 
roof,  is  surmounted  by  an  imposing  dome  and  cupola,  while  below  there 
are  spacious  pavements  on  three  sides.  The  material  is  granite,  and  no 
pains  were  spared  in  the  choice  and  arrangement  of  the  materials.  The 
great  length  of  the  building  is  one  of  the  things  that  impress  the  visi- 
tor. Ample  accomodations  for  light  are  secured,  and  the  interior  offi- 
ces and  conveniences  for  receiving  and  shipping  the  mails  are  all  that 
could  be  desired.  It  is  one  of  the  costliest  buildings  on  the  continent, 
and  adds  another  to  those  stately  edifices  which,  at  vast  expense,  the 
Government  has  been  rearing  during  the  last  few  years,  and  which  are 
rendering  our  country  celebrated  for  its  proficiency  in  the  best  and 
most  approved  styles  of  architecture. 

A  short  distance  from  the  Post-office  may  be  seen  the  Public  Build- 
ings, erected  by  the  city  of  Philadelphia,  and  in  many  respects  the 
most  wonderful  structure  this  side  the  Atlantic.  For  area,  thickness 
and  solidity  of  walls,  height  and  architectual  magnificence,  it  stands  with- 
out a  rival.  The  material  is  marble,  and  the  ornamental  carvings  and 
statues  add  greatly  to  the  general  effect. 

The  first  stone  of  the  foundation  was  laid  on  the  twelfth  of  August, 
1872.  The  material  in  the  tower  weighs  sixty  thousand  tons.  From 
the  street  to  the  top  of  William  Penn's  broad-brimmed  bronze  hat  will 
be  a  distance  of  five  hundred  and  thirty-seven  feet  four  and  one-half 
inches.  The  foundation  walls  are  fifteen  feet  high  to  the  surface  of  the 
ground  and  twenty-six  feet  thick.  Underneath  these  walls  concrete, 
eight  feet  six  inches  thick,  is  laid  on  the  gravel  bottom.  The  walls  of 
the  tower  at  the  base  or  ground  surface,  are  twenty-one  feet  thick  on 
the  south  side,  and  twenty-three  feet  thick  on  the  north.  The  east  and 
west  walls  are  twenty-nine  feet  thick  over  all.  The  walls  of  the  ground 
floor  or  first  story  arc  twenty-one  feet  thick.  At  the  level  of  the  roofs 
of  the  buildings  the  tower  is  seventy-one  feet  square,  and  the  walls  are 
fourteen  feet  six  inches  thick  and  remain  the  same  thickness  to  a  height 
of  one  hundred  and  ninety  feet  above  the  street.  From  a  point  one 
hundred  and  ninety  feet  high,  almost  to  the  beginning  of  the  iron  work, 
the  walls  are  nearly  fourteen  feet  thick.  The  marble  blocks  run  from 
three  to  four  feet  in  thickness,  and  are  fastened  to  the  inner  brick  walls 


i 


46 


721 


722 


WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 


with  galvanized  clamps.  Flues,  a  foot  square,  two  at  each  corner  of 
the  tower,  run  down  through  the  brick  work,  and  great  iron  posts  pass 
through  them  to  a  depth  of  about  one  hundred  feet,  to  anchor  the  iron 
clock  tower  and  the  dome. 

The  bronze  statue  of  William  Penn,  which  forms  the  pinnacle  of 
the  dome,  measures  thirty-six  feet  from  the  feet  to  the  hat.  Each  foot 
is  four  feet  and  eight  inches  long.  Penn's  bronze  waist  measures  one 
hundred  and  forty-four  inches.  The  bronze  hat  is  as  large  as  the  cover 
of  a  buggy,  and  a  finger  of  one  of  the  bronze  hands,  almost  as  large  as 
a  man's  arm.  At  the  four  corners  of  the  clock  tower,  just  at  the  base 
of  the  dome,  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  below  Penn's  statue,  are  four 


THE    MAGNIFICENT    NEW    CITY    HALL   BUILDING PHILADELPHIA. 

groups,  in  bronze,  one  at  either  corner — an  Indian  and  his  dog,  a  squaw 
and  her  boy,  a  Swedish  settler  and  his  boy  and  a  Swedish  woman 
peasant  and  a  lamb.  Each  one  of  these  groups  measures  twenty-four 
feet  in  height.     These  four  groups  weighs  thirty-nine  tons. 

Two  big  elevators  carry  visitors  from  the  ground  floor  of  the  tower 
to  the  visitors'  observatory.  There  are  four  large  open  spaces,  eight 
feet  wide,  leading  out  on  to  broad  balconies  at  the  bottom  of  the  clock 
story.  The  observatories  are  two  hundred  and  ninety-three  feet  above 
the  street  level.  The  observation  room  leading  out  on  to  the  balconies 
is  thirty-nine  feet  in  diameter  in  octagonal  form  and  the  ceiling  of  the 
room  is  thirty-five  feet  high.     The  room  accomodates  about  one  hun- 


1 


WONDERS   OF    ARCHITECTURE.  72o 

dred  persons  comfortably,  and  about  fifty  persons  are  able  to  stand  on 
the  balconies  at  one  time. 

Among  the  wonders  of  architecture  must  be  mentioned  our  Capitol 
at  Washington,  whose  great  white  dome  is,  from  all  directions,  the  first 
object  in  the  city  to  attract  the  eye.  Its  general  plan  is  that  of  a  cen- 
tral building,  surmounted  by  a  dome,  and  flanked  by  two  wings.  Its 
entire  length,  from  north  to  south,  is  seven  hundred  and  fifty-one  feet, 
with  a  breadth  of  from  one  hundred  and  twenty-one  to  three  hundred 
and  twenty-four  feet  in  its  different  portions.  The  building  covers 
nearly  three  and  a  half  acres.  The  total  cost  of  the  building  has  been 
about  thirteen  million  dollars.  The  height  of  the  wings  is  seventy  feet, 
while  that  of  the  dome,  from  the  ground  to  the  Goddess  of  Liberty 
upon  the  summit,  is  two  hundred  and  eighty-five  and  a  half  feet.  The 
material  of  the  main  building  is  freestone ;  that  of  the  wings  is  white 
marble,  while  the  dome  is  of  iron.  The  rotunda,  occupying  the  central 
portion  of  the  main  building,  is  one  of  the  principal  attractions  of  the 
Capitol.  It  is  a  circular  hall,  ninety-six  feet  in  diameter,  by  one  hun- 
dren  and  eighty  feet  in  height  to  the  top  of  the  canopy  above.  On 
this  spherical  concave  is  painted  a  mammoth  fresco  by  Brumidi, 
representing  allegorical  and  historical  subjects.  The  panels  which 
surround  the  rotunda,  nearly  on  a  level  with  the  spectator,  are  adorned 
with  historical  paintings. 

The  Senate  chamber  occupies  most  of  the  north  w^ng,  and  accom- 
modates seventy-six  senators,  while  the  galleries  have  a  seating  capacity 
for  a  thousand  spectators.  This  room  is  without  artistic  decorations, 
with  the  exception  of  the  glass  panels  of  the  ceiling,  which  have 
symbolic  designs.  On  either  side  of  the  Senate  chamber  are  the  Senate 
committee  rooms,  most  of  which  are  richly  frescoed.  Other  rooms  in 
this  wing  are  richly  finished  in  Italian  and  Tennessee  marbles.  The 
staircases,  also,  are  of  white  and  Tennessee  marble.  The  south  wing  is 
occupied  by  the  Hall  of  Representatives  and  the  numerous  committee 
rooms.  The  hall  is  the  largest  legislative  room  in  the  world,  being  one 
hundred  and  thirty-nine  by  ninety-three  feet,  affording  space  for  three 
huntlrcd  members,  while  the  galleries  will  seat  one  thousand  five 
hundred  spectators.  The  Library  of  Congress  occupies  the  western 
projection  of  the  central  building.  The  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States  has  its  room  in  the  central  building  also.  The  interior  of  the 
Capitol  is  finished  throughout  in  marbles,  with  floors  of  stone  or  tiles. 
The  walls  and  ceilings  are  beautifully  frescoed.  It  contains  very  many 
works  of  art,  statuary,  paintings,  and  symbolic  frescoes. 

Among  the  many  stupendous  architectural  works  of  antiquity  which 
surprise  us  by  their  extent,  their  beauty,  and  the  wonderful  difficulty 


WONDERS    OF    ARCHITECTURE. 


725 


of  their  construction,  the  Roman  CoHseum  stands  out  pre-eminent.  Its 
ruins  refuse  to  perish,  and  there  they  stand  in  colossal  majesty,  the 
astonishment  of  all  beholders.  As  will  be  seen  by  the  annexed  drawing, 
the  Coliseum  was  an  amphitheatre,  of  which  the  external  walls  consisted 
of  four  tiers  of  arcades,  adorned  with  columns  of  the  Doric,  Ionian, 
Corinthian,  and  Composite  orders.  The  internal  circumference  was 
one  thousand  si.x  hundred  feet,  and  the  accommodation  provided  seats 
for  over  eighty  thousand  people.  On  fair  authority  it  is  stated  that  the 
Emperor  Vespasian  caused  this  theatre  to  be  built,  occupying  thirty 
thousand  captive  Jews  in  the  erection  of  it.  It  does  not  seem,  how- 
ever, to  have  been  completed  in  V^espasian's  reign.  Titus,  the  destroyer 
of  Jerusalem,  was  he  who  had  the  gratification  of  opening  it  for  Roman 
sports ;  and  it  is  said  that   on  the  opening  day  he  caused  over   five 


THE    RUINS    OF    THE    COLISEUM    AT    ROME. 

thousand  wild  beasts  to  be  introduced  into  the  arena,  and  compelled 
captive  Christians  to  fight  with  them.  Vast  cells,  or  rather  ranges  of 
cells,  were  constructed  under  the  spectators'  galleries,  for  the  reception 
of  the  wild  beasts,  panthers,  leopards,  and  lions,  which  were  the  com- 
batants in  these  cruel  pastimes.  There  were  also  gigantic  reservoirs 
of  water  containing  such  supplies,  that  when  occasion  required,  the 
floor  of  the  Coliseum  could  be  flooded  from  them  to  the  depth  of 
several  feet ;  and  on  the  opening  day,  after  the  Christians  and  the  beasts 
had  afforded  pleasure  to  Rome,  the  entire  floor  was  covered  with  a 
sheet  of  water  upon  which  two  mimic  squadrons  performed  their  evolu- 
tions, and  went  through  the  performance  of  a  sham  naval  engagement. 
For  many  years  the  Coliseum  was  the  one  great  public  recreation- 
place  in  Rome.     Successive  emperors  exerted  themselves  to  maintain 


726  WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 

it  in  all  its  original  splendor,  and  enormous  were  the  sums  of  money 
annually  expended  upon  repairs,  and  in  keeping  up  the  performances. 
When  the  Goths  sacked  Rome  they  spared  the  amphitheatre,  and  until 
the  removal  of  the  seat  of  imperial  government  to  Constantinople,  the 
■Coliseum  was  preserved  in  all  its  integrity.  After  that  event  the 
purposes  for  which  the  Coliseum  were  built  were  no  longer  desirable — 
Christian  bishops  ruled  where  pagan  emperors  had  dictated,  and  the 
ecclesiastical  government  was  averse  to  all  plays,  games,  and  spectacles 
except  where  it  chose  specially  to  have  them.  The  Coliseum's  occu- 
pation was  gone,  and  its-  great  bulk,  and  the  great  store  of  stone 
contained  in  it,  proved  obnoxious  to  the  desires  of  certain  dignitaries, 
who,  being  without  palaces,  thought  the  Coliseum  might  worthily  be 
utilized  in  furnishing  the  material  for  building  them.  So  the  Coliseum 
served  in  lieu  of  a  quarry  till  something  like  half  of  the  Coliseum  was 
swept  away,  what  remained  being  spared  not  so  much  on  aesthetic 
grounds  as  because  of  the  hugeness  of  the  blocks,  which  resisted  all 
the  efforts  of  the  indolent  Italians  to  move  them.  On  the  floor  where 
Corcyrian  and  Corinthian  fleets  had  manoeuvred,  great  quantities  of 
debris  were  piled  up,  so  that  in  course  of  years  the  interior  was  choked 
with  rubbish  above  the  lower  galleries  on  which  enthusiastic  spectators 
had  sat  and  applauded. 

When  Pope  Pius  VII.  was  dethroned  and  taken  prisoner  by  Napoleon 
I,,  the  Coliseum,  in  common  with  many  other  Roman  buildings,  was 
cleaned  and  cleared.  The  channels  which  conducted  the  water  for  the 
aquatic  exhibitions,  the  iron  gates  which  were  opened  to  admit  the  wild 
beasts  to  the  arena,  and  the  bronze  rings  to  which  the  Christian 
martyrs  were  chained,  were  brought  to  light.  It  is  not  possible  to  .say 
how  far  the  French  emperor  would  have  gone  on  the  road  of  restoration 
had  he  continued  to  direct  the  fortunes  of  Italy.  He  dug  out  old  Rome 
during  the  short  time  his  engineers  were  in  the  city,  and  disclosed  in 
all  their  beauty  and  reality  some  of  the  most  splendid  monuments  of 
the  pa.st.  But  as  soon  as  the  churchmen  got  back,  they  undid  no 
small  portion  of  the  great  emperor's  work,  actually  refilling  a  large 
part  of  the  interior  of  the  Coliseum  in  order  to  render  certain  chapels 
in  and  about  it  more  accessible.  The  splendid  ruins  themselves  remain 
as  Napoleon  left  them  ;  and  it  is  possible  they  may  outlive  the  eccle- 
siastical dominion  which  has  despoiled  them,  as  they  have  outlived 
the  imperial  dominion  which  caused  their  origin. 

Classical  architecture  has  another  remarkable  structure.  The  column 
of  Trajan,  erected  by  that  emperor  as  a  decoration  to  his  great  Forum, 
is  the  finest  in  the  world,  and  is  one  of  the  most  perfect  works  of  ancient 
art  that  time  has  spared,  it  being,  with  few  exceptions,  in  a  high  state 


WONDERS    OF   ARCHITECTURE. 


727 


of  preservation.  The  spot  which  it  occupies  was  originally  cut  out  of 
a  spur  or  offshoot  of  the  Quirinal  Hill,  down  to  the  level  of  the  rest  of 
the  Forum,  and  the  height  of  the  column  is  exactly  the  same  as  that 
portion  of  the  hill  which  was  removed,  as  stated  in  the  Latin  inscription 
on  the  pedestal 
From  this  in- 
scription we 
learn  that  the 
monument  was 
erected  by  the 
Senate  and  peo- 
ple of  Rome, 
not  only  to 
commemorate 
the  victories  of 
Trajan  over  the 
Dacians,  but  al- 
so as  a  memori- 
al of  the  height 
of  the  hill  which 
it  was  necessary 
to  cut  away  in 
order  to  make 
room  f o  r  the 
noble  structures 
which  adorned  | 
the  Forum 
This  height  is 
one  hundred 
and  twenty- 
eight  modern 
feet,  exclusi\c 
of  the  bronze 
statute  of  St 
Peter,  eleven  or 
twelve  feet  high, 
on  its  summit, 
w  h  i  c  h      was         '^'^^^  low  er  tiers  of  trajan's  pillar — rome. 

placed  there  by  Pope  Sixtus  V..  in  the  latter  part  of  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury, instead  of  the  statue  of  bronze  gilt  which  had  formerly  occupied 
the  top,  but  which  had  long  previously  disappeared.  The  entire  shaft 
of  the  column  is  composed  of  twenty-three  blocks  of  Grecian  marble, 


728 


WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 


SO  curiously  cemented  as  to  seem  but  one.  The  base  and  the  pedestal 
have  nine  blocks,  the  capital  one  and  the  basement  of  the  statue  one, — 
making  thirty-four  blocks  of  marble  in  all.  The  ascent  is  by  a  winding 
staircase  of  one  hundred  and  eighty-five  solid  steps  of  Parian  marble^ 
lighted  by  loopholes. 

The  column  is  admirable  both  for  its  proportions  and  for  the  design 
and  execution  of  the  bas-reliefs  and  ornaments,  which  completely  cover 


THE    HISTORIC    ARCH    OF    TRAJAN — ROME. 

it.  The  bas-reliefs  ascend  in  a  spiral  band,  so  as  not  to  destroy  the  line 
of  the  shaft  by  their  projection.  The  whole  pillar  is  encased  with  sculp- 
tures, representing  the  exploits  of  Trajan  and  his  arm}',  particularly  his 
triumph  over  Uacia  after  fifteen  years'  war.  These  sculptures  represent 
pictorially  the  progress  of  Trajan's  campaign,  and  are  full  of  details 
connected  with  the  mode  in  which  the  Romans  were  wont  to  carry  on 
war ;  while  the  representations  of  the  armor  and  habits  of  the  Romans 
in  the  field  of  battle  are  most  valuable  to  the  classical  student.     The 


WONDERS    OF    ARCHITECTURE.  729 

campaign  is  depicted  from  its  very  opening.  The  first  view,  at  the 
bottom  of  the  column,  shows  the  Roman  soldiers  shipping  their  stores ; 
others  exhibit  the  army  in  the  work  of  building  camps  ;  the  emperor 
sacrificing  for  the  favor  of  Jupiter  and  exhorting  his  cohorts ;  the  Ro- 
man soldiers  in  conflict  with  the  Dacians,  with  the  various  means  then 
employed  of  defence  and  attack.  The  thorough  manner  in  which  the 
Romans  appear  to  have  built  their  stone  camps,  and  the  care  with 
which  they  constructed  roads  to  assist  their  warlike  operations,  are 
strikingly  shown.  The  number  of  human  figures,  exclusive  of  other 
objects,  such  as  horses, 'arms  and  chariots,  represented  on  the  shaft,  is 
nearly  three  thousand.  Each  of  the  figures  is  on  an  average  two  feet 
high.  The  pedestal  is  decorated  with  crowns  of  victory,  garlands  and 
other  insignia  of  triumph. 

On  this  pillar,  says  Gibbon,  the  veteran  soldier  contemplated  the 
story  of  his  own  campaigns,  and  by  an  easy  illusion  of  national  vanity, 
the  peaceful  citizen  associated  himself  with  the  honors  of  the  triumph. 
The  column  was  made  by  the  Emperor  Hadrian  a  place  of  sepulture 
for  the  ashes  of  Trajan,  which,  according  to  a  tradition  immortalized  by 
Byron,  were  supposed  to  have  been  contained  in  the  head  of  a  spear, 
or,  according  to  another  version,  in  a  globe  which  the  statue  of  Trajan, 
placed  on  the  summit  of  the  column,  bore  in  its  hand.  The  general 
effect  of  the  column,  as  it  stood  originally  in  the  centre  of  Trajan's 
Forum,  surrounded  by  colonnades,  must  have  been  equally  grand  and 
picturesque. 

The  Arch  of  Trajan  is  also  a  conspicuous  object  among  the  ruins  of 
the  "  Eternal  City."  It  is  somewhat  worn  by  time,  but  is  still  grand 
and  impressive.  It  commemorates  the  virtues  and  exploits  of  the  em- 
peror whose  name  it  bears,  and  its  sculptured  designs  are  so  many 
chapters  of  Roman  history,  cut  in  enduring  marble.  The  foundations 
of  the  arch  are  very  massive  and  are  intended  to  support  a  structure 
that  shall  be  permanent.  The  corner  columns,  the  ^  spacious  archway 
and  historical  inscriptions  are  among  the  most  noticeable  features  of 
this  ancient  monument. 

The  Arch  of  Triumph,  begun  by  the  first  Napoleon  to  celebrate  his 
victories  and  those  of  the  grand  army,  is  the  finest  extant  structure  of 
its  kind.  It  stands  in  Paris,  at  the  top  of  the  world-renowned  avenue, 
the  Champs  Elysees.  A  striking  harmony  is  visible  in  its  proportions, 
trom  a  base  of  one  hundred  and  forty-seven  feet,  by  seventy-five,  it 
rises  to  a  height  of  one  hundred  and  sixty-two  feet.  The  central  arch- 
way is  ninety-five  feet  in  height.  The  inner  walls  are  inscribed  with  the 
names  of  ninety -six  victories  and  nearly  four  hundred  generals.  It  has 
sculptured    decorations    of    colossal    figures   representing  war  scenes. 


730 


WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 


Through  this  open  archway  the  Emperor  WiUiam  and  his  retinue 
passed  after  the  Prussian  victory  at  Sedan.  Napoleon  conceived  the 
idea  of  erecting  this  triumphal  monument  for  his  personal  glory  and 
that  of  his  army,  but  what  he  began  was  finished  at  a  later  period  by 
Louis  Phillippe,  and  at  this  time  the  completed  structure  is  one  of  the 
finest  monuments  in  Paris. 

Passing  now  to  the  beautiful  city  of  Venice,  the  traveler  is  impressed 
with  the  number  of  objects  which  present  features  of  a  very  interesting 
character.     Among  these  is  the  celebrated  Bridge  of  Sighs,  crossing 

one  of  the  numerous 

^^^  canals  in  which   that 

^^^^  jJM  city    abounds,    and 

^^^-'^^'•'"^'^^^^^^Bili^^^^M  connecting  the  grand 

Ducal  Palace  with 
the  gloomy  old  pris- 
on. The  palace  and 
^  prison  face  each 
other,  and  no  con- 
^^  trast  between  two 
buildings  could  be 
more  marked.  One 
^^  is  costly,  richly  orna- 
mented, and  abund- 
antly furnished  for  a 
home  of  luxury  ;  the 
other  is  dark  and 
forbidding,  and  pos- 
sesses all  the  char- 
acteristics of  a  peni- 
tentiary. The  bridge 
which  connects  the 
buildings  has  long 
THE  ARCH  OF  TRIUMPHS — PARIS.  been    Called    the 

Bridge  of  Sighs,  for  when  a  criminal  has  once  crossed  it  to  his  dismal 
dungeon  he  is  apt  to  leave  the  world  behind  him,  and  no  fate  could  be 
more  unhappy  than  that  to  which  he  is  consigned.  There  the  punish- 
ment is  so  severe  that  it  is  nothing  unusual  for  criminals  to  lose  their 
reason  and  die  a  lingering  death.  The  narrow  cells,  the  close  confine- 
ment, the  rigid  treatment  are  well  fitted  to  produce  despair,  and  the 
slow  torture  is  something  under  which  the  strongest  convicts  are  almost 
sure  to  break  down. 

Another  palace  celebrated  for  its  beauty  and  fine  architectural  pro- 


BRIDGE  OF  SIGHS,  VENICE,  SHOWING  THE  PALACE  AND  PRISON. 

731 


732 


WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 


portions  is  to  be  found  in  Spain.  The  famous  palace  and  monastry  of 
the  Escurial  stands  in  the  kingdom  of  Toledo,  seven  leagues  from 
Madrid.  The  term  Escurial,  or  Escorial,  is  considered  by  some  to  be 
Arabic,  meaning  a  place  full  of  rocks ;  but  by  others  is  derived  from 


scoria  fcrri,  iron  dross,  from  there  having  been  anciently  great  iron 
works  near  this  place.  The  Spaniards  call  it  la  octava  luaravilla,  "  the 
eighth  wonder,"  and  eccentricity  of  plan  and  vast  extent  entitle  it  to 
this  distinction.  It  owes  its  existence  to  the  bigotry  of  Phillip  the  II., 
who,  in  his  fight  with  the  French  at  St.  Quintin,  vowed  that  if  he  were 


WONDERS    OF    ARCHITECTURE.  733 

successful  he  would  build  the  most  magnificent  convent  in  the  world, 
in  honor  of  the  saint  whose  name  should  be  found  that  day  upon  the 
calendar.  The  battle  being  won,  it  was  found  that  San  Lorenzo,  or  St. 
Lawrence,  was  the  lucky  patron  ;  and  measures  were  forthwith  taken 
for  the  fulfilment  of  the  vow.  According  to  the  legend,  this  saint 
suffered  death  by  being  broiled  on  a  gridiron  ;  and  the  architect,  Juan 
Baptista  de  Toledo,  at  once  took  it  into  his  head  to  build  the  convent 
on  that  singular  plan.  With  this  view  he  represented  the  several  bars 
by  files  of  building,  the  handle  by  a  portion  of  the  church,  and  even 
the  feet  by  four  insignificant  towers  which  rise  at  the  corners.  Indeed, 
the  only  poetic  license  he  was  guilty  of,  was  in  supposing  his  gridiron 
to  be  turned  upside  down.  This  is  confessedly  the  most  wonderful 
edifice  in  Europe,  whether  in  dimensions  or  riches.  It  has  one  thousand 
eight  hundred  and  sixty  rooms,  six  thousand  two  hundred  windows  and 
doors,  eighty  staircases,  seventy-three  fountains,  /orty-eight  wine-cellars, 
eight  organs,  and  fifty-one  bells.      Its  circumference  is  nearly  a  mile. 

The  church  is  a  wonderful  structure.  The  riches  of  Spain  and  her 
ancient  colonies  are  exhausted  in  the  materials — marbles,  prophyries, 
jaspers  of  infinite  variety,  and  of  the  most  extraordinary  beauty,  gold, 
silver,  and  precious  stones  ;  and  the  splendid  effect  of  the  whole  is  not 
lessened  by  a  nearer  inspection  ;  there  is  no  deception,  no  false  glitter  ; 
all  is  real.  The  whole  of  the  altar-piece  in  the  Capella  Mayor,  upwards 
of  ninety  feet  high  and  fifty  broad,  is  one  mass  of  jasper,  porphyry,  and 
marble.  The  church  has  forty  chapels,  each  with  its  altar ;  and  it  is 
crowned  with  a  dome  three  hundred  and  thirty  feet  high  from  the 
ground.  There  is  a  mausoleum,  encrusted  with  marbles ;  the  design  is 
in  imitation  of  the  Pantheon  at  Rome.  The  cost  of  the  Escurial  was 
between  seven  and  eight  million  dollars.  A  description  of  the  edifice 
was  translated  into  English  by  a  servant  of  the  Earl  of  Sandwich,  in 
his  embassy  to  Spain  in  167 1,  from  which  it  appears  that  the  Escurial 
was  reported  to  have  been  destroyed  by  fire  in  that  year.  There  was  a 
similar  report  at  a  later  period. 

All  the  wealth  and  glory  of  modern  architecture  can  scarcely  furnish 
a  structure  equal  to  one  of  which  history  gives  us  a  glowing  description. 
On  that  part  of  the  ruins  of  Imperial  Rome  lying  between  the  Palatine 
and  the  Esquiline  Hills— a  space  which  was  more  than  a  mile  in 
breadth— Nero  erected  his  celebrated  "  Golden  House,"  as  he  called  the 
new  palace  in  which  he  fixed  his  abode.  The  vastness  of  extent  and 
the  varied  magnificence  of  this  imperial  residence  and  its  ornamental 
grounds,  almost  surpass  belief;  and  if  the  details  that  have  come  down 
to  us  respecting  it  were  not  too  well  authenticated  to  admit  of  doubt, 
they  might  be  regarded  as  fabulous.     Within  its  enclosure  were  com- 


734  WONDERS    OF    THE   WHOLE    WORLD. 

prised  spacious  fields,  groves,  orchards  and  vineyards  ;  artificial  lakes, 
hills  and  dense  woods  after  the  manner  of  a  solitude  or  wilderness. 
The  palace  itself  consisted  of  magnificent  buildings  raised  on  the  shores 
of  the  lake.  The  various  wings  were  united  by  galleries  each  a  mile  in 
length.  The  House  or  immediate  dwelling  of  the  emperor  was  deco- 
rated in  a  style  of  excessive  gorgeousness.  It  was  roofed  entirely  with 
golden  tiles,  and  with  the  same  precious  metal  also  the  marble  sheath- 
ing of  the  walls  was  profusely  decked,  being  at  the  same  time  embel- 
lished with  ornaments  of  mother-of-pearl — in  those  times  valued  even 
more  highly  than  gold — and  with  a  profusion  of  precious  stones.  The 
ceilings  and  woodwork  were  inlaid  with  ivory  and  gold,  and  the  roof 
of  the  grand  banqueting-hall  was  constructed  to  resemble  the  firma- 
ment. It  was  contrived  to  have  a  rotatory  motion,  so  as  to  imitate  the 
motion  of  the  heavenly  bodies.  The  vaulted  ceilings  of  ivory  opened 
and  let  fall  on  the  guests  a  profusion  of  flowers,  and  golden  pipes 
sprayed  over  them  the  most  delicate  perfumes. 

The  vastness  of  the  plan  prevented  the  Golden  House  of  Nero  being 
finished  during  his  lifetime.  Vespasian  drained  the  principal  lake  of 
this  fairy  region,  on  which  he  built  the  Coliseum,  and  pulled  down  all 
that  Nero  had  erected  beyond  the  Palatine,  reducing  the  Imperial  pal- 
ace to  the  hill  that  once  contained  Rome.  Domitian  built  up  what  his 
predecessor  had  pulled  down,  and  added  to  the  palace  the  Adones,  or 
halls  and  gardens  of  Adonis,  the  splendid  wonder  of  that  age  of  mag- 
nificence. Septimius  Severus  made  several  additions  to  the  south  of 
the  Palatine,  especially  the  Septizonium,  the  site  of  which  has  been 
much  disputed  ;  while  in  later  days  Pope  Sixtus  V.  carried  off  to  St. 
Peter's  the  three  orders  of  columns  of  which  it  was  composed.  Among 
the  modern  discoveries  of  the  palace,  were  a  room  full  of  Roman  coins, 
and  a  hall  hung  with  cloth  of  gold,  and  on  another  part  of  the  Palatine 
a  spacious  hall  covered  with  paintings.  The  fall  of  the  palace  of  the 
Caesars  was  a  true  picture  of  plunder.  In  the  fifth  century  the  Goths 
pillaged  it  of  all  its  gold,  silver  and  ivory  ;  its  bronze  fell  to  Genseric, 
and  the  Vandal  is  supposed  to  have  freighted  a  ship  with  statues  from 
the  Imperial  palace.  In  the  long  feudal  wars  of  the  Roman  nobles,  it 
was  attacked  and  fortified,  taken  and  retaken  ;  but  the  Farnese  popes 
and  princes  gave  the  finishing  stroke  to  its  desolation,  to  enable  them 
to  erect  their  palaces  and  villas  with  its  materials. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 
WONDERS  OF  ELECTRICITY. 


The   Marvelous   Magnet — Professor  Morse  and  His  Great  Discovery — The  Atlantic  Cable 

Broken  and  Lying  at  the  Bottom  of  the  Sea — Successful   Grappling — "  The  Cable 

Speaks'" — The  Electric  Light — Edison's  Incandescent  Burner — Lighting  Gas  by- 
Electricity — Talking  by  Lightning — Electro  Plating  and  Gilding — 
Magnetic   Locomotive — A  New  Method  of  Utilizing  Waterfalls. 

Y  magnetism  is  meant  the  property  that  certain  native 
iron  ores  have  of  attracting  iron.  If  the  tradition  gener- 
ally received  is  correct,  it  was  an  iron  ore  obtained  from 
Magnesia,  in  Asia  Minor,  that  was  first  observed  to  possess 
this  remarkable  property,  and  hence  the  name  given  to  it. 
The  mineral  itself,  in  course  of  time,  acquired  the  name 
of  the  loadstone,  understood  in  the  sense  of  a  Ic-ad-stone, 
or  guide. 

Long  after  the  discovery  of  the  loadstone,  it  was  found 
that  a  bar  of  iron  or  steel  being  rubbed  in  one  direction  with  it  acquired 
the  same  property,  and,  like  the  ore  itself,  attracted  other  pieces  of 
iron.  The  next  step  was  a  very  obvious  one.  To  balance  a  needle,  or 
thin  strip  of  iron,  in  order  that  it  might  be  free  to  follow  the  attraction 
of  the  magnet,  would  soon  occur  to  any  one  who  amused  himself  with 
the  loadstone.  We  can  fancy  a  needle  so  rubbed  being  fitted  to  a  straw 
or  bit  of  wood,  and  floated  in  a  basin  containing  water  ;  then,  the  mag^ 
net  being  drawn  round  the  edge  of  the  basin,  much  amusement  would 
be  caused  by  the  needle  following  it.  The  first  person  who  did  this 
stood  on  the  verge  of  one  of  those  great  discoveries  to  which  we  owe 
the  advance  of  civilization  itself  The  basin,  with  the  needle  floating 
in  it,  would  be  left  from  time  to  time,  when  the  experimenter  grew  tired 
of  his  amusement,  and  at  last  it  would  not  fail  to  strike  him,  that  he 
always  found  the  needle  pointing  in  one  direction  when  he  returned  to 
it.  The  first  time  he  would  imagine  he  had  left  it  so.  Perhaps,  too, 
his  wonder  would  hardly  be  excited  the  second  or  third  time.  But 
once  having  assured  himself  that  the  needle  had  shifted  its  position,  he 
would  speedily  ascertain  that  it  always  floated  round  to  one  and  the 
same  point.  It  might  be  a  long  time  before  any  one  discovered  that 
the  direction  in  which  it  pointed  was  that  of  the  Polar  Star ;  but  when 

(735) 


736 


WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 


once  that  wonderful  fact  was  noticed,  the  basin  with  the  needle  in  it 
would  be  carried  joyfully  on  board  ship,  as  a  means  of  guiding  the 
sailors  when  the  star  was  obscured,  and  they  could  not  otherwise  have 
known  in  what  direction  to  steer.  At  what  date  this  occurred  it  is 
impossible  to  say.  We  know,  however,  that  the  magnet  was  employed 
about  three  thousand  years  ago  to  guide  travelers  across  the  plains  of 
Tartary ;  and  about  one  thousand  five  hundred  years  since  it  was 
used  by  the  Chinese  to  navigate  vessels  in  the  Indian  seas.  It  was  not 
till  the  fifteenth  century  that  it  was  used  by  European  nations  ;  and 
from  tliat  date  to  the  present  it  has  been  constantly  improved,  both  b)- 

the  researches  of  scien- 
tific men,  and  by  the 
skill  of  the  manufac- 
turers. 

The  wonder  of  the 
magnet  lies  in  the  fact 
that  a  piece  of  iron  ore, 
or  a  piece  of  iron  that 
has  been  rubbed  b}'  it, 
possesses  the  property 
of  attracting  other 
pieces  of  iron.  So  far 
as  magnetism  itself  ex- 
tends, we  know  little, 
if  anything,  more  than 
this.  The  wonder  of 
electricity  is,  that  it 
seems  to  exercise  or 
communicate  this  mag- 
INVENTOR   OF  THE  TELEGRAPH.  netic      property.        A 

magnetic  needle,  suspended  in  such  a  manner  that  it  is  free  to  turn  in 
any  direction,  takes  a  position  from  north  to  south,  with  a  little  devia- 
tion. By  simply  being  able  to  understand  the  property  of  this  needle, 
man  can  steer  his  course  over  the  vast  expanse  of  the  ocean,  even  when 
he  is  unable  to  see  the  land.  By  it,  man  can  traverse  the  densest 
forest,  or  the  most  dreary  desert,  when  neither  sun,  moon,  nor  stars  are 
visible  for  days  and  days.  Now,  we  find  that,  if  we  have  a  magnetic 
needle,  and  pass  a  current  of  electricity  parallel  to  it,  the  needle  is 
deflected  across  the  current  of  electricity.  Wherever  the  voltaic  force 
passes  through  wires  stretched  from  one  point  to  another,  it  acts  upon 
the  needles  at  the  opposite  end.  This  action  represents  a  sign  ;  and  by 
using  these  signs  upon  a  pre-concerted  plan,  the  messages  are  sent. 


WONDERS    OF    ELECTRICITV.  787 

The  electric  telegraph  is  now  a  necessity  of  the  public  and  private 
life  of  every  civilized  spot  upon  the  globe.  It  traverses  all  lands  and 
all  seas.  The  forty  miles  of  wire  with  which  it  started  from  Washington 
City  have  become  many  millions.  Its  length  of  line  in  the  United 
States  is  about  the  same  with  that  of  the  mail-routes,  and  a  similar 
■equality  probably  obtains  in  other  parts  of  the  world.  We  have  nearly 
as  much  line  as  all  Europe  together,  though  the  extent  of  wire  may  not 
be  so  great.  It  is  little  to  say  that  this  continent,  so  dim  to  the 
founders  of  the  Union,  has  been  by  the  invention  of  Morse  compressed 
\\ithin  whispering  distance,  the  same  advantage  having  been  conferred 
■on  other  countries.  It  is  the  property  of  mankind,  and  the  comparison 
must  be  between  present  and  past,  not  between  any  two  countries  of 
the  present.  Strictly,  a  comparison  is  not  possible,  nothing  like  mag- 
netic communication  hax'ing  been  known  forty  years  ago,  unless  to  the 
half  imagination,  half  realization  of  one  or  two  closet  experimenters. 
Steam  and  stamps  wrought  a  difference  in  degree — the  telegraph  one 
of  kind.  Against  eighteen  hundred  miles  of  wagon-road  we  set 
seventy-three  thousand  of  railway  ;  but  two  hundred  thousand  miles 
of  telegraph  are  opposed  by  nothing,  unless  by  Franklin's  kite-string. 
Looked  at  along  the  perspective  of  poles,  the  old  days  disappear 
-entirely — the  patriots  become  pre-historic.  Yet  modern  self-conceit  is 
somewhat  checked  by  the  reflection  that  the  career  of  these  two  great 
agents  of  intercommunication  has  but  just  opened  ;  that  their  manage- 
ment even  yet  remains  a  puzzle  to  us  ;  and  that  the  next  generation 
may  wonder  how  we  happened  to  get  hold  of  implements  whose  use  and 
capabilities  we  so  poorly  comprehended.  So  far  as  prediction  can  now  be 
ventured,  a  force  and  pathway  more  economical  than  coal  and  the  rail  will 
not  soon  be  forthcoming ;  nor  is  Canton  apt  to  "  interview  "  New  York  at 
the  rate  of  more  words  in  a  minute  over  a  single  wire  than  she  can  now. 
Some  day  dynamite  may  be  harnessed  to  the  balloon,  which  stands,  or 
•drifts,  where  it  did  with  Mongolfier,  and  we  n.ay  all  become  long-range 
projectiles;  but  even  this  age  of  hurry  will  contentedly  wait  a  little 
for  that. 

A  room  was  furnished  Professor  Morse  at  the  Capitol  for  his  experi- 
mental operations  in  extending  his  wires  to  Baltimore:  and  among  the 
first  messages  ever  transmitted  over  them  was  the  announcement  of  the 
nomination  of  Mr.  Polk  for  the  Presidency. 

Morse's  system,  with  slight  modifications,  is  now  employed  through- 
out the  civilized  world.  In  addition  to  a  number  of  well  used  systems 
of  duplex — sending  a  message  in  one  direction  on  a  wire  while  another 
message  is  being  sent  in  the  opposite  direction  on  the  same  wire — and 
likewise  a  multiplication  of  this,  as  shown  in  the  quadruplex  and  sexti- 
47 


738  WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 

plex,  which  are  becoming  common,  a  system  of  multiplex  has  just  been 
perfected  and  is  now  in  operation  between  Boston  and  Providence,  by 
which,  it  is  claimed,  seventy-two  messages  may  be  sent  over  the  same 
wire  at  the  same  time,  and  in  the  same,  direction  at  the  rate  of  three 
words  per  minute  for  each  circuit ;  or  thirty-six  messages,  if  sent  in 
opposite  directions. 

.  Wonderful  as  the  telegraph  is  when  stretched  thousands  of  miles  over 
land,  bringing  Boston  and  San  Francisco  within  speaking  distance  of 
each  other,  even  this  is  surpassed  by  the  ocean  cable,  that  marvelous 
construction  which  shrinks  the  sea  to  a  rivulet.  It  was  while  turning 
round  a  globe,  and  meditating  on  a  proposition  for  a  telegraph  from 
Newfoundland  to  New  York,  that  a  young  merchant,  who  had  retired 
from  business  with  an  ample  fortune,  was  led  to  ask  himself  the  question, 
why  should  not  there  be  a  wire  across  the  Atlantic  Ocean  itself?  The 
subject  had  occupied  other  people's  minds  ;  and  Lieutenant  Berryman, 
sent  out  by  the  Navy  Department  to  study  winds  and  currents,  had 


ELECTRO  TELEGRAPH  MACHINERY. 

already  reported  the  existence  of  the  deep  sea  plateau.  Accordingly, 
when  Mr.  Field  wrote  to  the  National  Observatory  at  Washington  to 
ask  for  scientific  advice  as  to  the  feasibility  of  the  telegraph  scheme. 
Lieutenant  Maury  answered, — "  Singularly  enough,  just  as  I  receixed 
your  letter  I  was  closing  one  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy  on  the  same 
subject."  He  inclosed  a  copy  of  this  official  letter,  and  it  contained 
the  following  remarkable  words  : — "  Whether  it  would  be  better  to  lead 
the  wires  from  Newfoundland  or  Labrador  is  not  now  the  question  ; 
nor  do  I  pretend  to  consider  the  question  as  to  the  possibility  of  finding 
a  time  calm  enough,  the  sea  smooth  enough,  a  wire  long  enough,  a  ship 
big  enough,  to  lay  a  coil  of  wire  sixteen  hundred  miles  in  length.  A 
wire  laid  across  from  either  of  the  above-named  places  on  this  side  will 
pass  to  the  north  of  the  Grand  Banks,  and  rest  on  that  beautiful  plateau 
to  which  I  have  alluded,  and  where  the  waters  of  the  sea  appear  to  be 
as  quiet  and  as  completely  at  rest  as  it  is  at  the  bottom  of  a  mill-pond." 
Strange  that  this  beautiful  plateau  should  occur  at  the  narrowest  part 


.WONDERS    OF    ELECTRICITY.  739 

of  the  ocean,  and  between  countries  which  are  both  occupied  by  ener- 
getic Anglo-Saxons!  Here  then  was  sufficient  encouragement.  Other 
men,  to  whom  science  was  a  regular  pursuit,  had  prepared  the  course, 
Cyrus  Field  was  the  man  to  run  the  race.  He  at  once  set  to  work  witli 
extraordinary  energy,  and,  with  his  own  example  to  back  his  arguments, 
succeeded  in  inducing  four  other  men  of  large  fortune  to  enlist  them- 
selves in  the  enterprise.  With  some  little  trouble  a  very  liberal  charter 
was  obtained  from  the  Government  of  Newfoundland,  and  at  six 
o'clock,  one  Monday  morning,  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Cyrus  Field's  brother, 
a  company  was  organized  with  five  directors,  the  charter  wa«  formally 
accepted,  and  a  capital  of  a  million  and  a  half  of  dollars  was  subscribed. 
The  cable  consisted  of  the  following  elements  :  a  copper  conductor, 
composed  of  seven  No.  i8  wires  twisted  together  into  a  strand,  the 
weight  per  nautical  mile  being  three  hundred  pounds,  or  three  hundred 
and  eight  tons  to  complete  the  whole  length,  which  was  two  thousand 
three  hundred  miles  as  coiled  on  board  ;  an  insulating  wrapper  of  gutta- 
percha, laid  on  in  four  thin  layers,  with  a  .compound  between  each, 
called  Chatterton's  Compound,  the  weight  per  mile  being  four  hundred 
pounds  ;  a  padding  of  jute  yarn,  saturated  with  a  preservative  compound, 
wrapped  round  the  gutta-percha ;  and  outside  this,  ten  solid  wires,  No. 

13  gauge,  of  homogeneous  iron,  each  wire  being  separately  surrounded 
with  Manilla  yarn  steeped  in  a  preservative  compound.  The  weight 
of  the  finished  cable  was  35  cwt.  3  qrs.  per  nautical  mile  in  air,  and  only 

14  cwt.  in  water,  showing  a  \ery  low  specific  gravity.  The  cable  was 
calculated  to  bear  a  strain  of  nearly  eight  tons  before  breaking,  and 
hence  would  support  eleven  miles  of  itself  hanging  vertically  over  a 
ship's  stern.  The  total  weight  of  deep-sea  cable  coiled  on  board  the 
"Great  Eastern  "  in  1865  amounted  to  four  thousand  one  hundred  and 
eleven  tons. 

The  first  attempt  to  lay  an  Atlantic  cable  was  a  failure,  but  American 
enterprise  and  genius  were  not  to  be  defeated.  In  1865,  a  cable  having 
been  constructed  and  made  as  nearly  perfect  as  possible  by  the  use  of 
the  best  materials,  and  by  the  most  approved  method  of  insulation,  the 
steamship  "  Great  Eastern,"  freighted  with  it,  sailed  from  Valentia  on 
the  twenty-third  of  July.  On  tlie  second  day  after  starting  from  the 
Irish  coast,  a  fault  in  the  electric  insulation  of  the  cable  was  detected  ; 
a  tiny  piece  of  loose  iron  wire  had  forced  its  way  through  the  outer 
covering  and  the  gutta-percha  surrounding  the  electric  wire,  so  as  to 
come  in  contact  with  the  latter  ;  and.  when  this  piece  was  cut  out  and 
a  new  splice  made,  the  fault  was  effectually  cured.  The  cable  had  again 
to  be  raised  and  examined  in  the  same  way,  on  the  twenty-ninth,  when 
the  ship  was  in  two  thousand  fathom  water,  six  hundred  and  thirty-six 


740  WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 

miles  from  Valentia,  and  one  thousand  and  twenty  eight  miles  from 
Newfoundland.  A  total  loss  of  electric  insulation,  or  "  dead  earth,"  as 
it  is  called,  was  discovered  about  one  o'clock  that  afternoon.  The  ship 
was  stopped  at  once,  and  as  soon  as  the  picking-up  machinery  could 
be  put  in  gear,  the  end  of  the  cable  was  hauled  in  again  over  the  bows, 
and  the  faulty  portion  having  been  cut  off  and  laid  aside  for  a  minute 
examination,  the  remainder  was  spliced  afresh,  and  the  operation  of 
paying-out  over  the  stern  of  the  ship  was  recommenced  next  morning. 

Soon  after  this  it  became  necessary  to  "  pick  up  "  the  cable  to  remedy 
a  defect  \vihich  the  instruments  had  detected,  when  that  memorable  acci- 
dent occurred  which  taxed  the  ingenuity  of  those  on  board  to  remedy 
it.  The  cable  and  the  wire  rope  together  were  coming  in  over  the 
bows  in  the  groove  in  the  larger  wheel,  the  cable  being  wound  upon  a 
drum  behind  by  the  machinery,  which  was  once  more  in  motion,  and 
the  wire  rope  being  taken  in  round  the  capstan.  Still,  the  rope  and 
cable  were  not  coming  up  in  a  right  line,  but  were  being  hauled  in,  with 
a  great  strain  on  them,  at  an  angle  from  the  right-hand  side,  so  that 
they  did  not  work  directly  in  the  V  in  the  wheel.  Still,  up  they  came. 
The  .strain  was  shown  on  the  dynamometer  to  be  very  high,  but  not 
near  breaking-point.  At  last,  up  came  the  cable  and  wire  rope  shack- 
ling together  on  the  V-wheel  in  the  bow.  They  were  wound  round  on 
it,  slowly,  and  were  passing  over  the  wheel  together,  the  first  damaged 
part  being  inboard,  when  a  jar  was  given  to  the  dynamometer,  which 
flew  up  from  sixty  cwt. — the  highest  point  marked — with  a  sudden  jerk, 
three  and  a  half  inches.  In  fact,  the  chain  shackle  and  wire  rope  clam- 
bered, as  it  were,  up  out  of  the  groove  on  the  right-hand  side  of  the 
V  of  the  wheel,  got  on  the  top  of  the  rim  of  the  V-wheel,  and  rushed 
down  with  a  crash  on  the  smaller  wheel,  giving,  no  doubt,  a  severe 
shock  to  the  cable  to  which  it  was  attached.  The  machiner}'  was  still 
in  motion,  the  cable  and  the  rope  traveled  aft  together,  one  towards  the 
capstan,  the  other  towards  the  drum,  when,  just  as  the  cable  reached  the 
dynamometer,  it  parted,  thirty  feet  from  the  bow,  and  with  one  bound 
leaped,  as  it  were,  into  the  sea. 

For  a  moment  dismay  seized  those  on  board.  They  were  startled  at 
the  thought  that  the  cable  had  parted  and  dropped  into  the  sea.  Noth- 
ing was  to  be  done  but  to  adjust  the  grappling  apparatus  and  search  for 
the  lost  treasure.  At  first  the  iron  sank  but  slowly,  but  soon  the  pick- 
ing-up machinery  lowered  length  after  length  over  cog-wheel  and  drum, 
till  the  iron  wires,  warming  with  work,  heated  at  last  so  as  to  convert 
the  water  thrown  upon  the  machinery  into  clouds  of  steam.  Still  the 
rope  descended,  and  the  strain  was  diminished,  when  at  two  thousand 
five  hundred  fathoms,  or  fifteen  thousand  feet,  the  grapnel  reached  the 


J 


WONDERS    OF    ELECTRICITY. 


741 


bed  of  the  Atlantic ;  and  as  the  ship  drifted  across  the  course  of  the 
cable,  there  was  just  a  surmise  that  the  grapnel  might  catch  it.  In  the 
search  from  August  third  to  August  eleventh,  the  cable  was  grappled 
three  times  ;  it  was  lifted  each  time  a  considerable  way  from  the  bottom, 
but  the  grapnel,  ropes,  and  lifting  machinery,  were  not  sufficient  to 
bring  it  to  the  surface.  Nearly  twelve  hundred  miles  of  the  cable  now 
lay  along  the  bed  of  the  Atlantic  Ocean  ;  one  end  attached  to  the  shore 
at  Valentia,  the  other  submerged  under  nineteen  hundred  and  fifty 
fathoms  of  water,  and  resting  on  a  soft,  oozy  bottom.     A  length  of  fifty- 


SUDDEN  BREAK  OF  THE  CABLE  ON  HOARD  THE  GREAT  KAS'IF.RN. 

five  hundred  miles  of  cable  altogether  had  been  made  for  this  great 
Atlantic  enterprise  from  1857  to  1865,  and  nearly  four  thousand  miles 
had  been  swallowed  up  in  the  ocean  ;  a  million  and  a  quarter  had  been 
sunk  ;  but  the  grand  hopes  were  not  crushed.  The  various  telegraphic 
companies  interested  in  the  completion  of  the  undertaking  wisely  con- 
cluded to  resume  operations  forthwith. 

The  storms  of  twelve  months  had  passed  over  the  cable  before  the 
preparations  were  complete  ;  that  it  had  not  drifted  was  thoroughly 
believed.  The  naval  commanders  had  made  accurate  observation  of 
the  exact  latitude  and  longitude  of  the  spot  where  the  end  of  the  cable 


742  WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 

finally  disappeared  in  August,  1865  ;  and,  as  the  same  nautical  instru- 
ments, applied  in  the  same  way,  would  find  the  same  spot  again,  this 
was  the  test,  and  the  only  test  relied  on.  The  "  Great  Eastern  "  arrived 
on  the  twelfth  of  August  at  the  cable-fishing  ground.  We  have  not  space 
to  detail  the  series  of  snatchings,  losings,  raisings  and  breakings,  dodg- 
ings  and  fishings,  of  the  vessels  engaged  in  this  cable-craft,  but  pass 
on  to  the  sixteenth,  when  while  hauling  up  the  grapnel,  the  splice 
between  the  grapnel-rope  and  the  buoy-rope  broke,  and  down  went  rope, 
grapnel,  cable,  and  all.  The  position  being  a  good  one,  another  grapnel 
was  put  forth  ;  it  was  dragged  ;  the  strain  on  the  dynamometer  (the 
instrument  that  shows  the  amount  of  force  or  weight  pulling  at  the 
grapnel-rope,  in  addition  to  its  own  weight)  indicated  that  the  grapnel 
had  got  hold  of  the  cable  ;  it  was  hauled  in  ;  and  lo  !  on  the  seventeenth 
up  came  to  sight  the  actual  cable  itself!  Nearly  every  one  on  board 
the  ship  crowded  to  the  bows  to  see  the  grapnel  come  up  over  the  water. 
The  lost  cable  of  1865,  lifted  from  its  oozy  bed  two  miles  beneath  the 
surface  of  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  now  made  its  appearance,  attached  to  the 
flukes  of  the  grapnel,  amid  a  spontaneous  cheer ;  the  sound  of  this, 
however,  had  scarcely  passed  away,  when  the  fact  became  known  that 
the  cable  had  quietly  and  easily  disengaged  itself  from  the  flukes  and 
springs  of  the  grapnel. 

The  cable  was  found,  not  merely  bodily,  but  with  all  its  electric  qual- 
ities in  full  efficiency.  The  cable  itself  told  the  tale.  There  it  wa.s — 
the  copper  in  the  middle,  then  the  gutta  percha,  then  the  iron  wires 
and  then  the  outer  covering  of  Manilla  hemp.  The  problem  to  be 
solved  was,  whether  the  cable  after  being  twelve  months  at  the  bottom 
of  the  Atlantic,  would  transmit  an  electric  message  to  Valentia.  An 
operator  applied  the  end  of  the  cable  to  his  delicate  instruments,  amid 
the  breathless  silence  of  those  around  him.  Presently  he  took  off  his 
hat  and  gave  a  cheer — the  cable  .spoke  ! 

THE    BRn.LL\NT    ELECTRIC    LIGHT. 

])ut  the  wonders  of  electricity  are  not  exhausted  b\'  the  telegraph. 
The  problem,  long-studied  by  scientists,  of  procuring  from  this  subtle 
force  in  nature  a  light  that  would  be  of  service  and  outstrip  all  other 
means  of  illumination  has  been  solved,  and  in  every  town  now,  of  any 
dimensions,  electric  lighting  is  in  successful  operation. 

Pure  incandescence  is  represented  by  four  systems — P^dison,  Ma.xim, 
Swan  and  Lane  P'ox.  The  light  from  this  description  of  lamp  is  from 
the  heating  of  a  carbon  filament  due  to  its  high  resistance  to  the  pas- 
sage of  the  current.  This  filament  is  surrounded  by  a  hermetically 
sealed  glass  bulb  from  which  all  the  air  has  been  extracted.  The 
life  of  the   lamp   depends  greatly  as  to  how  carefully  this  process  has 


VVONDEKS    OF    ELECTRICITY. 


743 


been  carried  on.  It  is  not  sufficient  only  to  extract  the  air  when  the 
lamp  is  cold,  but  the  process  must  be  carried  on  when  the  lamp  is 
burning,  and  the  exhaustion  must  be  continuous  for  some  time. 
These  lamps  can  be  worked  either  b}-  an  alternating  or  a  continuous 
current  machine ;  and,  unlike  those  of  partial  incandescence,  require  a 
tension  current,  while  the  former  work  best  with  a  quantity  one. 

The  Edison  lamp  is  generally  considered  to  be  the  pioneer  of  this 
system  of  illumination.  Whether  this  be  so  or  not  the  name  of  the 
inventor  has  been  for  a  considerable  time  associated  with  lighting  by 
incandescence,  although  his  early  experiments  were  with  a  lamp  con- 
taining a  metallic  substance.  As  at  present  manufactured,  the  lamp 
consists  of  a  blown  glass  globe  containing  a  very  fine 
filament  made  from  the  fibre  of  bamboo  carbonized.  The 
length  is  fixed  according  to  the  resistance  required. 
Each  end  of  the  filament  is  nipped  between  a  miniature 
vise  composed  of  platinum  connected  with  the  terminals 
of  the  lamp.  These  are  fixed  in  an  insulated  socket, 
which  also  holds  the  glass  bulb.  The  socket  is  furnished 
with  a  screw  which  fits  into  a  projection  on  the  bracket 
or  holder,  so  that  the  act  of  screwing  in  the  lamp 
makes  the  necessary  connection  with  the  conducting 
wires.  By  turning  a  tap  the  lamp  can  be  removed  with- 
out interrupting  the  passage  of  the  current.  The  maxi-  I? 
mum  duration  of  the  lamp  is  stated  to  be  twelve  hundred 
hours.  The  chief  feature  of  the  Edison  system  is  the '" 
manner  in  which  the  inventor  distributes  the  current 
from  a  main  generator  of  his  own  design,  which  is 
always  used  with  this  system  of  lighting. 

The  engraving  on  next  page  is  a  perfect  representation 
of  Edison's  latest  electric  lamp,  with    its  various  parts 
shown  in  detail.     Fig.  i    shows  the   carbon    horseshoe  the   voltaic 
ready  for  use,  full  size  ;  Fig.  2  represents  the  horseshoe  arc. 

when  just  cut  from  the  Bristol  board,  illustrating,  by  its  comparison 
with  Fig.  I,  the  enormous  shrinkage  it  undergoes  during  the  process 
of  carbonization.  The  only  index  to  the  completion  of  this  process  is 
the  crackling  of  the  oxide  formed  on  the  exterior  of  the  iron  boxes  in 
which  the  horseshoes  arc  ])laced.  After  their  rcmo\-al  from  the  boxes 
the  carbons  are  placed  between  the  jaws  of  small  platinum  vises,  a,  a, 
supported  on  thin  platinum  wires  blown  in  the  glass  base  and  forming 
the  electrodes.  The  inventor  has  so  improved  the  Sprengel  air-pump, 
that  high  vacua  may  be  produced  in  twenty-five  minutes  instead  of  the 
enormous  time  consumed  by  some  of  our  physicists.     The  resistance 


744 


WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 


of  the  slender  carbon  horseshoe  is  one  hundred   ohms. ;  and  while  the 
lamp  shown,  Fig.  3,  is  intended  to  give  a  light  equivalent  to  a  single 


EDISON  S    MARVELOUS    INCANDESCENT   LAMP. 

four  foot  gas  jet,  it  may  be  forced  to  give  a  light  equal  to  tight  or  ten 
of  such  jets.  The  carbons  are  so  tough  that  one  of  them  has  been  sub- 
jected to  the  test  of  applying  and  removing  the  electric  current  a  num- 


WONDERS    OF    ELECTRICITY.  745. 

ber  of  times  equivalent  to  thirty-six  years  of  actual  daily  use,  and 
without  being  in  the  least  impaired.  The  horshoe  form  of  the  carbon 
has  a  great  advantage  over  the  voltaic  arc,  the  light  being  softer,  more 
diffused  and  less  trying  to  the  eyes.  It  is,  besides,  perfectly  uniform 
and  steady.  The  lamps  are  connected  in  multiple  arc,  that  is,  the  twa 
wires  leading  from  the  electrical  generator  run  parallel  to  each  other, 
and  the  lamps  are  placed  between  them  and  are  connected  with  each 
wire.  The  entire  lighting  apparatus  of  any  building  consists  in  the 
lamps  and  a  few  wires.  The  lamp  in  its  present  form  is  as  simple  and 
as  easily  handled  as  a  candle,  and  can  be  taken  from  its  socket  and  re- 
placed even  while  the  current  is  on.  The  construction  of  this  socket  is 
shown  in  Fig.  4.  The  lamp  has,  attached  to  its  electrodes,  slips  of 
copper  which  are  bent  up  against  the  sides  of  the  glass,  touching  two 
springs  at  opposite  sides  of  the  socket.  One  of  these  springs  is 
connected  with  one  of  the  electrical  conductors ;  the  other  merely 
touches  the  copper  strip,  and  does  not  form  a 
part  of  the  electrical  conductor  until  it  is  touched 
by  the  thumb-screw, />",  this  latter  being  connected 
with  the  second  electrical  conducting  wire.  To 
start  the  light  it  is  only  necessary  to  turn  the 
screw,  b,  till  it  touches  the  spring.  To  stop  the 
light  the  screw  is  turned  in  the  reverse  direction. 
From  this  it  is  obvious  that  an  electric  lamp  is 
more  easily  managed  than  a  gas  burner,  as  it 
requires  neither  lighting  nor  regulating ;  while  it 
is  equally  plain  that  if  these  lamps  withstand  the^^'^^'^^^''^  ^^  ^  chain. 
test  of  time,  the  inventor  has  solved  a  profound  problem,  and  become 
one  of  the  world's  great  benefactors. 

A  simple  apparatus  has  been  constructed  for  lighting  gas  by  elec- 
tricity, which  is,  ne\'ertheless,  ingenious  and  convenient.  Through  the 
house  the  wires  are  placed  under  the  plaster  and  are  hidden  away  out 
of  sight.  In  residences  the  system  is  to  run  a  wire  from  the  cellar,  or 
where  the  battery  and  spark  coil  are,  to  each  gas  fixture.  The  burners 
are  of  ^n  especial  kind  made  for  this  method  of  lighting.  Wires  are 
run  from  these  burners  to  a  double  press  button  on  the  wall,  or  sus- 
pended over  the  bedstead.  By  touching  the  white  knob  of  the  button^ 
electricity  is  made  to  move  a  magnet  which  turns  on  the  gas  in  the 
burner  and  makes  at  the  same  time  a  spark  which  lights  it.  Touching^ 
the  dark  knob  of  the  button  shuts  off  the  gas  in  the  burner  in  the 
same  way.  In  another  form  where  the  burner  can  be  easily  reached, 
the  gas  is  lighted  by  pulling  a  little  chain  which  hangs  down  out  of 
the  globe.     Two  battery  points  create  the  spark. 


746 


WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 


LI  N  e 


That  we  should  ever  be  able  to  "  talk  by  lightning  "  was  not  dreamed 
of  for  many  years  after  the  discovery  of  the  telegraph  proved  that  mes- 
sages could  be  transmitted  through  motions  of  the  electric  instrument 
producing  signs.  Now  we  do  not  have  to  write  the  communication,  but 
can  speak  to  a  person  many  miles  away,  and  converse  almost  as  freely 
as  we  would  with  one  by  our  side  in  the  same  room.  The  principle 
is  that  of  the  transmission  of  sound.  The  air,  the  water,  woods,  metals 
.are  all  conductors,  but  it  has  been  proved  that  a  metallic  conductor,  a 

telegraphic  wire,  with  elec- 
tricity for  the  driving  force, 
is  the  best  transmitter  ever 
discovered.  The  telephone 
has  rapidly  sprung  into  use, 
and  has  become  a  necessity 
in  our  large  towns,  where, 
on  account  of  the  pressure 
of  business,  time  is  money 
and  moments  count  for  as 
much  as  hours  did  once. 
A  man  of  business  can  call 
his     neifjhbor.    who    is 


up 

near,  or  his  customer  miles 
away,  and  in  a  brief  time 
the  matter  in  hand  is  dis- 
posed of 

The  description  of  the 
instrument  is  as  follows : 
an  electro-magnet  or  spool 
of  copper  wire  is  fastened 
to  the  end  of  a  steel  bar 
which  has  been  charged 
with  magnetism  ;  the  ends 
of  the  wire  are  carried  down 
THE  FAMOUS  BELL  TELEPHONE.  ^.o    the    outcr   part    of   the 

uibl)er  case,  and  connected  by  screws  to  the  line  wire.  In  front  of  the 
spool,  and  a  little  way  from  the  end  of  the  bar  magnet,  a  piece  of"  fer- 
rotype "  sheet  iron  is  placed.  When  a  current  of  electricity  is  sent 
into  the  telephone  and  through  the  spool  of  wire,  the  sheet  iron  plate 
is  caused  to  vibrate  in  unison  with  the  breaking  of  the  current,  by 
reason  of  the  alternate  attractions  and  cessations  of  attraction  of  the 
plate  by  the  electro-magnet,  and  a  sound  is  produced. 

Electricity  has  also  been   applied  to  art  in  various  ways,  and  the 


WONDERS    OF    ELECTRICITV. 


747 


■galvanic  battery  is  as  indispensable  for  various  manufacturing  purposes 
as  the  steam-engine  is  for  others.  Especially  is  electricity  employed 
in  the  art  of  plating  and  gilding. 

Silver-plating  is  done  in  the  following  manner  :  a  chemical  solution 
of  silver  is  placed  in  a  glass  or  trough.  Into  this  solution  are  placed 
a  i)iece  of  silver  and  the  article  to  be  plated,  the  silver  being  attached 
to  the  positive  pole  and  the  article  to  the  negative  pole  of  the  battery. 
When  the  battery  is  put  in  operation,  the  silver  in  solution  is  carried 
by  the  current  to  the  negative  pole  and  deposited  upon  the  article, 
giving  it  a  dead  or  frosted  appearance.  If,  however,  it  is  desired  to 
polish  the  article,  a  few  drops  of  bi-sulphide  of  carbon  are  put  in  the 
bath  and  have  the  effect  of  giving  the  plating  a  lustre.  It  is  necessary 
to  have, the  articles  perfectly  clean  to  give  them  a  durable  coating. 
This  is  accomplished  by  first  putting  them  in  a  boiling  solution  of  potash 
to  remove  all  grease  from  them.  They  are  next  dipped  into  a  weak 
solution  of  nitric  acid  to  remove  any  canker  that  may  be  on  them, 
after  which  they  are  washed  thoroughly. 


ELECTRO-PLATING    APPARATUS. 

A  single,  double  or  triple  plate  is  formed  according  to  the  length 
of  time  the  operation  goes  on.  From  three  to  six  hours  is  the  usual 
time  required  to  give  a  good  plating.  One  half  ounce  of  silver  to  the 
square  foot  makes  an  excellent  plate.  After  the  desired  plate  is  given 
to  the  article,  it  is  brushed  well  with  a  fine  brass  wire  brush,  which  is 
revolved  by  a  lathe.  Finally,  it  is  cleaned  with  fine  Calais  sand  and 
polished.  Gilding  is  done  in  much  the  same  way,  the  principle  being 
the  same. 

Electro-motive  power  is  produced  by  the  great  attractive  power  of 
the  electro-magnet ;  that  is  a  magnet  formed  by  passing  a  current  of 
galvanic  electricity  through  a  bar  of  soft  iron.  The  first  electro-motor, 
large  enough  for  any  practical  use,  was  constructed  by  the  celebrated 
Russian,  Philos  Jacobi.  In  1839,  by  the  use  of  one  of  these  motors,  he 
propelled  a  boat,  carrying  ten  persons,  at  the  rate  of  four  miles  an  hour. 
He  obtained  his  electrical  force  from  a  powerful  galvanic  battery. 


748 


WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 


The  electric  motor  is  made  by  putting  a  ring  of  soft  iron,  or  arma- 
ture as  it  is  called,  between  the  poles  or  ends  of  a  horseshoe  magnet. 
The  armature  is  then  said  to  be  in  the  field  of  the  magnet,  and  is 
made  to  revolve  by  passing  a  current  of  electricity  through  the  magnet. 

In  one  of  the  forms  lately  presented,  there  is  a  hinge  in  the  back  or 
curve  of  the  magnet,  and  the  armature  is  made  to  revolve  rapidly  or 
slowly  by  bringing  the  poles  or  ends  of  the  magnet  near  it,  or  removing 
them  from  it  by  means  of  a  thumb  screw.      Generally  the  speed  is 


1-.N(j1IM'.. 


THE   WONDERFUL    MAGNEiiL. 

controlled  by  regulating  the  amount  of  current  fed  to  the  motor.  A 
wheel  is  placed  on  the  end  of  the  armature,  and  in  this  way  a  sewing 
or  other  machine  is  belted  on  to  it  and  set  in  motion. 

The  motor  has  the  advantages  of  being  noiseless  in  its  action,  can  be 
easily  moved  from  one  place  to  another,  is  safe,  easily  controlled  and 
free  from  dirt.  It  is  very  finely  adapted  to  the  manufacture  of  mathe- 
matical, optical  and  other  delicate  instruments.  The  impression  that 
the  great  attractive  power  of  the  electro-magnet  could  be  profitably- 
applied  to  machinery  was  so  great  at  one  time  that  an  appropriation  of 


WONDERS    OF    ELECTRICITY.  749 

520,000  was  made  by  Conijrcss,  and  one  of  ;^i 20,000  was  made  by 
Russia  to  experiment  in  this  direction.  A  great  many  machines  were 
invented  for  using  it  as  a  motive  power,  but  in  no  case  was  it  found  to 
be  so  economical  and  efficient  as  steam. 

In  motor  work,  first  coal  is  burned  to  run  the  steam  engine,  which 
b\-  belts  or  by  direct  connection  of  the  shaft,  revolves  the  bobbin  of  the 
dynamo  electric  machine,  and  thus  creates  a  current.  The  motor  is 
then  connected  by  wires  to  this  current  which  causes  its  armature  to 
revolve  and  do  the  work  by  directly  turning  the  drill  or  by  further 
belting,  putting  in  motion  other  forms  of  machinery.  It  is  therefore 
readily  seen  how,  in  so  much  re-transmitting  of  the  power  from  the 
coal  pile  to  the  drill,  sewing  machine,  or  engine,  much  loss  must 
necessarily  be  sustained. 

Street  railways  are  adopting  this  form  of  power  and  in  some  places 
seem  to  be  successful.  In  one  system  proposed,  the  rails  are  used  to 
carry  the  electricity  from  the  home  station.  All  along  the  road  the 
cars  get  the  power  by  carrying  the  current  through  their  wheels  to 
motors  on  the  cars.  The  motor  causes  the  car  axle  to  revolve  and  so 
runs  the  car.  The  fact  that  electrical  force  can  be  conducted  great 
distances  suggests  the  possibility  of  utilizing  waterfalls  to  run  the 
dynamo  to  generate  the  electricity,  which  can  be  conducted  to  motors 
in  factories  miles  distant. 


CHAPTER  XX Til. 
WONDERS  OF  ASTRONOMY. 

Vastness  of  Space — Curious  Sun  Spots — Amazing  Distance  and  Bulk  of  the  Sun — Brilliant 
Constellations — Distances  of  the  Fixed  Stars — Falling  Fire-Balls — Mysterious  Nebuiec 
— Singular  Freaks   of  Comets — The   Immense  Comet  of  1843 — ''^^'^ 
Earth  Passing  Through  the  Tail  of  a  Comet. 

WISE  man  only  wonders  once  in  his  life,  but  that  is 
always  ;  the  fool  never.  The  education  of  the  wise 
man  begins  with  wonder,  and  ends  with  devout 
admiration  ;  but  the  fool  "  doth  not  consider,"  and 
shuts  his  eyes  to  things  around  him.  Strictly  speak- 
ing, wonder  is  not  a  vulgar  nor  a  foolish  attribute. 
All  wonder,  said  a  dogmatic  writer,  is  but  the  effect 
of  novelty  upon  ignorance.  Nay,  we  answer,  you 
cannot  be  ignorant  if  you  would  feel  the  greatest 
effect  of  wonder.  Thus  it  is  that,  Coleridge,  a  most 
learned  man,  declares,  "  in  wonder  all  philosophy  began,  in  wonder 
it  ends,  and  admiration  fills  the  interspace  ;  but  if  the  first  wonder 
is  the  offspring  of  ignorance,  the  last  is  the  parent  of  adoration." 

Let  us  consider  shortly  one  of  the  commonest  wonders  about  us — 
space.  Gaze  up  into  the  sky  from  off  the  page  you  are  reading,  and  try 
to  pierce  as  far  as  your  eye  can  reach,  and  then  as  far  as  your  mind 
can  conceive.  Our  globe — the  speck  of  dust  on  which  we  stand — is 
eight  thousand  miles  in  diameter,  or  twenty-four  thousand  miles  in 
circumference  ;  but  with  its  sun,  planets,  and  satellites,  and  those  "  less 
intelligible  orbs  called  comets,"  it  occupies  space,  which,  calculated 
only  by  the  uttermost  bound  of  the  orbit  of  Uranus — and  we  know 
that  beyond  Uranus  there  are  worlds — is  not  less  than  three  thousand 
six  hundred  millions  of  miles  in  diameter.  The  mind,  it  has  well  been 
.said,  fails  to  comprehend  so  vast  an  area.  Some  faint  idea  of  this,  says 
an  eloquent  writer,  can  be  obtained  from  the  fact  that,  if  the  swiftest 
racehorse  ever  known  had  begun  to  traverse  it  at  full  speed  at  the  time 
of  the  birth  of  Moses,  or  nearly  four  thousand  years  ago,  he  would  as 
yet  have  accomplished  only  half  his  journey  ! 

The   sun,  which   so   many  have   worshiped,  and  which  is,  humanly 
speaking,  the  source  of  life  to  us  all,  is  another  perpetual  wonder.    Its 
circumference  is  about  two  million  seven  hundred  and  seventy  thousand 
(750) 


WONDERS   OF    ASTRONOMY. 


751 


miles.  Its  distance  from  the  earth  is  so  great  that  a  railway  train 
moving  at  thirty-two  miles  per  hour  would  take  three  millions  of  hours, 
or  three  hundred  and  forty-two  years  and  three  months,  to  travel  from 
us  to  the  sun,  supposing  that  it  could  travel  incessantly  night  and  day 
during  that  time.  A  cannon  ball,  moving  fifty  times  faster  than  such  a 
train,  would  expend  seven  years  in  reaching  it.  To  make  a  globe  like 
the  sun  it  would  take  one  million  four  hundred  thousand  globes  like  the 
earth  rolled  into  one !  Or,  to  make  these  facts  simpler,  and  yet  more 
stupendous,  the  bulk  of  the  sun  is  five  hundred  times  greater  thai»  the 


THE   SUN    AND    ITS    WONDERFUL    SPOTS. 

^Sgregate  bulk  of  all  the  other  bodies  of  the  solar  system  of  which 
night  only  reveals  to  us  a  small  part — that  which  appears  above  our 
hemisphere,  and  above  our  particular  stand-point.  The  centre  of  the 
sun  is  a  dark  mass  covered  with  a  garment  of  flame.  But  in  this 
luminous  matter  there  are  vast  rents.  We  talk  of  spots  in  the  sun  ; 
spots  indeed  !  the  space  occupied  or  laid  bare  by  the  principal  spot  is 
nine  hundred  and  twenty-eight  million  square  geographical  miles. 
Arago,  by  a  physical  test,  proved  that  this  garment  of  flame,  this 
luminous  matter,  must  be  gaseous  ;  so  that  the  sun  floats  in  an  ocean 
of  flame,  and  this  is  so  powerful  that  the  strongest  blast  furnace  yet 


752  WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 

ignited  by  man,  at  its  highest  power,  is  seven  times  weaker  than  the 
sun's  heat  at  its  surface.  If  the  heat  be  electric,  how  great  is  the 
wonder  !  being  dispersed  over  space  so  great  that  the  earth's  surface,  at 
a  distance  of  ninety-five  miUion  miles,  notwithstanding  the  alternation 
of  night,  receives  in  a  year  sufficient,  if  uniformly  diffused,  to  liquefy  a 
crust  of  ice  one  hundred  feet  in  thickness. 

When  we  come  to  examine  the  sun  by  the  aid  of  a  telescope,  we  find 
that  all  parts  of  the  surface  do  not  give  out  light  to  the  same  e.xtent, 
and  that  there  are  certain  places  on  it  darker,  and  some  brighter,  than 
the  remainder  of  the  disc.  The  former  are  called  sunspots,  the  latter 
faculae,  which  are  always  associated  with  spots. 

The  first  person  who  examined  sunspots  closely  was  the  illustrious 
Galileo,  who  proceeded  to  determine  from  them  the  sun's  velocity  of 
rotation  on  his  axis  ;  for  he  perceived  that  they  moved  across  the  sun's 
body.  However,  since  his  time,  it  has  been  shown  that  the  spots  have 
a  motion  of  their  own  ;  those  at  the  sun's  equator  moving  faster  than 
those  at  his  poles ;  so  that  observations  on  the  spots  alone  cannot  tell 
us  the  rapidity  of  the  revolution  of  the  sun's  entire  mass.  It  has  also 
been  noticed  that  the  number  of  these  spots  visible  at  one  time  does 
not  remain  the  same  from  year  to  year,  and,  in  fact,  that  about  every 
ten  years  there  is  an  epoch  at  which  they  are  especially  abundant. 
General  Sabine  has  pointed  out  that  these  periods  of  frequency  of  sun- 
spots  are  coincident  with  the  periods  of  greatest  magnetic  disturbance 
on  our  own  globe.  Accordingly,  we  see  that  there  exists  a  distinct  and 
close  connection  between  variations  in  the  appearance  of  the  sun,  and 
changes  in  the  physical  constitution  of  our  earth. 

The  interesting  question  now  arises  :  what  are  the  sunspots?  and 
what  is  their  cause  ?  The  very  careful  investigations  of  science  have 
thrown  much  light  upon  this  interesting  subject.  One  of  the  most 
remarkable  features  of  the  spots  is,  that  their  central  portion  is  darker 
than  the  edge  ;  and  accordingly,  nearly  a  century  ago,  it  was  suggested 
that  they  were  pits  in  an  envelope  which  surrounded  the  sun.  The 
results  of  later  experiments  seem  to  confirm  this  idea.  They  further 
go  to  show  that  the  faculae,  or  bright  patches,  are  really  of  the  nature 
of  luminous  clouds,  placed,  relatively  to  the  sun,  above  the  level  of  the 
spots.  These  facula;  are  generally  seen  behind  the  spot,  a  position 
which  they  would  necessarily  assume  if  they  were  thrown  up  to  a 
greater  distance  from  his  centre,  and  would  move  more  slowly.  The 
same  observations  have  shown  that  spots  are  produced  below  the  level 
of  the  sun's  photosphere,  while  the  faculae  are  suspended  in  that 
medium.  If  this  be  admitted,  it  seems  to  follow  that  the  two  phenom- 
ena   are    effects    of    a    vertical    circulation    in    the    gaseous    matter 


WONDERS   OF   ASTRONOMY. 


753 


surrounding  the  sun,  the  faculai  being  produced  when  a  portion  some- 
what denser  than  the  medium  in  which  it  is  suspended  is  raised  into  or 
above  the  photosphere,  while  spots  are  observed  when  such  a  mass  is 
below  the  photospheric  stratum.  In  fact,  one  of  our  most  diligent  sun 
observers  has  seen  a  faculae,  apparently  in  the  act  of  sinking,  lose  its 
brightness  and  gradually  pass  into  a  spot,  its  form  remaining  unchanged 
during  the  process.  There  is  a  shorter  period  of  twenty  months' 
duration  observable  in  the  recurrence  of  spots,  and  this  coincides  with 
the  periods  of  recurrence  of  the  same  relative  position  of  Venus  as 
regards  the  sun  and  the  earth.  A  similar  relation  between  Jupiter  and 
the  sun  is  also  indicated.     These  discoveries  are  of  the  very  greatest 


BERNIERES'    IMMENSE   BURNING-GLASS. 

interest,  as  they  show  us  how  intimately  all  the  bodies  of  our  solar 
system  are  related  to  each  other,  and  how  the  slightest  change  in  any 
one  of  them  exerts  a  definite  influence  on  the  condition  of  the  entire 
system,  despite  the  great  magnitude  and  the  distance  from  each  other 
of  the  bodies  which  compose  it. 

The  burning-glass  has  long  been  used  for  the  purpose  of  producing 
combustion.  The  rays  of  the  sun  are  concentrated  by  means  of  a  con- 
cave lens,  and  with  a  lens  of  sufficient  power  all  combustible 
substances  can  be  ignited. 

The  curious  in  figures,  and  readers  who  have  a  higher  aim,  will  be 
interested  to  know  that  a  railway  train  at  the  average  speed  of  thirty 
48 


754 


WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 


miles  an  hour,  continuously  maintained,  would  arrive  at  the  moon  in 
eleven  months,  but  would  not  reach  the  sun  in  less  than  three  hundred 
and  fifty-two  years.  When  arrived,  it  would  be  rather  more  than  a 
year  and  a  half  in  reaching  the  sun's  centre  ;  three  years  and  a  quarter 
in  passing  through  the  sun,  supposing  it  was  tunnelled  through,  and 
ten  years  and  one-eighth  in  going  round  it.  How  great  these  dimensions 
are,  mav  be  conceived  from  the  statement,  that  tiic  same  train  would 


TELESCOPIC    VIEW   OF   THE    MOON. 

attain  the  centre  of  the  earth  in  five  days  and  a  half,  pass  through  it 
in  eleven  days,  and  go  round  it  in  thirty-seven  days. 

It  seems  strange  to  say  that  the  geography  of  the  moon,  or  at  least 
of  much  of  that  portion  of  her  surface  which  is  presented  to  our  view, 
is  better  known  than  that  of  man\'  parts  of  our  own  earth  ;  and  yet 
this  is  quite  true.  Our  telescopes  are  of  such  power  that  if  there  were 
an  object  on  the  moon's  surface  as  large  as  the  Capitol  at  Washington, 


WONDERS   OF   ASTRONOMY.  755 

they  would  infallibly  reveal  it  to  us.  Most  elaborate  maps  of  the  moon 
have  been  made,  and  it  has  been  satisfactorily  proven  that  she  iierself 
is  a  solid  body,  probably  composed  of  rocks  much  like  those  on  our 
planet,  but  not  provided  either  with  water  or  with  any  trace  of  an 
atmosphere.  It  presents  the  appearance  of  a  burnt  globe  or  body  of 
volcanic  matter. 

Persons  who  have  the  opportunity  of  looking  at  the  heavens  through 
a  telescope  of  the  greatest  power,  should  always  ask  to  be  shown  a 
"  globular  cluster."  There  is  no  object  in  the  sky  which  can  compare 
with  these  systems  in  respect  to  the  sublimity  of  the  ideas  which  their 
contemplation  evokes.  There  are  about  a  dozen  of  these  wonderful 
clusters  of  stars  known  to  astronomers.  One  or  two  of  these  clusters 
can  be  faintly  seen  with  the  naked  eye  on  a  very  dark  night,  as  a 
minute  spot  of  light  on  the  black  sky.  The  others  are  totally  invisible 
without  the  aid  of  a  telescope. 

These  bodies,  or  rather  congregations  of  bodies,  are  small  in  apparent 
size ;  that  is  to  say,  they  are  not  nearly  so  large  as  the  apparent  mag- 
nitude of  the  moon.  They  are  round  in  outline,  but  they  are  composed 
of  nothing  else  than  myriads  of  stars  clustered  together.  To  give  an 
idea  of  the  enormous  multitude  of  minute  stars  which  compose  one  of 
these  bodies,  the  following  illustration  suggested  itself  to  an  observer 
who  had  examined  several  of  these  objects  through  one  of  the  finest 
telescopes  in  the  world  :  take  a  piece  of  writing-paper  cut  into  a  circle 
about  three  inc^ies  in  diameter,  and  shake  a  pepper-castor  held  over  the 
centre  of  this  piece  of  paper  until  the  pepper  is  piled  up  in  the  middle 
so  as  to  form  a  heap,  gradually  getting  thinner  at  a  distance  from  the 
centre,  and  finally  ending  with  separate  grains  near  the  edge.  Now,  if 
we  imagine  each  grain  turned  into  a  brilliant  star,  and  the  piece  of 
white  paper  darkened  into  a  black  background,  we  get  some  idea  of  the 
marvelous  way  in  which  the  stars  are  crowded  together. 

Herschel  has  calculated  that  in  some  of  these  clusters  there  are  more 
than  two  thousand  stars  visible ;  and  when  it  is  remembered  that  each 
star  is  brilliant,  like  our  sun,  we  see  how  dazzling  must  be  the  splendor 
amid  such  a  host  of  luminaries.  Astronomers  know  but  little  more  of 
the  nature  of  these  clusters  than  what  has  been  here  described.  The 
forces  which  are  in  action  there  by  which  these  suns  are  held  in  the 
positions  which  they  appear  to  maintain,  are  unknown.  Some  of  these 
clusters  are  less  dense  than  others. 

But  what  may  be  the  size  of  these  constellated  suns?  We  think 
ourselves  the  great  ones  of  the  universe,  and  that  the  heavens  were 
hung  with  their  starry  lamps  to  give  light  to  our  night.  Have  we  any 
reason  for  our  pride  ?     Certainly  none,  if  we  measure  our  importance 


756  WONDERS    OF   THE   WHOLE   WORLD. 

by  our  size.  When  compared  with  that  our  own  sun  is  mighty.  Con- 
ceive his  size.  Suppose  that  the  fiery  globe  were  hollow,  and  that  our 
earth  were  placed  at  the  centre ;  the  moon  could  still  hold  on  her  way^ 
though  she  is  distant  from  us  two  hundred  and  forty  thousand  miles ; 
and  yet  there  would  be  two  hundred  thousand  miles  beyond  the  moon 
ere  the  shell  of  the  sun  were  reached.  What  a  mighty  mass  !  and  yet, 
though  so  great,  our  sun  is  a  speck  of  dust  compared  with  the  very 
smallest  of  the  numberless  stars  which  twinkle  so  peacefully  above  us. 
The  nearest  star  is  nearly  nineteen  billion  miles  from  us;  and  Sir.  J. 
Herschel  calculates  that  if  a  person  stood  upon  that  star  and  looked  to- 
wards our  earth,  not  only  would  our  mighty  sun  be  utterly  invisible, 
but  if  the  sun  were  so  enlarged  as  to  fit  the  earth's  orbit — that  is,  in- 
stead of  being  eight  hundred  thousand  miles  in  diameter,  he  were  more 
than  one  hundred  and  eighty  millions  of  miles  in  diameter — even  then 
that  stupendous  orbit  would  be  covered  by  a  human  hair  held  twenty- 
five  feet  from  the  edge,  presuming  the  pupil  of  the  eye  were  a  point ! 

In  other  words,  those  stars  which  cluster  to  form  these  mysterious 
balls  cannot  be  less,  and  they  may  be  infinitely  greater,  than  luminous 
orbs  having  diameters  of  one  hundred  and  eighty  million  of  miles  ;  orbs 
compared  with  which  our  earth  is  as  an  orange  to  the  dome  of  our 
national  Capitol ;  and  yet  there  are  thousands  of  such  suns  in  one  of 
these  faintly  luminous  patches,  scarcely  visible  to  the  eye ! 

ASTOUNDING    DISTANCES    OF   THE   FIXED   STARS. 

It  requires  a  little  consideration  to  estimate  what  the  Avords  nineteen 
billion  miles  really  mean.  A  billion  contains  one  thousand  millions, 
and  we  shall  endeavor  to  convey  an  idea  of  this  amount  by  a  simple 
illustration.  Supposing  our  great  forefather  Adam  had  commenced  to 
count  as  quickly  as  he  could,  and  that  when  his  life  was  ended  his  son 
commenced  to  count,  taking  up  from  the  number  at  which  Adam  left 
off,  and  spent  his  whole  life,  day  and  night,  counting  as  fast  as  he  could, 
and  supposing  that  at  his  death  he  enjoined  on  his  heirs  an  eternity  of 
counting,  and  that  they  had  continued  doing  so  up  to  the  present  mo- 
ment, their  united  efforts  would  not  yet  have  reached  the  amount  of 
nineteen  billions,  the  distance  in  miles  from  our  globe  of  the  nearest 
fixed  star ! 

Such,  then,  is  the  distance  of  the  nearest  fixed  star.  We  cannot 
grasp  it  in  our  imagination,  nor  are  we  more  successful  if  we  try  to 
make  a  map.  Knowing,  however,  the  distance  of  the  nearest  star,  what 
can  we  say  of  the  distance  of  the  farthest  of  those  that  arc  visible  ? 
Here  precise  knowledge  fails  us.  We  can,  indeed,  grope  after  the 
truth,  and  make  guesses  of  greater  or  less  probability.  We  believe  that 
it  is,  at  all  events,  hundreds  of  times  as  great  as  the  shorter  distance. 


1 


WONDERS   OF    ASTRONOMY.  757 

Meteors  are  always  associated  with  stars,  and,  in  fact,  are  shooting 
stars  in  common  phraseology.  On  the  seventh  of  October,  1868,  one  of 
the  most  remarkable  fire-balls  of  which  any  record  exists,  was  seen 
from  three  points  so  far  distant  from  each  other  as  Paris,  Rouen,  and 
London.  From  ten  to  fifteen  minutes  before  twelve,  the  moon  and  the 
rstars  shining  brightly,  the  atmosphere  being  frosty  and  cloudless,  and 
scarcely  a  breath  of  air  stirring,  thousands  of  people  between  and 
around  the  points  mentioned  above,  were  startled  by  a  sudden  blaze  of 
light  in  the  heavens.  The  brightness  resembled  that  of  the  magnesium 
light,  and  not  only  did  the  moon  and  stars  grow  dim  in  its  lustre,  but 
many  of  the  eye-witnesses  were  so  dazzled  by  the  glare,  that  they 
could  not  observe  the  phenomenon  with  sufficient  accuracy  to  give  an 
intelligible  account  of  it.  Others,  with  more  presence  of  mind,  have 
recorded  their  observations.  As  the  meteor  floated  slowly  across  the 
heavens  (slowly  when  judged  by  the  eye)  in  a  direction  from  north  to 
south,  its  appearance  changed  from  that  of  an  immense  globe  of  white 
light  to  a  comet-like  form,  the  tail  having  various  colors,  changing 
from  green  through  several  shades  of  red  to  blue  or  purple.  It 
exploded  with  a  sound  resembling  two  gunshots,  audible  at  Paris  and 
Rouen.  The  probability  is  that  it  fell  at  La  Varenne,  St.  Hilaire,  near 
the  Vincennes  railway,  and,  if  so,  has  been  identified  with  a  meteoric 
stone  found  there  and  measuring  about  thirty-nine  inches  in  length, by 
seven  or  eight  inches  in  thickness. 

History  abounds  in  similar  records,  but  it  has  not  often  been  possible 
to  combine  the  simultaneous  observations  made  in  distant  places ;  and 
it  may  be  doubted  if  the  elevation  would  always  admit  of  a  fire-ball 
being  observed  at  points  so  distant  from  each  other  as  in  this  instance. 
In  1768,  a  cloud  was  seen  to  explode  over  the  village  of  Luce  on  the 
Maine,  and  the  sound  was  heard  ten  miles  distant.  In  1798,  a  large 
fire-ball  was  seen  near  Benares,  in  India,  and  at  several  places,  extend- 
ing to  a  distance  of  fifteen  miles.  In  1803,  a  fiery  globe  of  extraor- 
dinary brilliance  was  seen  over  the  town  of  L'Aigle,  in  Normandy,  and 
at  such  an  elevation  that  the  inhabitants  of  two  hamlets,  a  league 
distant  from  each  oth^r,  saw  it  at  the  same  time.  It  burst  in  a  shower 
of  meteoric  stones. 

Fire-balls  are  most  often  seen  a  day  or  two  before,  or  a  day  or  two 
after,  the  recognized  dates  of  those  wonderful  displays  of  asteroids 
which  are  now  known  to  be  a  regularly  recurring  phenomenon  at  two 
periods  of  the  year,  one  of  these  being  in  November.  The  probability 
is  that  all  these  appearances  admit  of  one  and  the  same  explanation, 
namely,  that  they  are  masses  of  matter  revolving  round  the  sun,  which 
come  into  contact  with  the  earth,  and  take  fire  on  entering  its  atmos- 


A   MARVELOUS   SHOWER   OF   METEORS. 
758 


WONDERS    OF    ASTRONOMY.  759 

phere.  The  smaller  particles  are  consumed  in  passing  through  the 
atmosphere,  and  fall  to  the  earth  unperceived,  as  small  dust  ;  while  the 
larger  reach  the  ground  in  great  masses,  and  often  penetrate  to  a 
considerable  depth. 

An  observer,  gifted  with  the  keenest  sight,  would  be  utterly  unable 
to  discover,  without  the  aid  of  a  telescope,  the  slightest  trace  of  the 
wonderful  phenomenon  known  as  globes  of  gas  in  the  sky.  He  might 
weary  himself  with  staring  even  at  the  exact  spot  in  the  heavens  where 
one  of  these  objects  is  situated,  but  not  the  faintest  glimmer  would 
reward  his  efforts.  He  must  call  in  the  aid  of  that  indispensable 
requisite  to  the  astronomer — the  telescope — to  assist  him.  And  even 
a  telescope  of  such  dimensions  as  is  usually  seen  would  be  of  no  use  ; 
it  requires  a  telescope  of  very  considerable  power  to  show  these  objects 
at  all.  To  .show  them  well,  tasks  the  utmost  powers  of  a  very  first- 
rate  instrument,  such  as  is  seldom  met  with.  To  reveal,  however,  the 
full  beauty  of  their  marvelous  bodies,  to  exhibit  them  with  brilliancy 
and  clearness  sufficient  to  show  the  amount  of  detail  with  which  they 
are  figured  in  the  engravings,  required  the  whole  power  of  the  great 
instrument  of  the  Herschels,  or  the  colossal  telescope  of  Lord  Rosse. 

Let  us  suppose  that  an  observer  who  enjoys  the  privilege  of  looking 
at  the  heavens  through  an  instrument  such  as  that  last  mentioned, 
directs  the  telescope  on  one  of  these  bodies.  At  first,  perhaps,  he  has 
a  little  difficulty  in  distinguishing  it  from  a  star,  but  when  a  higher 
magnifier  is  applied  at  the  eye  end  of  the  telescope  the  difference  is 
wonderful.  He  sees  a  very  minute  round  ball,  very  bright,  and  glowing 
with  light  of  a  blue  color.  If  he  turn  to  another  of  these  curious 
objects  he  will  see  a  ball,  slightly  different  perhaps  in  size,  or  brilliancy, 
or  color,  perhaps  with  very  faint  markings  upon  it,  but  he  will  find  the 
general  features  in  all  these  bodies  to  be  the  same.  The  observer  can 
clearly  see  that  this  ball  he  is  looking  at  is  not  made  up  of  stars,  and 
then  the  idea  gradually  bursts  upon  him  that  the  object  must  be  a 
globe  of  gas. 

That  this  is  the  real  nature  of  these  objects  recent  discoveries  have 
placed  beyond  all  doubt.  As  we  recover  our  astonishment  at  this 
wonder,  a  crowd  of  questions  occur  to  us.  How  far  off  is  this  globe 
we  are  gazing  at  ?  All  we  know  is,  that  its  di.stance  from  the  earth 
must  be  incalculably  great.  This  question  science  cannot  answer  with 
accuracy.  It  is  jjrobably  far  more  remote  than  most  of  the  stars  which 
we  can  see  without  a  telescope,  but  even  of  this  we  cannot  be  quite 
sure.  How  large  is  it  ?  To  this  also  we  must  plead  our  ignorance. 
Knowing,  however,  that  its  distance  is  enormously  great,  we  very 
naturally  infer  that  it  must  be  proportionately  huge,  since  we  are  able  to 


760  WONDERS    OF   THE   WHOLE    WORLD. 

see  it  at  all.  But  supposing  we  take  the  vast  circle  whicii  the  earth 
describes  around  the  sun.  a  circle,  the  diameter  of  which  is  nearly  two 
hundred  millions  of  miles,  and  supposing  that  a  globe  conceix'ed  so 
large  that  it  would  only  just  pass  through  this  circle,  then  we  know  for 
certain  that  the  globe  of  nebulae  must  far  exceed  this  imaginary  globe 
in  bulk. 

How  is  it  that  the  gas  is  seen,  and  what  renders  it  luminous  ?  Gases, 
as  we  know  them  on  this  earth,  are  transparent  or  invisible  ;  how  is  it, 
then,  that  this  globe,  if  it  be  of  gas,  emits  this  lovely  blue  light  ?  To 
this  we  answer  that  the  gas  is  heated  so  hot  that  it  becomes  luminous, 
just  as  iron  when  heated  sufificiently  gives  out  light.  Difficult,  indeed, 
it  is  to  form  a  notion  of  these  wonderful  bodies.  They  are  utterly 
different  from  the  sun,  from  the  moon,  from  the  planets  which,  rela- 
tively speaking,  are  quite  near  to  us.     There  is  no   terrestrial  object  to 

which  we  could  refer  as  an  illustration. 
I  They  are  peculiar  and  unique  bodies  in 
I  the  universe,  and  many  have  supposed 
them  to  be  the  material  out  of  which  new 
!  worlds  are  evolved. 

There  are  in  the  heavens  about  twelve 
of  these  curious  objects,  varying  some- 
I  what  in  size  and  also  in  shape  and  color, 
but  the  general  features  in  all  are  pretty 
much  what  we  have  briefly  described- 
They  are  denominated,  along  with  many 
CLUSTERS  OF  NEBUL/t.  other  curious  celestial  bodies,  by  the  word 
nebulae  ;  but,  to  distinguish  them  from  the  great  majority  of  the  nebulae, 
we  call  them  planetary  nebulae.  It  must  not,  however,  be  inferred  that 
they  are  connected  with  the  planets  ;  the  only  reason  why  this  name  is 
given  is  that,  seen  through  a  telescope,  both  the  planets  and  the  globes 
of  gas  present  a  sharp,  round  outline.  Our  illustration  will  give  the 
reader  some  idea  of  their  shape  and  appearance. 

Among  the  chief  marvels  of  astronomy  must  be  mentioned  comets. 
These  wonderful  appearances  have  frequently  happened  within  historic 
periods,  but  not  so  often  as  to  diminish  the  admiration  and  amazement 
with  which  each  new  arrival  is  greeted.  A  comet  consists  of  a  vast 
mass  of  gaseous  matter  surrounding  a  central  portion  which  appears  to 
be  of  denser  material,  and  is  called  the  nucleus.  This  vast  mass  of 
luminous  gas  generally  assumes  the  form  of  a  tail ;  but  this  is  not  al- 
ways nor  even  generally  the  case,  as  a  comet  sometimes  is  nearly  round, 
and  sometimes  it  does  not  even  present  the  nucleus,  and  in  that  case  it 
appears  like  a  round  ball  of  luminous  gas. 


WONDERS    OF    ASTRONOMY.  761 

Though  comets  large  enough  to  be  conspicuous  to  the  naked  eye  are 
only  seen  at  intervals  of  many  years,  it  is  well  known  to  astronomers 
that  hardly  a  year  passes  without  one  or  more  small  comets  being 
brought  within  reach  of  our  telescopes.  The  earth  and  the  planets  are 
retained  in  their  orbits  by  the  attraction  of  the  sun,  and  it  is  the  same 
great  power  which  draws  the  comets  within  reach  of  our  eyes  and  tele- 
scopes. The  planets  move  around  the  sun  very  nearly  in  circles  ;  many 
comets  likewise  revolve  around  the  sun,  but  not  in  circles  ;  their  paths 
are  oval  or  elliptical,  and  the  sun  is  not  at  the  centre  of  the  ellipse,  but 
near  to  one  end  of  it,  in  a  point  which  is  known  as  the  focus  of  the 
ellipse.  These  ellipses  are  generally  very  long,  so  that  the  comet  takes 
a  great  period  of  time  to  travel  round  in  its  path.  The  one  which  takes 
the  shortest  journey  spends  three  years  in  performing  it.  There  are 
some  comets  that,  after  passing  near  the  sun  in  their  elliptical  orbit,  re- 
treat to  the  other  end  of  their  ellipse,  which  is  at  such  a  prodigious  dis- 
tance that  thousands  of  years  must  elapse  ere  they  revisit  the  neighbor- 
hood of  the  sun  again.  One  of  these  was  a  great  comet  which  appeared 
in  the  year  1844.  Its  orbit  was  calculated,  and  it  was  found  that  after 
leaving  the  sun,  it  would  retreat  into  space  to  a  distance  equal  to  four 
thousand  times  the  distance  of  the  earth  from  the  sun,  and  that  ere  it 
returned  again,  it  would  have  performed  a  stupendous  journey,  which 
would  have  taken  it  not  less  than  a  hundred  thousand  years  to  accom- 
plish. 

But  there  are  many  comets  which  astronomers  can  prove  will  never 
again  return  to  the  neighborhood  of  the  sun.  They  come  from  the  re- 
mote depths  of  space,  at  a  stupendous  distance  from  the  sun  and  all  his 
train  of  planets  ;  on  beginning  to  feel  the  effect  of  his  attraction  they 
move  towards  our  system,  and  at  length  they  come  sufficiently  near  to 
it  to  be  visible  through  a  telescope,  and  as  surely  as  they  do  so,  so 
surely  are  they  detected  by  the  keen  eyes  of  some  of  the  numerous 
astronomers  who  are  always  on  the  watch  for  these  bodies.  They 
come  on  nearer  to  the  sun,  till  their  pace  exceeds  that  of  the  earth 
itself,  but  they  do  not  plunge  headlong  into  him.  Notwithstanding 
the  vast  powers  of  his  attraction,  they  just  whirl  round  the  mighty  lu- 
minary. Exposed  to  the  fearful  heat  of  his  beams,  the  tail  is  developed 
to  an  enormous  length.  By  some  unknown  law,  which  Professor 
Tyndall  has  recently  sought  to  explain  in  a  very  ingenious  manner,  the 
tail  stands  out  away  from  the  sun  as  the  comet  whirls  around  it;  then, 
after  having  passed  the  sun,  the  comet  retreats  again.  It  gradually 
becomes  fainter,  gradually  is  lost  sight  of  by  our  telescopes,  gradually 
plunges  again  into  the  depths  of  space,  never  again  to  revisit  our  sun, 
never  again  to  be  beheld  by  human  eye.     Such  is  the  history  of  many 


762 


WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 


of  the  great  comets  which  at  different  times  have  struck  terror  into  the 
inhabitants  of  the  earth — they  have  retreated  never  more  to  return. 

The  great  comet  of  1843  was  one  of  the  most  remarkable  ever  ob- 
served. The  nucleus  of  this  was  so  brilliant  that  it  could  be  seen  with 
the  greatest  ease  in  full  daylight.  This  comet  is  remarkable  for  coming 
nearer  to  the  sun  than  any  other  of  these  bodies  whose  paths  have 


THE    GRE.\T    COMET    OF    1 843. 

been  determined  with  accuracy.  It  was  found  to  approach  the  sun  tO' 
within  a  distance  of  thirty-three  thousand  miles.  It  is  easy  to  calcu- 
late, though  not  easy  to  imagine,  what  must  be  the  heat  in  such  a 
position.  It  would  doubtless  be  many  hundred  times  greater  than  the 
temperature  of  molten  iron. 

Speculations  have  often  been  indulged  in  as  to  the  possibility  of  a 


WONDERS    OF    ASTRONOMY.  763 

collision  between  the  earth  and  a  comet.  In  June,  1861,  M.  Liais,  the 
celebrated  astronomer  at  Rio  Janeiro,  from  observations  which  he  had 
made  of  the  great  comet  of  that  year,  which  had  not  as  yet  become 
\'isible  in  Europe,  became  convinced  there  was  a  great  hkelihood  that 
the  earth  would  come  in  contact  with  one  of  the  tails  of  the  comet; 
and  M.  Liais  proved  beyond  question,  that  on  the  nineteenth  of  June, 
1 861,  the  earth  really  did  pass  through  one  of  the  comet's  tails,  the 
moment  of  contact  being  twelve  minutes  past  six  in  the  morning ; 
and  the  earth  must  have  been  wholly  immersed  in  the  tail  for  about 
four  hours.  Yet  it  had  no  perceptible  influence  upon  the  weather — a 
very  remarkable  fact,  adding  reason  to  suppose  that  cometary  matter 
is  some  millions  of  times  rarer  than  our  atmosphere.  This  phenome- 
non had  never  before  occurred,  according  to  the  dictum  of  Arago,  the 
astronomer.  Lord  Wrottesley,  in  i860,  remarked  that  when  the  comet 
of  Encke  returned,  its  motion  was  continually  accelerated,  and  it  was 
consequently  drawn  nearer  to  the  sun.  The  final  result  will  be,  that 
after  the  lapse  of  ages,  this  comet  will  fall  into  the  sun ;  this  body,  a 
mere  hazy  cloud,  continually  flickering,  as  it  were,  like  a  celestial  moth 
round  the  great  luminary,  is  at  some  distant  period  destined  to  be 
mercilessly  consumed.  Other  astronomers  differ  from  this  opinion, 
and  consider  that  there  is  no  substantial  reason  to  suppose  the  sun  will 
ever  become  a  great  consumer  of  comets,  although  it  is  very  difficult 
to  explain  why  a  comet  drawn  with  amazing  velocity  toward  the  sun, 
will,  upon  coming  near  and  at  just  the  point  where  the  attraction  is  the 
greatest,  suddenly  sail  round  the  great  luminary  and  dart  away  in  its 
strange  flight. 

THE    SUBSTANCES    COMPOSING    THE   SUN. 

Our  knowledge  of  the  physical  constitution  of  the  sun  has  been 
greatly  increased  within  the  last  few  years  by  the  wonderful  revelations 
of  that  most  powerful  engine  of  physical  research,  the  spectroscope. 
A  careful  analysis  of  the  solar  spectrum  formed  by  a  prism,  and  a  com- 
parison of  it  with  the  spectra  of  terrestrial  elements  in  a  state  of 
incandescence,  reveal  to  us  the  presence  in  the  solar  atmosphere  of 
many  familiar  substances,  such  as  hydrogen,  and  the  vapors  of  iron, 
sodium  and  other  metals.  Line  for  line  the  solar  spectrum  agrees  with 
the  known  peculiarities  of  elements  which  form  constituents  of  our  own 
globe,  and  we  have  the  interesting  fact  established  that  the  gorgeous 
parent  of  our  system  is,  so  to  speak,  bone  of  our  bone  and  flesh  of  our 
flesh.  The  same  powerful  analysis,  when  extended  to  the  stars,  dis- 
closes similar  results ;  and  we  are  led  to  the  inference  that  our  own 
tiny  globe,  though  such  an  insignificant  fraction  of  the  universe,  con- 
tains, represented  within  its  narrow  bounds,  all  the  materials  of  which 


■764  WONDERS    OF   THE   WHOLE   WORLD. 

that  gorgeous  system  is  built  up.  Unfortunately  the  spectroscope  can 
tell  us  nothing  of  our  own  satellite,  though  it  is  so  much  the  nearest 
and  most  distinctly  visible  of  all  the  orbs  of  heaven.  Moonlight  is 
simply  reflected  sunlight ;  and  hence  its  spectrum  is,  as  we  should 
expect,  but  a  faint  reproduction  of  the  more  brilliant  solar  one. 

The  spectroscope  has  lately  been  applied  successfully  to  those 
singularly  beautiful  phenomena  which  accompany  a  total  solar  eclipse, 
and  which  are  generally  known  as  the  rose-colored  protuberances.  As 
soon  as  the  sun's  light  is  wholly  cut  off  by  the  moon,  cloud-like 
prominences  of  a  bright  roseate  hue  are  seen  projecting  from  its  sur- 
face beyond  the  moon's  edge  ;  and  occasionally  traces  of  a  layer  of 
the  same  material  are  seen  at  their  bases,  which  lead  us  to  suppose 
that  the  whole  sun  is  encompassed  by  a  ring  of  this  matter.  Whether 
it  is  a  distinct  solar  envelope,  or  only  a  part  of  the  photosphere,  is  at 
present  uncertain  ;  but  pending  the  settlement  of  the  doubt,  it  has 
received  the  specific  name  of  the  chromosphere.  The  spectroscope  shows 
it  to  consist  of  incandescent  gas,  of  which  hydrogen  is  the  chief  con- 
stituent ;  and  the  rose-colored  protuberances  are  huge  masses  of  this 
flaming  substance,  which  have  been  hurled  up  into  the  solar  atmosphere 
to  a  height,  sometimes,  of  fifty  or  a  hundred  thousand  miles  above 
their  ordinary  bed. 

THE   GORGEOUS    SOLAR    HALO. 

Another  interesting  phenomenon  which  appears  at  the  time  of  a  total 
eclipse  is  the  solar  corona — a  great  halo  of  light  surrounding  the  dark- 
ened sun  and  stretching  far  out  into  space.  This  halo  was  at  first  sup- 
posed, naturally  enough,  to  be  the  solar  atmosphere,  lighted  up  by  the 
sun's  rays  streaming  through  it  and  imparting  to  it  a  portion  of  his  own 
effulgence.  But  here  again  the  spectroscope  comes  to  our  aid.  It  tells 
us  the  degree  of  pressure  to  which  the  incandescent  hydrogen  compos- 
ing the  rose-colored  protuberances  is  subjeeted,  and  shows  the  impossi- 
bility of  their  being  burdened  by  such  an  enormous  atmosphere  as  the 
whole  corona  would  represent.  The  progress  of  modern  science  has 
left  little  doubt  as  to  its  real  nature.  We  have  learned  that  the  whole 
;solar  system  is  traversed  by  numberless  tiny  planetoids,  some  moving 
singly,  others  in  small  clusters  and  others  in  enormous  groups  contain- 
ing countless  myriads  of  these  little  units.  These  aerolites  pursue  their 
proper  paths  about  the  sun  as  truly  as  the  largest  bodies  of  the  system, 
save  when  they  get  entangled  in  the  atmosphere  of  our  own  or  any  of 
the  other  planets.  When  this  is  the  case,  the  sudden  checking  of  their 
-enormous  velocities  by  the  resistance  of  the  air  reduces  them  instantly 
to  a  state  of  incandescence,  and  wc  see  them  flashing  across  our  firma- 
ment as  shooting  stars,  the  next  moment  to  be  dissipated  into  vapor. 


WONDERS   OF   ASTRONOMY.  765 

The  periodical  meteoric  showers  of  August  and  November  arc  caused 
by. our  orbit  carrying  us,  at  those  periods  of  the  year,  right  through 
great  clusters  of  these  aerolites.  It  has  been  estimated  that  not  less 
than  a  hundred  thousand  million  of  them  are  annually  caught  by  our 
atmosphere ;  and  \\  hen  we  consider  the  comparative  smallness  of  the 
ring  which  we  traverse,  we  can  see  that  the  absolute  number  of  the 
meteorolites  belonging  to  our  system  must  be  something  incomparably 
exceeding  the  highest  flights  of  human  calculation.  In  the  immediate 
neighborhood  of  the  sun,  where  his  attraction  exercises  the  most  direct 
and  potent  influence,  they  will  be  found  in  special  abundance  ;  and  it  is 
to  the  fact  of  their  existence  that  we  must  look  for  an  explanation  of 
the  corona,  and  perhaps  of  yet  greater  and  more  interesting  mysteries 
of  our  system.  The  corona  is  simply  the  sunlight  reflected  from  their 
surfaces,  as  it  is  from  the  disks  of  the  moon  and  planets.  For  a  vast 
distance  round  the  sun  the  whole  firmament  is  powdered  with  them  as 
thick  as  hailston-es,  and  the  reflection  from  them  produces  a  continuous 
luminous  glow,  lost  indeed  in  the  overpowering  brightness  of  ordinary 
sunlight,  but  shining  out  with  exquisite  lustre  when  his  direct  beams 
are  cut  off  from  us. 

THE    GLORY    OF   THE    STARS. 

The  great  distance  of  the  stars  from  us  prevents  us  from  knowing 
almost  anything  whatever  about  their  condition,  except  what  we  can 
infer  from  analogy.  They  hold  the  same  place  in  creation  that  our  own 
sun  does.  They  are  not  satellites  of  any  other  body,  but  primary  orbs, 
independent  sources  of  light  and  heat,  and  probably  the  centres  of 
systems  not  less  varied  and  gorgeous  than  our  own.  Hence  we  may 
argue  with  a  high  degree  of  probability  that  those  facts  which  have 
been  ascertained  concerning  the  general  nature  of  the  sun,  hold  equally 
true  of  the  stars.  And  as  for  their  individual  peculiarities,  we  are  for 
the  most  part  equally  in  the  dark  about  them  also,  and  that  for  the 
same  reason.  All  the  stars  appear  to  us  as  mere  luminous  specks 
without  any  perceptible  magnitude.  And  although  "  one  star  diffcreth 
from  another  star  in  glory,"  though  even  the  naked  eye  can  detect 
many  degrees  of  brilliancy  among  them,  yet  all  we  can  infer  from  this 
is  that  the  more  brilliant  ones  are  probably  much  nearer  to  us  than  the 
others.  But  there  are  stars  which  form  marked  exceptions  to  the 
general  rule,  and  stand  out  prominently  from  the  rest. 

The  existence  of  binary  stars  was  discovered  by  SirWilliam  Herschel 
toward  the  close  of  last  century.  It  had  long  been  noticed  by  astronomers 
as  a  remarkable  coincidence  that  in  several  instances  a  pair  of  bright 
stars  were  found  in  close  proximity  to  each  other,  much  closer  than  we 
should  have  expected  supposing  the  stars  to  have  been  scattered  up 


766  WONDERS    OF    THE    WHOLE    WORLD. 

and  down  at  random  over  the  whole  face  of  the  heavens.  Still  it  was 
never  thought  that  this  was  anything  more  than  a  coincidence  ;  it  was 
supposed  that  the  stars  had  no  connection  with  each  other,  but  were 
altogether  separate  bodies,  which  merely  happened  to  be  situated  in 
one  straight  line  with  ourselves.  But  Herschel  having,  for  some 
scientific  purposes  which  it  would  take  too  long  to  explain,  determined 
to  make  a  series  of  minute  and  careful  observations  upon  these  double 
stars,  soon  found  to  his  surprise  that  they  were  rapidly  shifting  their 
positions  relatively  to  each  other ;  and,  in  short,  he  was  erelong  led  to 
the  conclusion  that  the  two  stars  were  in  reality  situated  close  together, 
and  revolving  in  orbits  round  one  another.  Many  pairs  of  stars  of  this 
kind  were  observed  and  registered,  while  in  some  cases  the  combinations 
were  found  to  consist  of  three  stars,  and  even  four,  instead  of  two. 

IMMENSE   SUNS   WITH    RAINBOW    COLORS. 

But  one  of  the  most  remarkable  features  about  these  multiple  stars 
is  that  they  are  very  frequently  of  different  colors.  In  the  case  of  the 
double  stars  the  two  colors  are  usually  complementary  ;  colors,  that  is, 
which  when  mixed  together,  in  proper  proportions,  produce  white. 
This  one  will  be  green  and  the  other  red,  or  one  orange  and  the  other 
blue,  or  one  violet  and  the  other  j^ellow.  Similarly  in  the  triple  stars 
we  may  have -a  blue,  a  red  and  a  yellow,  or  a  green,  an  orange  and  a 
violet.  In  a  quadruple  star  we  may  have  blue,  green,  orange  and  red  ; 
and  so  on,  in  endless  combinations.  If  there  be  any  planets  in  attend- 
ance upon  these  multiple  suns,  as  in  all  probability  there  will  be,  the 
celestial  phenomena  at  those  planets  will  be  of  the  most  extraordinary 
character  indeed,  and  everything  that  depends  on  these  phenomena — 
their  times  and  their  seasons,  their  days  and  their  years — will  be 
involved  in  the  most  intricate  complications. 

If,  indeed,  any  of  them  happened  to  be  situated  in  very  close  prox- 
imity to  one  of  the  primaries,  things  with  it  would  not  be  so  confused. 
It  would  always  revolve  round  the  same  sun,  though  in  a  very  irregular 
and  perturbed  orbit ;  and  hence  its  days  and  its  years  would  follow  each 
other  pretty  much  in  the  natural  and  regular  order.  But  its  seasons 
will  vary  much  both  in  length  and  temperature,  and  its  nights,  though 
much  darker  than  its  days,  will  yet  differ  from  them  far  less  than  is  the 
case  with  us.  For  when  the  primary  orb  sinks  beneath  the  horizon,  the 
secondary  ones  will  shine  out  in  full  splendor,  much  smaller  and  more 
distant  than  the  primary,  but  yet  far  exceeding  in  brilliancy  the  borrowed 
light  of  the  brightest  of  full  moons.  But  most  of  their  planets,  not 
nestled  close  enough  beside  any  one  of  their  suns,  will  come  pretty 
equally  under  the  influence  of  all.  Take,  for  instance,  the  case  of  a 
planet  in  a  quadruple  system  at  a  time  when  it  happens  to  be  about 


WONDERS    OF    ASTRONOMY.  767 

■equally  distant  from  all  its  four  suns.  A  green  and  a  red  sun  are  above 
the  horizon,  and  when  we  look  directly  at  either,  its  color  is  clear, 
brilliant  and  well-defined.  But  their  rays  meet  and  mingle  and  unite 
into  a  dazzling  snowy  white,  which  imparts  to  the  whole  landscape  the 
pure  radiant  look  which  seems  to  fill  the  firmament  on  a  sunny  day 
when  the  ground  is  covered  with  snow.  A  light  cloud-wreath  steals 
over  the  green  sun,  and  a  faint  rosy  blush  overspreads  the  face  of  the 
sky.  The  cloud  thickens,  and  the  rosy  hue  deepens  into  a  mellow 
crimson. 

Then  the  green  sun  sets  and  a  blue  one  rises,  changino-  the  red  lisht 
of  the  sky  into  a  rich  purple,  veined  here  and  there  with  pale  amethyst, 
as  a  few  rays  from  the  green  sun  struggle  through  the  clouds  just  as  it 
sinks  beneath  the  horizon.  The  purple  changes  into  a  deep  gold  as 
the  blue  sun  is  succeeded  by  an  orange  one,  and  the  gold  pales  down 
as  the  red  sun  sinks  to  his  rest  in  turn.  The  orange  is  left  alone,  and 
when  it,  too,  sets,  night  comes  on  apace.  And  now  the  moons  rise 
and  shed  their  radiance  on  the  scene.  But  how  differently  do  they 
.show  from  the  pale  uniform  light  that  beams  from  our  own  plain  satel- 
lite!  Every  color  of  the  rainbow  glows  from  their  faces;  in  belts,  in 
spots,  in  lunes,  their  checkered  disks  reflect  every  shade  of  hue  that 
the  artist's  palette  can  produce. 

The  parts  illumined  by  one  sun  alone  reflect,  more  faintly  than  the 
rest,  the  colors  of  their  respective  orbs ;  those  which  come  within  the 
light  of  two  or  three  of  them  will  shine  more  brightly  and  with  gayer 
combinations  of  colors  ;  while  in  the  parts  on  which  all  the  four  suns 
shine  at  once  we  find  again  the  snowy  white,  so  bright  as  to  sparkle 
almost  with  the  light  of  day.  But  where  there  are  four  great  lights  to 
rule  the  day,  night  will  be  of  unfrequent  occurrence  and  of  short  dura- 
tion ;  and  soon  the  four  suns,  their  nocturnal  course  ended,  begin  at 
once  to  draw  nigh  to  their  rising.  Pale,  slender  threads  of  red,  green, 
blue,  and  orange  steal  out  from  the  darkness  in  four  quarters  of  the 
horizon  ;  and  these  widen  and  lengthen  till  they  mingle  together  at 
their  extremities  in  softly  shading  hues  of  white,  indigo,  and  gold. 
Brighter  and  broader  they  grow,  and  the  gorgeous  variegated  belt 
spreads  rapidly  from  horizon  to  zenith,  till  at  last  the  suns  have  fairly 
risen,  and  their  many-colored  rays  combine  again  into  the  dazzling 
white  of  the  perfect  day. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 


WONDERS  OF  LIGHT  AND  HEAT. 


Light  Defined — Immense  Number  of  Vibrations — The  Marvelous  Prism — Polished  Reflec- 
tors— The  Swiftest  Traveler  in  the  Universe — Method  of  Ascertaining  the  Velocity — 
Hidden  Heat — A  Practical  Application  of  Heat — Human  Power  to- 
Bear  a  High  Temperature — Walking  Over  Red-Hot  Iron. 

HAT  is  light?  The  answer  is  wonderful  enough. 
Light  is  motion — the  motion  or  vibration  of  an  impon- 
derable, invisible,  all-present  something,  which,  for  the 
want  of  a  better  word,  philosophers  call  ether.  This 
ether  permeates  all  space,  and  is  capable  of  receiving 
various  kinds  of  motion.  Sir  Isaac  Newton,  the  most 
profound  of  natural  philosophers,  left  at  the  end  of 
his  great  work,  the  Principia,  three  assertions — asser- 
tions which  all  but  deserve  the  name  of  prophecies, 
for  he  seems  to  have  had  little  reason  for  making  them  beyond  his 
marvelous  sagacity.  Two  of  these  have  already  been  found  true,  and 
the  third  seems  daily. approaching  demonstration.  It  is,  that  light,  heat, 
magnetism,  electricity  and  animal  life  are  all  the  offspring  of  one  great 
source  ;  or,  in  other  words,  that  these  wonderful  powers  are  all  allied  to 
each  other,  and  are  probably  only  the  same  thing  in  different  states  of 
motion.  Every  year  science  discovers  some  new  connecting  link.  We 
know  that  electricity  can  produce  light,  heat  and  magnetism,  and  that 
a  dead  body  can  be  made  to  exhibit  the  muscular  functions  of  life  under 
its  influence ;  and  that  the  reverse  of  all  this  is  true ;  that  electricity  in 
its  turn  can  be  produced  by  heat  or  magnetism,  or  animal  life.  So  that 
the  day  may  yet  come  when  we  shall  be  able  to  show  that  these 
powers  are  only  different  states  of  this  very  ether  whose  motion  pro- 
duces light ! 

The  eye  is  such  a  delicate  organ,  that  we  have  a  better  means  of  in- 
vestigating the  properties  of  light  than  those  of  any  of  the  kindred 
powers.  And  truly  are  the  results  of  this  investigation  wonderful ! 
That  motion  of  this  ether  which  is  light,  is  termed  "  wave  motion."  If 
a  stone  be  thrown  into  water,  rings  of  waves  begin  to  circle  from  the 
place  where  the  water  was  disturbed,  widening  further  and  further.  If 
there  should  be  a  piece  of  straw  or  any  light  body  floating  on  the  water, 
the  wave  does  not  carry  this  with  it,  but  it  merely  rises  and  falls  as  the 
(768) 


WONDERS    OF    LIGHT    AND    HEAT.  769 

wave  passes  beneath  it ;  teaching  us  that  the  water  does  not  move  in 
the  direction  of  the  wave,  but  each  particle  of  fluid  rises  and  falls  again 
into  the  exact  place  from  which  it  was  disturbed.  This  is  wave  motion, 
and  is  the  manner  in  which  all  disturbances  are  propagated  in  different 
media.  For  example  :  sound  is  produced  by  similar  waves  in  the  air. 
The  air  is  not  put  into  motion  in  such  a  manner  as  to  produce  wind — 
we  do  not  feel  a  breeze,  when  listening  to  an  organ,  issuing  from  the 
instrument — and  yet  we  know  that  sound  is  produced  by  waves  of  air. 
In  an  earthquake  this  same  kind  of  motion  is  produced,  and  as  the 
waves  ripple  the  surface  of  the  land,  they  upset  buildings,  but  the  earth 
is  not  cast  up  in  waves  and  ridges,  like  huge  furrows  of  a  ploughed  field, 
thrown  in  confusion  over  each  other.  A  wave,  in  scientific  language,  is, 
therefore,  understood  to  be  an  undulatory  movement  which  passes  through 
the  medium  without  permanently  disturbing  it. 

We  may  give  some  idea  of  the  manner  of  this  vibration  which  takes 
place  in  a  pencil  of  light,  by  fastening  a  long  cord  to  a  distant  point, 
holding  the  other  end  in  the  hand.  When  the  hand  is  shaken,  a  wave 
runs  along  the  string;  if  the  hand  be  turned  round  as  it  is  shaken,  a 
series  of  waves  in  different  positions  would  pass  along  the  cord.  If  we 
imagine  this  cord  to  be  ether,  and,  instead  of  one  hand,  many  were  at 
the  same  time  causing  the  oscillations  in  different  positions,  we  should 
have  a  pencil  of  light. 

The  size  and  rapidity  oi  these  waves  can  be  measured.  What  greater 
wonder  can  be  expressed  than  to  say  that  during  every  second  the  eye 
is  looking  at  a  violet  flower  or  a  mauve  ribbon,  the  delicate  retina  is 
receiving  and  recognizing  millions  of  the  most  minute  and  delicate 
impulses  !  Conceive  the  number  !  Suppose  three  million  people  capable 
of  counting  one  hundred  every  minute,  that  this  vast  multitude  counted 
on  twelve  hours  every  day ;  it  is  estimated  that  it  would  take  their 
united  effort  to  count  for  nearly  ten  years  before  they  told  the  number 
of  the  vibrations  which  cause  us  to  perceive  violet  color  for  one  second. 

How  little  do  we  know  how  wonderfully  we  are  made !  We  do  not 
say  that  the  retina  of  the  eye,  which  is  the  network  of  the  optic  nerve 
•spread  out  to  catch  the  light  which  enters  through  the  pupil,  absolutely 
vibrates  this  enormous  number  of  times  itself,  but  it  is  so  delicately 
constructed  that  it  can  be  affected  by  these  vibrations ;  and  the  nerve 
receives  them,  and  transmits  them  faithfully  to  the  brain.  Many  persons 
are  color-blind.  '  That  is  on  account  of  some  defect  either  in  the  con- 
struction of  the  retina,  or  in  the  means  of  transmitting  its  impressions 
to  the  brain  ;  the  proper  number  of  oscillations  is  not  registered,  and 
therefore  the  right  color  is  not  perceived.  Just  so  with  the  ear.  If  the 
tympanum,  or  the  fine  membrane  which  is  stretched  across  the  tube 
49 


770  WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD, 

which  has  its  opening  in  the  ear,  be  thick,  it  is  not  capable  of  feeling- 
very  rapid  vibrations  of  the  air,  which  beat  against  it ;  and  as  the  higher 
the  note  the  greater  are  the  number  of  vibrations — for  example,  the 
highest  note  in  a  piano  causes  about  three  thousand  vibrations  in  a  sec- 
ond !  Many  people  cannot  hear  so  high  a  note,  because  their  tympanum 
has  become  thick ;  and  many  more  cannot  hear  the  chirp  of  a  cricket, 
for  the  same  reason.  The  delicate  construction  of  the  eye  and  the  ear 
is  truly  wonderful. 

Every  one  must  have  observed  the  beautiful  colored  image  formed 
by  allowing  a  ray  of  light  to  pass  through  a  triangular-shaped  bar  of 
glass  called  a  prism.  White  light  thus  treated  is  said  to  be  decom- 
posed, and  the  ray  is  said  to  be  refracted  from  its  original  course.  Sir 
Isaac  Newton  was  the  first  to  notice  this  power  of  the  prism,  and  hence 
came  to  the  conclusion  that  ordinary  light  was  composed  of  seven 
colored  rays  united  in  one,  each  being  of  different  refrangibility.  The 
violet,  being  the  most  diverted  or  refrangible,  is  the  farthest  from  the 
red,  which  is  the  least  so  ;  the  other  rays  occupying  intermediate 
positions. 

EXTRAORDINARY    REFLECTING    POWER. 

Just  as  an  India-rubber  ball  bounds  from  any  surface  it  strikes 
against,  so  light  is  reflected  from  any  object  which  lies  in  its  path. 
Perhaps  this  comparison  is  hardly  correct ;  for  all  the  light  does  not 
rebound  from  the  reflecting  surface,  but  only  a  portion  of  the  ray  is 
reflected,  the  rest  either  being  absorbed  by  the  body,  or,  if  the  body 
be  transparent,  passing  through  it.  The  quantity  of  light  which  is 
thus  reflected  entirely  depends  on  the  state  of  the  surface.  Silver,  for 
example,  which  admits  of  a  very  high  polish,  when  excessively  bright 
reflects  almost  all  the  rays  which  fall  upon  it ;  whereas,  if  its  surface 
be  dull,  only  very  few  are  thrown  back.  Any  surface  which  is  not 
highly  polished  is  really  made  up  of  innumerable  small  projections, 
which  the  process  of  polishing  either  lays  flat  or  shaves  off;  and  when 
a  beam  of  light  strikes  such  a  surface,  each  of  these  projections  throws 
back  some  of  it,  and  scatters  the  light  in  a  thousand  ways — or,  as 
science  expresses  it,  the  light  is  dispersed.  This  is  the  reason  why 
you  cannot  see  your  face  in  a  sheet  of  paper ;  the  light  which  shines 
from  your  face  reaches  the  paper,  but  instead  of  being  thrown  back 
regularly,  as  it  is  by  a  polished  surface,  it  is  scattered  in  every  direction. 

If  the  surface  be  perfectly  smooth,  the  light  which  comes  from  any 
object  is  reflected  from  the  surface  unbroken,  just  as  it  comes  from  the 
object,  and,  therefore,  carries  an  image  of  the  object  to  the  eye.  This 
is  the  case  with  a  looking-glass  ;  and  it  will  be  noticed  that  the  image 
is  apparently  just  as  far  behind  the  glass  as  the  object  is  really  before 


WONDERS    OF   LIGHT    AND    HEAT.  771 

it.  This  fact  has  been  ingeniously  taken  advantage  of  to  exhibit  that 
popular  wonder,  the  sphynx.  The  exhibitor  prepares  a  three-legged 
table,  and  fits  two  sheets  of  looking-glass  from  one  leg  to  the  other 
two  legs — that  side  of  the  table  which  has  no  looking-glass  between 
its  legs  is  away  from  the  audience.  The  floor  of  the  stage  is  covered 
with  green  baize,  and  the  sides  and  back  are  hung  with  plain  red 
material.  The  audience  see  the  reflection  of  the  sides  from  the  look- 
ing-glasses, and  fancy  they  are  looking  under  the  table  to  the  back  of 
the  stage.  Of  course,  the  owner  of  the  head  is  kneeling  under  the 
table.  The  conjurer  carefully  abstains  from  going  behind  the  table,  or 
another  wonder,  not  included  in  his  startling  programme,  would  be 
produced — that  of  a  legless  wizard. 

ASTONISHING  VELOCITY  OF    LIGHT. 

Beams  of  light  shoot  through  the  fields  of  space  with  the  prodigious 
velocity  of  one  hundred  and  ninety-six  thousand  miles  a  second  ;  so 
th^t  a  wave  of  light  issuing  from  the  fires  of  the  sun  speeds  on  its 
journey  for  eight  minutes  before  it  reaches  our  world.  If  a  trip  to  the 
sun  were  advertised  by  the  "  runners  "  of  the  day,  and  a  train  equipped 
for  the  journey — supposing  it  never  stopped  at  any  of  the  planetary 
stations,  but  rushed  on  forty  miles  every  hour — it  would  require 
generations  to  reach  the  sun  ;  and  yet  this  space,  which  one  of  our 
express  trains  could  only  travel  in  two  hundred  and  seventy  years,  is 
passed  through  by  a  beam  of  light  in  eight  minutes  I  How  can  such 
rapid  motion  be  measured  ?  The  finding  of  the  velocity  of  light  is  no 
less  wonderful  than  the  velocity  itself 

In  the  year  1676  the  Danish  astronomer,  Olaus  Roemer,  observed 
certain  eclipses  of  the  moons  of  Jupiter.  Now  we  know  all  about  the 
four  moons  which  circle  round  the  bright  and  lovely  planet  which  so 
often  is  a  conspicuous  object  in  our  heavens,  and  therefore  we  know 
when  they  pass  behind  the  planet  and  so  become  eclipsed.  The  exact 
time  of  these  eclipses  is  calculated,  and  is  one  means  by  which  sailors 
can  find  out  where  they  are  on  the  ocean.  The  very  best  chronometers 
vary,  and  therefore  tables  are  published,  in  which  the  times  of  the 
eclipses  of  the  moons  of  Jupiter  are  given.  Suppose  that  to-night  one 
of  the  moons  passes  behind  the  planet  at  ten  o'clock  precisely,  the 
captain  of  a  vessel  is  not  sure  that  his  chronometer  is  right,  so  to  him 
Jupiter  and  his  moons  become  a  watch  ;  he  turns  his  telescope 
upwards,  observes  the  instant  the  little  bright  spot  is  lost  behind  the 
disc  of  the  planet,  and  then  he  knows  it  is  just  ten  o'clock.  This  was 
the  very  thing  Olaus  Roemer  was  about,  but  he  could  not  understand 
how  it  was  that  when  he  made  his  observations  when  Jupiter  was 
nearest  the  earth  the  eclipse  always  happened  too  soon,  and  if  the 


772  WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 

planet  happened  to  be  on  the  other  side  of  the  sun — the  furthest 
possible  distance  from  the  earth — it  took  place  nearly  sixteen  minutes 
too  late. 

There  was  only  one  way  of  accounting  for  this — namely,  that  the 
light  took  sixteen  minutes  in  traveling  across  the  earth's  orbit  of  one 
hundred  and  eighty-six  million  miles,  to  accomplish  which  its  velocity 
must  be  one  hundred  and  ninety-two  thousand  five  hundred  miles  a 
second.  But  still  more  wonderful  is  it  that  this  prodigious  swiftness 
can  be  measured  with  the  greatest  accuracy  by  actual  experiment ;  the 
ingenuity  of  Fizeau  invented  the  plan  by  which  it  can  be  done.  He 
arranged  two  telescopes  at  a  distance  of  nine  thousand  four  hundred 
and  forty  yards,  looking  at  each  other.  In  the  further  end  of  the  distant 
telescope  was  a  looking-glass,  and  a  cog-wheel  was  so  arranged  before 
the  near  telescope,  that  if  you  looked  through  it  you  saw  the  further 
telescope  through  the  space  between  two  of  the  teeth  of  the  wheel. 
If  the  wheel  was  moved  round  a  very  little,  one  of  the  teeth  would 
come  before  the  end  of  the  telescope  and  shut  out  the  view  of  the 
distant  object. 

When  all  this  was  thus  adjusted  a  lamp  was  placed  on  the  same  side 
of  the  toothed  wheel  as  the  telescope,  and  a  ray  of  light  caused  to  pass 
through  one  of  the  spaces  ;  of  course  this  light  shot  away  to  the  other 
telescope,  and  was  reflected  back  from  the  looking-glass  in  it  to  the 
first  telescope,  passing  through  the  space  between  the  teeth,  and  so 
through  the  instrument  to  the  eye.  But  suppose  that,  while  the  light 
from  the  lamp  was  on  its  way,  before  it  could  touch  the  reflector  more 
than  five  miles  off,  and  come  back  again  to  the  place  whence  it  started, 
and  enter  the  telescope,  as  we  have  said,  the  wheel  had  moved,  and, 
when  the  beam  returned  to  the  end  of  the  telescope,  instead  of 
finding  an  opening,  it  was  obstructed  by  a  tooth,  and  prevented  from 
entering,  so  that  the  person  looking  through  the  telescope  would  not 
see  the  light.  Then  to  measure  the  velocity  all  that  is  necessary  is  to 
look  at  the  reflection  of  the  light  in  the  distant  mirror,  then  set  the 
wheel  in  motion",  being  careful  to  know  how  many  turns  it  makes  in  a 
second,  and  increase  the  motion  until  the  light  can  be  no  longer  seen. 
Fizeau  found  that  when  his  wheel,  which  had  seven  hundred  and 
twenty  teeth,  revolved  at  the  rate  of  a  little  more  than  twelve  revolu- 
tions in  a  second,  the  light  was  eclipsed  ;  from  this  it  was  very  easy  to 
calculate  what  time  the  light  spent  in  passing  through  nearly  eleven 
miles — to  the  further  telescope  and  back — and  so  we  learn  the  fact 
that  light  travels  at  the  rate  of  one  hundred  and  ninety-six  thousand 
miles  a  second  ;  and  yet  some  of  those  stars  which  glimmer  in  the 
firmament  above  us  are  so  far  away  that  hundreds  of  years  ago  they 


WONDERS   OF   LIGHT   AND    HEAT.  773 

may  have  been  blown  into  a  thousand  fragments,  and  the  Hght  of  the 
explosion,  has  not  reached  us  yet,  to  tell  of  the  star's  destruction. 

Sound  travels  much  slower  than  light.  It  passes  through  the  air 
at  the  rate  of  one  thousand  one  hundred  and  thirty  feet  a  second.  This 
is  the  reason  why  we  always  see  the  flash  of  a  gun  before  we  hear  the 
report,  and  in  a  thunderstorm,  if  we  count  the  seconds  which  elapse 
between  the  glare  of  the  lightning  and  the  first  roll  of  the  thunder,  we 
know  that  for  every  five  seconds  we  count  the  scene  of  the  electric 
discharge  is  a  mile  distant.  The  waves  of  sound  do  not  maintain  the 
same  velocity  in  all  media ;  in  water  they  travel  at  the  rate  of  four 
thousand  nine  hundred  feet  a  second.  This  fact  was  proved  at  the  lake 
of  Geneva,  by  striking  a  bell  under  water  at  a  given  signal,  and  a  dis- 
tant listener,  by  means  of  an  ear-trumpet,  whose  mouth  was  beneath 
the  surface  of  the  water,  registered  the  moment  the  sound  reached  him. 
In  some  media  the  velocity  is  much  greater. 

LATENT     HEAT. 

It  is  a  wonder  which  must  have  struck  the  observant  reader,  that  the 
water  in  a  kettle  never  becomes  hotter  than  that  temperature  at  which 
it  boils.  If  we  place  on  the  fire  a  kettle  of  cold  water,  we  know  that 
heat  passes  from  the  fire  into  the  water,  and  it  gradually  becomes 
warmer  and  warmer  until  at  last  it  tosses  and  bubbles,  and  we  say  it 
boils.  If  we  had  placed  a  thermometer  in  the  liquid,  we  should  have 
found  that  this  temperature  was  212°  Fahrenheit ;  but  when  once  the 
thermometer  gains  this  height  there  it  stays,  although  the  heat  is  still 
passing  from  the  fire  into  the  water.  What  becomes  of  this  heat  ? 
Where  is  it  ?  Where  has  it  gone  to  ?  It  evidently  has  had  no  effect 
upon  the  thermometer,  and  therefore,  since  it  exists  somewhere,  it  is 
called  latent  heat,  or  heat  which  has  hid  itself  The  truth  has  been 
discovered  ;  it  is  this  :  that  all  bodies  seem  capable  of  existing  in  three 
states — solid,  liquid,  gaseous — and  the  power  which  causes  them  to 
change  their  state  is  heat.  Before  the  water  could  become  steam — 
that  is,  before  it  could  exist  in  the  gaseous  state — it  required  a  large 
quantity  of  heat ;  and  this  heat  was  so  occupied  with  its  own  particular 
work  that  none  of  it  came  out  to  affect  the  thermometer,  and  therefore 
it  does  not  in  the  ordinary  way  make  known  its  presence. 

The  quantity  of  heat  which  thus  is  latent  in  .steam  is  enormous.  Of 
course  we  cannot  measure  heat  by  yards  or  pints  ;  but  the  unit  of  heat, 
or  the  measure  of  heat,  has  been  agreed  upon  to  be  that  quantity 
which  can  raise  a  pound  of  water  one  degree.  Now  to  turn  a  pound 
of  water  into  a  pound  of  steam,  it  requires  nine  hundred  and  sixty-seven 
of  these  units  of  heat;  that  is  to  say,  if  we  boil  a  pound  of  water  until 
it  all  goes  away  into  steam,  we  shall  have  used,  in  doing  so,  a  quantity 


774  WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 

of  heat  which  would  have  raised  nine  hundred  and  sixty-seven  pounds 
of  water  one  degree  higher  in  temperature. 

Of  course,  when  steam  condenses,  it  gives  off  all  this  heat  again. 
This  fact  is  of  the  utmost  importance  in  the  economy  of  nature.  Water 
gives  off  steam  at  all  temperatures  ;  ice  and  snow  even  evaporate,  and 
thus  give  off  steam.  In  this  way  there  is  a  constant  absorption  of  heat. 
If  it  were  not  for  this,  the  heat  of  the  sun  would  make  the  waters  of 
tropical  countries  so  warm  that  it  would  be  fatal  to  the  animals  which 
live  in  them,  and  the  inhabitants  would  have  no  means  of  cooling  them- 
selves in  the  intolerable  heat.  When  the  rays  of  the  sun  fall  upon  a 
surface  of  water,  they  cause  rapid  evaporation,  and  the  steam  thus  pro- 
duced absorbs  the  heat,  which  would  otherwise  have  entered  into  the 
water.  Then  again,  when  that  vapor  condenses,  it  gives  off  its  latent 
heat ;  so  that  the  cold  blades  of  grass  at  night  receive  warmth  when 
the  dew  settles  upon  them,  and  this  tends  greatly  to  their  rapid  growth 
— so  wonderfully  is  the  temperature  balanced. 

MYSTERIES    EXPLAINED 

The  knowledge  of  the  above  facts  enables  us  to  explain  many  homely 
truths.  Why  is  it  that  our  hand  feels  cold  when  we  blow  upon  it  ? — 
blow  upon  it,  too,  with  warm  breath  !  The  reason  is  this :  the  skin  is 
that  organ  which  equalizes  the  temperature  of  the  body.  This  it  does 
by  allowing  more  or  less  perspiration  to  come  to  the  surface  and  be 
evaporated,  as  the  occasion  requires.  For  example,  when  we  run  we 
cause  greater  activity  in  all  the  functions  of  the  body.  The  blood 
passes  through  the  heart  more  quickly  ;  the  action  of  the  lungs  is  cor- 
respondingly increased ;  we  breathe  more  rapidly ;  but  this  causes  a 
greater  generation  of  heat ;  the  skin  becomes  aware  that  the  body  is 
getting  too  hot,  so  it  opens  its  pores,  and  allows  an  extra  quantity  of 
perspiration  to  come  to  the  surface.  This  evaporates,  but  requires  for 
the  change  of  state  a  large  quantity  of  heat,  which  it  takes  from  the 
body,  and  so  the  temperature  is  kept  down.  Wonderful  provision  ! 
The  steam  when  formed  floats  in  the  air ;  but  the  air  can  only  contain 
a  certain  quantity,  and  when  it  has  its  complement  it  is  said  to  be  satu- 
urated,  and  can  take  up  no  more ;  so  that  when  such  an  atmosphere 
rests  on  a  moist  surface,  no  evaporation  can  go  on  at  all.  The  hand  is 
always  enveloped  with  a  layer  of  air  very  full  of  moisture,  and  conse- 
quently little  evaporation  goes  on  ;  but  when  we  blow  upon  the  hand, 
we  drive  away  this  moist  air,  and  it  is  replaced  by  dry  air,  and  the 
evaporation  proceeds  rapidly,  taking  its  necessary  heat  from  the  hand, 
thus  causing  the  sensation  of  cold. 

Some  liquids,  such  as  ether,  alcohol  and  bisulphate  of  carbon,  evapo- 
rate  more  rapidly  than  water ;  and  by  causing  ether  to  evaporate  very 


i 


WONDERS   OF   LIGHT    AND    HEAT.  775 

•quickly  in  a  chamber  of  metal  from  which  the  air  is  exhausted,  great 
cold  is  produced ;  for  evaporation  goes  on  very  rapidly  in  a  vacuum,  as 
might  have  been  expected. 

WONDERFUL   APPLICATION    OF    HEAT. 

Experiment,  remarks  Baron  Liebig,  has  shown  that  a  quantity  of  heat, 
suffiicient  to  raise  a  pound  of  water  one  degree  of  temperature,  will, 
when  communicated  to  a  bar  of  iron,  enable  it  to  elevate  a  weight  of 
thirteen  hundred  and  fifty  pounds  to  the  height  of  one  foot.  An  in- 
teresting application  of  this  fact  was  long  ago  made  in  the  Conservatoire 
des  Arts  et  Metiers,  in  Paris.  In  this  building,  which  was  formerly  a 
convent,  the  nave  of  the  church  was  converted  into  a  museum  for  in- 
dustrial products,  machines  and  implements.  In  its  arch,  traversing  its 
length,  appeared  a  crack,  which  gradually  increased  to  the  width  of 
several  inches,  and  permitted  the  passage  of  rain  or  snow.  The  opening 
could  easily  have  been  closed  by  stone  and  lime,  but  the  yielding  of  the 
side  walls  would  not  have  been  prevented  by  these  means.  The  whole 
building  was  on  the  point  of  being  pulled  down,  when  a  natural  philoso- 
pher proposed  the  following  plan,  by  which  the  object  was  accom- 
plished :  a  number  of  strong  iron  rods  were  firmly  fixed  at  one  end 
to  a  side  wall  of  the  nave,  and  after  passing  through  the  opposite  wall, 
were  provided  on  the  outside  with  large  nuts,  which  were  screwed  up 
tightly  to  the  wall.  By  applying  burning  straw  to  the  rods  they  ex- 
panded in  length.  The  nuts  by  this  extension  being  now  removed 
several  inches  from  the  wall,  were  again  screwed  tight  to  it.  The  rods 
on  cooling  contracted  with  enormous  force,  and  made  the  side  walls 
approach  each  other.  By  repeating  the  operation  the  crack  entirely 
disappeared.     This  building,  with  its  retaining  rods,  is  still  in  existence. 

POWER    OF    BEARING    EXTREME    HEAT. 

The  writer  remembers  a  terrible  story  published  many  years  ago,  of 
a  fire  at  a  brewery.  The  narrator,  trying  to  escape,  had  no  alternative 
but  to  jump  into  a  copper  vat,  at  the  bottom  of  which  was  a  little  heap 
of  brick  and  mortar  rubbish,  on  which  he  stood.  The  vat  became  red- 
hot  around  him,  and  yet  he  was  rescued  without  having  sustained  any 
material  injury  beyond  the  fright.  Many  facts  similar  to  this  are  re- 
corded by  Sir  David  Brewster  in  his  "  Letters  on  Natural  Magic."  The 
best  known  of  these  incidents  are  the  experiments  made  by  M.  Tillet, 
in  France,  and  Dr.  Fordyce  and  Sir  Charles  Blagden,  in  England.  These 
gentlemen  went  into  a  room,  the  heat  of  which  exceeded  260°,  and 
though  Sir  Charles  Blagden's  pulse  rose  to  one  hundred  and  forty-four 
beats,  or  double  its  ordinary  quickness,  no  harm  ensued.  In  order  to 
prove  that  there  was  no  mistake  as  to  the  degree  of  heat  endured,  sev- 
eral steaks  were  cooked  and  eggs  roasted  in  the  same  place.     At  Roche- 


776  WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD, 

foucault,  in  France,  the  girls  who  are  accustomed  to  attend  to  the  ovens 
of  a  bakehouse  are  capable  of  enduring  for  ten  minutes  a  temperature 
of  270°.  It  will,  of  course,  be  remembered  by  our  readers  that  water 
boils  at  212°. 

Sir  F.  Chantrey,  the  celebrated  sculptor,  proved  in  his  own  person 
that  the  human  body  is  capable  of  bearing  very  much  higher  tempera- 
ture than  any  we  have  mentioned.  The  furnace  in  which  he  dried  his 
moulds  was  about  fourteen  feet  long,  twelve  feet  high  and  twelve  feet 
broad.  When  raised  to  its  highest  temperature,  with  the  door  closed, 
the  thermometer  marked  350°  of  heat,  and  the  iron  floor  became  red- 
hot.  Nevertheless,  Chantrey's  workmen  often  entered  it  at  a  tempera- 
ture of  340°,  walking  over  the  red-hot  iron  floor  with  wooden  clogs, 
which  became  charred  on  the  surface.  On  one  occasion,  as  Sir  David 
Brewster  relates,  Chantrey  himself,  accompanied  by  five  or  six  of  his 
friends,  entered  the  furnace,  and  after  remaining  two  minutes,  they 
brought  out  a  thermometer  which  marked  320°.  Some  of  the  party 
experienced  sharp  pains  on  the  tips  of  their  ears,  and  in  the  septum  of 
the  nose,  while  others  felt  a  pain  in  their  eyes. 

To  transform  a  solid  into  a  liquid  there  is  a  disappearance  of  heat. 
In  melting  a  pound  of  ice,  one  hundred  and  forty-two  units  of  heat 
are  consumed,  and  the  resulting  water  is  of  the  same  temperature  as 
the  ice  before  it  melted  ;  and  what  may  seem  more  wonderful  is,  that 
if  a  piece  of  ice  be  placed  in  a  vessel  on  the  fire,  a  thermometer  will 
indicate  the  temperature  of  32°  Fahrenheit — the  freezing  point — ^so 
long  as  there  is  a  particle  of  ice  not  melted  ;  and  only  when  the  last 
piece  has  disappeared  will  the  water  begin  to  warm.  Water  gives  off 
steam  at  all  temperatures  ;  ice  and  snow  even  evaporate,  and  thus  give 
off  steam.  In  this  way  there  is  a  constant  absorption  of  heat.  If  it 
were  not  for  this,  the  heat  of  the  sun  would  make  the  waters  of  tropi- 
cal countries  so  v/arm  that  it  would  be  fatal  to  the  animals  which  live 
in  them,  and  the  inhabitants  would  have  no  means  of  cooling  them- 
selves in  the  intolerable  heat.  When  the  rays  of  the  sun  fall  upon  a 
surface  of  water,  they  cause  rapid  evaporation,  and  the  steam  thus 
produced  absorbs  the  heat,  which  would  otherwise  have  entered  into 
the  water. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 
MISCELLANEOUS  WONDERS. 


Earthquakes — The  Great  Brooklyn  Suspension  Bridge — The  Mont  Cenis  Tunnel — Tunnel 
Under  the  Hudson  River — Ruins  in  Bolivia — Diversity  of  Human  Faces — Forms  of 
Sound — Sounding  Stones  and  Speaking  Heads — Power  of  Sound — Famous  Bells — 
A  Cherished  Relic^Dancing  Snakes — Adventures  of  a  Diamond — 
7'S7<:       Greek  Fire — Vegetable  Curiosities — The  Mute  Alphabet. 

O  earthquake  has  visited  the  territory  of  the  United  States- 
within  the  historical  period  which  can  be  compared  in 
extent  or  energy  to  the  convulsion  in  August,  1886, 
that  was  felt  from  the  Mississippi  to  the  Atlantic,  and 
which  wrought  such  terrible  disaster  in  Charleston,  yet 
shocks  similar  in  character  but  less  in  degree  are  of  con- 
stant occurrence.  Observations  show  that  on  the  At- 
lantic slope  there  is  on  the  average  one  disturbance  of 
this  kind  every  month.  These,  however,  as  compared 
with  the  calamities  which  have  desolated  other  parts  of  the  world,  are 
very  small  and  insignificant. 

In  Asia,  Africa,  Europe  and  South  America  these  upheavals  have 
levelled  whole  cities  and  numbered  their  victims  by  tens,  and  in  some 
instances  hundreds,  of  thousands.  In  Judea,  at  the  time  of  the  battle 
of  Actium,  3 1  B.C.,  an  earthquake  killed  ten  thousand  people.  Antioch 
has  been  visited  by  several  of  still  greater  magnitude,  one  of  which,  526 
A.D.,  is  said  by  Gibbon  to  have  slain  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
persons  ;  and  the  same  city  was  visited  about  sixty  years  later  by 
another  that  made  thirty  thousand  corpses.  The  earthquake,  with  vol- 
canic eruption  of  Vesuvius,  that  wiped  out  Herculaneum  and  Pompeii 
in  the  year  63,  need  only  to  be  mentioned.  In  more  modern  times 
earthquakes  have  slain  one  hundred  thousand  at  Calabria,  Sicily,  in 
1783  ;  and  twelve  thousand  in  the  Argentine  Republic  in  186 1.  These 
are  only  a  few  of  the  great  calamities  of  this  kind  that  history  records. 
In  the  great  earthquake  of  Calabria  some  extraordinary  changes  of 
position  were  effected.  Houses  were  removed  and  carried  up  to  places 
higher  than  those  they  had  originally  occupied.  In  some  places  large 
pieces  of  ground  exchanged  their  respective  situations,  and  for  several 
years  after  the  earthquake,  lawsuits  used  to  be  brought  in  the  courts  of 
Naples,  to  decide  the  claims  to  which  this  singular  confusion  had  given  rise. 

(777) 


778  WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 

One  of  the  most  terrible  earthquakes  on  record  is  that  which  hap- 
pened at  Lisbon  on  the  first  of  November,  1755-  The  morning  was 
fine,  and  there  was  no  apparent  indication  of  the  coming  destruction. 
About  nine  o'clock,  a  low,  subterraneous  rumbling  was  heard,  which 
gradually  increased,  and  culminated,  at  last,  in  a  violent  shock  of  earth- 
quake, which  levelled  to  the  ground  many  of  the  principal  buildings  of 
the  place.  Three  other  shocks  followed  in  rapid  succession,  and  con- 
tinued the  work  of  destruction.  Scarcely  had  the  ill-fated  inhabitants 
begun  to  realize  the  enormity  of  the  disaster  which  had  come  upon 
them,  when  they  were  surprised  by  another  visitation,  of  a  different  but 
not  less  destructive  character.  The  sea  suddenly  began  to  rush  with 
great  violence  into  the  Tagus,  which  rose  at  once  as  much  as  forty  feet 
above  high  water  mark.  The  water  swept  over  a  great  part  of  the  city, 
and  many  of  the  inhabitants  fled  from  its  approach  to  take  refuge  on  a 
strong  marble  quay  lately  erected.  They  had  collected  there  to  the 
number  of  three  thousand,  when  the  quay  was  suddenly  hurled  bottom 
upwards,  and  every  soul  on  it  perished.  There  was  another  shock  in 
the  evening  which  split  the  walls  of  several  houses  ;  but  when  it  passed 
away,  the  rents  closed  up  again  so  firmly  that  no  trace  of  them  could 
be  seen.  What  the  earthquake  and  the  flood  had  spared  was  consumed 
by  fire.  The  first  of  November,  being  all  Saint's  Day,  was  kept  as  a 
high  festival,  and  all  the  churches  were  brilliantly  illuminated  with 
candles  ;  these  falling,  with  the  shock  of  the  earthquake,  against  the 
timbers  and  curtains,  set  fire  to  them,  and  as  there  were  no  means  of 
checking  it,  the  conflagration  rapidly  spread.  It  is  stated  that  by  the 
combined  effects  of  these  disasters,  no  less  than  sixty  thousand  persons 
perished.  The  destructive  effects  of  the  earthquake  were  felt,  more  or 
less,  throughout  the  whole  of  Portugal  and  a  great  portion  of  Spain. 

One  of  the  most  destructive  earthquakes  of  modern  times  was  that 
which,  in  the  Island  of  Java  in  1884,  destroyed  thirty  thousand  lives, 
and  engulfed  a  range  of  mountains  forty  miles  in  length,  leaving  no 
trace  of  the  line  along  which  it  extended.  Immense  clouds  of  dust  ex- 
tended even  to  the  opposite  hemisphere. 

The  primary  and  immediate  causes  of  these  convulsions  of  nature 
we  may  not  be  able  to  determine  with  scientific  accuracy.  There  are 
no  data  upon  which  to  base  theories  as  to  when  or  where  they  may 
take  place,  or  the  effects  they  will  produce.  It  is  very  much  a  matter 
of  conjecture,  or,  at  best,  of  probability,  from  a  process  of  inductive 
reasoning.  This  is  something  like  the  explanation  of  earthquakes 
which  geologists  have  usually  accepted  :  the  earth  is  believed  to  be 
■enclosed  by  a  solid  crust  of  rock  of  variable  thickness  in  different  re- 
gions.    This  crust  rests  upon  material  in  a  more  or  less  fluid  condition. 


MISCELLANEOUS   WONDERS.  779 

SO  that  it  readily  yields  to  agencies  of  deformation,  like  water  or  molten 
iron.  The  interior  of  the  earth  is  constantly  losing  heat  in  a  variety  of 
ways.  A  small  amount  is  probably  conducted  to  the  surface  and  radi- 
ated into  space.  A  large  amount  of  heat  is  conveyed  from  the  interior 
through  the  agency  of  hot  springs.  Such  springs  are  found  in  many 
portions  of  the  known  earth,  and  in  a  few  districts  are  very  abundant, 
and  through  them  much  heat  is  conveyed  from  the  interior  to  the  sur- 
face, which  is  there  radiated  into  space.  The  lavas  that  are  brought 
up  yield  vast  stores  of  heat,  all  of  which  is  lost  to  the  earth  through 
radiation.  The  constant  cooling  which  results  from  the  above  causes 
must  necessarily  diminish  the  magnitude  of  the  earth,  and  as  it  shrinks, 
the  solid  exterior  crust  must  in  some  manner  yield  so  as  to  conform  to 
the  lesser  magnitude  thus  produced.  The  stresses  produced  in  the 
crust  of  the  earth  by  the  shrinking  of  ""he  interior  are  modified  by 
another  class  of  agencies. 

The  land  surface  of  the  earth  is  washed  by  rains  and  rivers,  and,  in 
the  aggregate,  large  bodies  of  material  are  carried  away  and  deposited 
in  lake  bottoms,  which  are  gradually  filled  up,  and  especially  deposited 
along  the  shores  of  the  seas.  The  unloading  of  land  areas  and  the 
overloading  of  certain  water  areas  to  a  large  extent  localizes  it.  Again, 
the  fluid  or  plastic  material  of  the  interior  changes  its  position  beneath 
the  crust  of  the  earth,  and  portions  of  it  flow  out  as  lavas.  Thus 
stresses  are  established  through  the  agency  of  a  contracting  interior, 
through  loading  and  unloading  at  the  surface,  and  through  the  flow  of 
interior  matter  to  lava-beds,  where  such  matter  is  poured  out  upon  the 
surface.  The  stresses  produced  by  the  various  agencies  thus  described, 
gradually  become  so  great  that  at  last  the  crust  of  the  earth  must  yield, 
and  earthquakes  result.  All  this,  however,  is  only  hypothesis,  of  which 
no  positive  proof  can  be  given  ;  and  when  science  has  said  and  done 
its  best  there  is  still,  beyond  all  that,  to  be  recognized  the  operation  of 
a  divine,  mysterious,  supernatural  power. 

DIMENSIONS    OF    THE    BROOKLYN    BRIDGE. 

This  bridge  may  truthfully  be  claimed  as  one  of  the  finest  achieve- 
ments of  engineering  in  modern  times.  It  is  one  of  the  famous  sights 
of  New  York,  and  no  one  can  fail  to  be  impressed  with  its  immense 
proportions,  great  solidity  and  strength,  as  well  as  the  herculean  task 
of  constructing  it.  The  work  commenced  January  3,  1 870,  and  the 
bridge  was  opened  to  the  public.  May  24,  1883.  The  total  cost  was 
fifteen  million  five  hundred  thousand  dollars.  The  total  length  from 
New  York  to  Brooklyn  is  fifty-nine  hundred  and  eighty-nine  feet,  and 
the  length  of  the  main  span  is  fifteen  hundred  and  ninety-five  and  a 
half  feet.     The  height  of  the  towers  is  two  hundred  and  seventy-six 


780 


MISCELLANEOUS   WONDERS.  781 

and  two-thirds  feet.  The  height  of  the  floor  of  the  bridge  at  the  centre, 
above  high  water  mark,  is  one  hundred  and  thirty-five  feet,  and  the 
height  at  the  piers  is  one  hundred  and  eighteen  feet.  The  caisson  for 
the  New  York  pier  was  sunk  seventy-eight  feet,  and  that  for  the 
Brooklyn  pier  forty-five  and  a  half  feet  below  the  bed  of  the  river. 
Each  cable  is  fifteen  and  three-quarters  inches  in  diameter,  and  is  made 
up  of  five  thousand  wires,  each  one-eighth  of  an  inch  in  diameter.  The 
anchorages  are  nine  hundred  and  thirty  feet  from  the  towers,  and  are 
capable  of  sustaining  an  immense  weight.  The  cables  are  capable 
of  sustaining  forty-nine  thousand  two  hundred  tons.  The  weight  of 
the  central  span  is  sixty-.scven  hundred  and  forty  tons,  and  the  maxi- 
mum weight  of  passengers,  cars  and  vehicles  which  can  be  crowded  on 
the  central  span  is  about  thirteen  hundred  and  eighty  tons. 

THE    WONDERFUL    MONT    CENI.S    TUNNEL. 

But  of  all  the  projects  with  which  engineers  of  the  present  day  sur- 
prise us,  the  most  wonderful  as  yet  is  undoubtedly  the  tunnel  through 
the  heart  of  Mont  Cenis,  the  Alpine  barrier  between  France  and  Italy. 
Everyone  knows  the  story  of  the  passage  of  the  Alps  by  Hannibal  in 
the  old  Roman  times,  and  again  by  Napoleon  in  our  own,  both  which 
events  are  regarded  as  marvels  of  daring  and  persistent  endurance.  In 
more  recent  times  the  passage  over  Mont  Cenis  has  become  the  regular 
highway  from  France  into  Italy  whenever,  from  the  state  of  the  weather, 
it  was  practicable.  But  the  traveling  was  often  interrupted  by  snow, 
and  at  most  periods  of  the  year  was  full  of  discomfort,  if  not  of  danger. 
Modern  engineering  proposed  to  put  an  end  to  all  this,  b}'  going  through 
the  mountain  instead  of  over  it.  To  pierce  through  the  very  heart  of 
Mont  Cenis,  a  distance  of  more  than  seven  and  a  half  English  miles, 
under  circumstances  which  might  well  have  been  supposed  to  present 
insuperable  engineering  difficulties,  is  an  achievement  before  which  those 
o(  Hannibal  and  Napoleon  sink  into  insignificance. 

First,  the  perforating  machinery  had  to  be  invented,  and  it  was  re- 
quired to  be  powerful  enough  to  make  its  way  through  rocks  harder  to 
work  than  even  granite.  The  mountain  mass  consists,  for  the  most 
part,  of  what  geologists  call  a  "  crystallized  calcareous  schist,"  inter- 
rupted occasionally  by  large  masses  of  pure  quartz.  A  thousand  years 
might  have  been  spent  in  vain  attempts  to  bore  and  blast  this  rock  with 
the  ordinary  means.  But  the  difficulty  of  the  work  only  seemed  to 
stimulate  the  ingenuity  of  the  engineers,  who  vied  with  each  other  in 
producing  the  most  elaborate  machines  for  this  purpose.  It  was  resolved 
to  commence  the  tunnel  from  both  sides  of  the  Alps  at  once,  and  this 
rendered  it  necessary  to  contrive  means  for  laying  out  the  line  accurately, 
SO  that  the  two  bores  might  meet.     Plans  and  levels  to  determine  the 


782  WONDERS    OF   THE   WHOLE   WORLD. 

sections,  and  to  fix  the  axis  of  the  tunnel  from  various  points  on  the 
mountain,  had  to  be  taken  under  enormous  difficulties  of  all  kinds.  At 
length  this  was  done  so  satisfactorily  that,  on  making  a  final  summary 
of  the  results,  the  deviation  was  found  to  be  less  than  a  foot  for  the 
whole  distance. 

We  say  nothing  here  of  the  extraordinary  labor  and  various  strange 
contrivances  involved  in  the  preparatory  works,  and  how  the  difficulty 
of  supplying  air  to  the  workmen  was  overcome  ;  these  are  points  which 
will  be  easily  imagined  by  the  reader.  The  work  of  tunnelling  was  not 
actually  commenced  till  November,  i860,  three  years  after  the  project 
had  been  sanctioned  by  the  Sardinian  government.  The  time  allowed 
for  the  completion  of  the  tunnel  was  twenty-five  years,  and  it  was 
finished  within  that  time.  The  tunnel  is  not  driven  at  one  uniform 
level.  The  entrance  on  the  French  side,  near  the  village  of  Fourneau^ 
is  thirty-nine  hundred  and  forty-six  feet  above  the  sea ;  on  the  Italian 
side,  at  Bardoneche,  it  is  forty-three  hundred  and  eighty  feet  above  the 
sea-line.  This  difference  of  level,  four  hundred  and  thirty-four  feet, 
causes  a  gradient,  or  gradual  ascent  from  the  French  side,  for  a  distance 
of  four  miles.  Trains  passing  from  France  to  Italy  take  from  thirty- 
eight  to  forty  minutes  running  through,  while  those  from  Italy  into 
France  accomplish  the  distance  in  about  thirty  minutes.  The  difference 
in  level  of  the  two  ends  of  the  line  accomplishes,  by  natural  means,  the 
perfect  ventilation  of  the  tunnel,  which  otherwise  would  have  been  a 
work  of  perpetual  expense,  if  not  of  considerable  engineering  difficulty. 
The  expense  was  borne  in  equal  proportions  by  Italy  and  France. 

AN    UNDERGROUND    RAILWAY. 

One  of  the  great  enterprises  which  is  ta.xing  the  skill  of  engineers, 
and  calls  for  an  immense  outlay  of  capital,  is  the  tunnel  under  the 
Hudson  River  to  connect  Jersey  City  with  New  York.  The  tunnel 
under  the  river  Thames,  in  London,  has  proved  the  practicability  of 
making  excavations  beneath  a  water-bed,  and  by  cemented  arches 
protecting  them  from  being  flooded.  The  vastness  of  the  excavation 
under  the  Hudson  will  readily  be  understood  when  we  state  that  it 
will  need  to  be  something  like  three  miles  in  length,  beginning  some 
distance  from  the  river  on  each  side.  The  width  of  the  tunnel  will 
need  to  be  great  in  order  to  render  it  serviceable  for  the  passage  of 
railway  trains.  The  advantages  of  being  able  to  land  the  loads  of 
freight  and  passengers  in  New  York,  which  come  constantly  pouring 
in  from  the  West,  without  any  transfer  to  ferr>'-boats,  are  so  evident 
that  we  may  look  for  a  speedy  completion  of  the  undertaking,  which 
will  certainly  come  true  if  money  and  mechanical  genius  are  capable 
of  such  an  achievement. 


MISCELLANEOUS    WONDERS. 


78a 


This  island  of  Titicaca  appears  to  have  been  regarded  much  in  the 
same  way  as  Mecca  and  Medina  were  by  the  Mohommedans,  and  as 
Jerusalem  was  by  the  Jews.     Pilgrimages  were  made  to  it  by  the  old 


PROPOSED   TUNNEL    UNDER   THE    HUDSON    RIVER. 

Incas.  On  the  road  to  the  temple  were  a  number  of  huge  rocks, 
which  could  be  imagined  to  represent  almost  anything;  just  in  the 
same  way  as  we  can  sometimes  see  warriors  and  flocks  of  sheep  in  the 
red  cinders,  as  we  sit  dreamily  looking  into  the  fire.     The  Incas  said 


■"784  WONDERS    OF   THE   WHOLE   WORLD. 

these  rocks  were  men  who,  as  a  punishment  for  not  having  fasted 
sufficiently,  or  made  every  necessary  preparation  for  the  pilgrimage, 
had  been  turned  into  stone,  and  were  doomed  therefore  to  stand  in 
future  as  warnings  for  others  not  to  neglect  their  duty.  Travelers  who 
have  visited  them  tell  us  that  they  must  have  been  built  long  before 
.any  other  monuments  in  America — before  even  the  time  of  the  first 
Incas  ;  and  that,  although  so  long  ago,  the  people  who  erected  them 
must  have  been  very  clever  and  industrious. 

When  the  Spaniards  went  sweeping  into  that  part  of  the  country  to 
take  possession  of  it,  they  gazed  in  astonishment  at  these  marvelous 
structures,  and  asked  the  Indians  what  they  were,  and  who  built  them. 
They  existed,  said  the  poor  red  men,  before  the  sun  shone  in  the 
heavens,  and  were  raised  by  giants  ;  or  perhaps  they  are  the  remains 
of  some  wicked  people  whom  an  angry  god  converted  into  stone  for 
their  wickedness.  From  what  the  Indians  said  it  was  very  evident 
they  were  as  ignorant  of  the  origin  of  the  ruins,  near  which  they  had 
lived  all  their  lives,  as  were  the  foreign  soldiers.  With  all  their  skill 
these  old  builders,  whoever  they  may  have  been,  did  not  understand 
the  use  of  mortar,  or  rather  they  could  build  so  well  without  it  that 
they  did  not  need  to  know  its  use.  Like  Solomon's  Temple,  the 
stones  were  made  to  fit  exactly  into  each  other,  and  were  held  in 
position  by  round  holes  drilled  into  the  top  and  bottom  of  each  stone 
at  corresponding  distances,  into  which  were  placed  pins  of  bronze. 

There  seems  to  have  been  a  fortress,  and  a  palace,  and  a  hall  of 
justice  ;  all  of  which  prove  that  the  place  was  the  house  of  a  set  of 
people  who  were  civilized  and  refined,  but  who,  long  before  the  time  of 
Columbus  or  any  other  modern  adventurer,  had  died,  and  left  no  sign  to 
tell  us  truly  who  they  were.  For  all  that,  no  one  can  gaze  upon  these  old 
ruins  and  heads  carved  in  stone  without  being  filled  with  admiration 
for  the  unknown  architects  who  passed  away  so  long  ago. 

In  many  parts  of  Bolivia,  and  also  in  Peru,  are  to  be  seen  also  by 
travelers  some  remarkable  buildings  which  are  known  by  the  name  of 
chulpas.  They  vary  in  height ;  some  are  twenty,  others  thirty  feet 
high.  Some  are  in  ruins,  some  half-finished,  and  others  as  perfect  as 
when  first  built.  They  were  probably  erected  by  the  old  Incas,  or  even 
by  a  race  of  people  older  still,  to  serve  as  tombs  for  dead  friends  ; 
because  in  many  of  them  skeletons  have  been  found,  as  well  as  gold 
and  silver  ornaments,  and  other  things.  They  all  differ  from  each  other 
in  some  way  ;  no  two  are  alike.  The  large  handsome  ones  are  sup- 
posed to  have  been  built  for  eminent  and  distinguished  persons,  the 
small  ones  for  individuals  of  less  importance  ;  but  in  one  respect  they 
are  all  alike,  and  that  is  that  the  doors  all  face  the  east.     The  Incas,  as 


MISCELLANEOUS   WONDERS. 


785 


we  have  heard,  worshiped  the  sun,  and  most  hkely  the  doors  have  been 
thus  placed  out  of  respect  to  their  deity.  Although  the  present 
inhabitants  can  give  us  no  certain  information  respecting  these  chulpas, 
an  Indian  guide  once  declared  that  according  to  tradition  the  builders, 


whoever  they  were,  at  the  approach  of  death,  caused  themselves  to  be 
walled  up  without  food,  belie^-ing  that  by  so  doing  a  happy  life  in  a 
future  state  would  be  ensured  to  them.  Whether  this  statement  be 
true  or  not  is  uncertain,  but  that  the  chulpas  are  among  the  most 
remarkable  monuments  of  America  is  undeniable. 
50 


786  WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 

One  of  the  most  surprising  facts  in  nature  is  the  infinite  variety  of 
human  faces.  It  seems  incredible  that  of  the  fourteen  hundred  miihon 
people  in  the  world  no  two  faces  should  be  exactly  alike,  no  resem- 
blance so  close  as  to  prevent  the  possibility  of  easily  distinguishing 
one  person  from  all  others.  Either  by  the  color  of  the  skin,  the  shade 
of  the  complexion,  the  shape  of  the  features  or  the  expression  of 
countenance,  there  is  something  to  mark  every  individual  from  all 
others. 

Let  a  hundred  faces  be  placed  side  by  side — faces  taken  promiscu- 
ously from  the  different  races,  ages  and  professions  or  employments^ — - 
and  the  diversity  will  be  so  great  as  to  surprise  every  observer.  In  one 
instance  the  forehead  will  be  high,  in  another  it  will  be  low  ;  one  will 
have  an  aquiline  nose,  another  a  "pug"  nose;  one  mouth  will  have 
thin  lips,  another  lips  that  are  thick  ;  one  eye  will  be  a  mild  blue,  another 
will  be  dark  and  fiery  ;  one  chin  will  be  elongated,  another  will  be  short 
and  round ;  the  contour  of  one  face  will  be  oval,  that  of  another  will 
be  circular ;  the  complexion  of  one  will  be  fair,  that  of  another  will  be 
swarthy  ;  and  so  there  will  be  some  peculiarity  in  every  face  to  charac- 
terize it,  and  each  person  will  be  marked  and  separated  from  every 
other,  having  his  own  distinctive  features. 

The  human  face  in  its  various  phases  also  expresses  every  variety  of 
emotion.  Joy  and  sorrow,  hope  and  despair,  pleasure  and  disgust, 
eager  curiosity  and  stolid  indifference,  arc  all  represented.  The  man 
who  is  mercenary,  the  man  who  is  open-hearted  and  generous,  the  one 
who  is  genial  and  sympathetic,  as  well  as  the  one  who  is  cold  and  re- 
served, the  individual  who  is  vain  and  self-conscious,  and  the  one  who 
is  plain  and  unpretentious,  can  be  distinguished  by  peculiarities  of  face 
and  features.  This  vast  diversity  is  one  of  the  wonders  of  which  the 
human  race  presents  so  many. 

CURIOUS    FORMS    OF   SOUND. 

It  is  a  well  known  fact  in  natural  philosophy  that  there  are  various 
forms  which  the  vibrations  of  sound  can  be  made  to  produce.  These 
phenomena  are  illustrated  in  the  following  manner:  a  plate  of  glass  or 
metal  must  be  held  between  the  finger  and  thumb  at  one  corner,  having 
been  previously  strewn  over  with  some  fine  sand;  then,  if  a  fiddle- 
bow  be  drawn  near  one  of  its  angles,  the  sand  becomes  agitated,  an! 
finally  resolves  itself  into  the  form  of  a  Latin  cross,  as  in  Fig.  i.  If 
the  bow  be  drawn  near  the  middle  of  one  of  the  sides,  a  St.  Andrew's 
cross  will  be  formed.  If  the  plate  is  pinched  on  the  edge,  the  sand 
will  immediately  commence  to  form  itself  according  to  the  shape 
shown  in  Fig.  2  ;  but  if  the  plate  be  pinched  a  little  nearer  to  the 
centre,  the  lines  will  become  curves,  as  in  Fig.  3. 


MISCELLANEOUS    WONDERS. 


787 


'^^^¥^^i^mi  .^'^^^ 


WONDERFUL  VARIETIES  OF  RACE  AND  PHYSIOGNOMY 


788 


WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 


In  Sir  David  Brewster's  letters  on  Natural  Magic,  addressed  to  Sir 
Walter  Scott,  the  figures  we  have  alluded  to  are  elaborately  described, 
as  are  also  the  forms  that  sand  will  assume  when  sprinkled  upon  a 
membrane  that  is  agitated  by  sound,  these  forms  varying  with  atmos- 
pheric influences.  After  describing  the  effects  produced  on  a  square 
plate,  he  says :    if  the  plate  of  glass  is    circular  and  pinched    at    its 

~~I  centre,  and  also  at  a 
point  of  its  circumfer- 
ence, and  if  the  bow  be 
applied  at  a  point  45 
degrees  from  the  last 
point,  the  figure  of  the 
sand  will  be  as  in  Fig. 
4.  If  with  the  same 
plate,  similarly  pinched, 
the  bow  is  drawn  over 
a  part  30  degrees  from 
the  pinched  point  of 
the  circumference,  the 
sand  will  form  six  radii. 
When  the  centre  of  the 
plate  is  left  free,  a  dif- 
ercnt  set  of  figures  is 
produced  from  those 
obtained  before.  When 
the  plate  is  pinched 
near  the  edge,  and  the 
bow  applied  45  degrees 
from  the  point  pinched, 
a  circle  of  sand  will  pass 
through  that  point,  and 
two  diameters  of  sand, 
,      ,  at  right  angles  to  each 

MARVELOUS  SOUND   FORMS.  othcr,  will    be   formed, 

a^  in  Fig.  5.  When  a  point  of  the  circumference  is  pressed  against 
.1  fixed  obstacle,  and  the  bow  applied  30  degrees  from  that  point,  Fig. 
6  will  be  produced. 

Tiie.se  forms,  induced  by  sound,  may  be  also  seen  upon  a  disc,  which 
is  agitated  slowly  by  the  vibrations  of  air  communicated  from  a  i)late 
in  the  manner  bi-forc  described.  If  a  goblet  glass,  or  any  large  glass 
with  a  stand,  be  taken,  and  some  damp  paper  stretched  across  the 
mouth,  the  edges  having  been  previously  gummed  to  cause  the  paper 


MISCELLANEOUS    WONDERS.  789 

to  adhere,  and  some  sand  strewn  on  the  surface  when  dry,  the  experi- 
ment made  with  a  plate  in  any  of  the  precedin^j  forms  will,  if  the  plate 
is  held  horizontally  over  the  tumbler,  be  repeated  on  the  paper  disc, 
any  variation  from  the  horizontal  position  in  which  the  plate  is  held 
producing  a  variety  of  distinct  mathematical  forms  in  the  disposition 
of  the  sand,  which  may  be  also  varied  if  it  be  breathed  upon,  the  sand, 
influenced  by  the  temporary  moisture,  assuming  a  number  of  forms, 
until  the  perfect  evaporation  is  complete,  when  the  original  shape  is 
reproduced.  An  organ,  or  pitch-pipe,  or  a  flute  blown  at  the  distance 
of  a  few  feet,  will  produce  a  variety  of  figures  in  the  sand,  upon  the 
stretched  disc  of  paper;  in  the  practice  of  which  experiment  our 
readers  may  make  themselves  acquainted  with  the  varied  shapes  of 
the  forms  of  sound. 

SOUNDING    STONES    AND    SPEAKING    HEADS. 

The  ancient  magicians  appear  to  have  been  very  successful  in  turning 
to  their  purposes  the  properties  of  sound.  In  the  labyrinth  of  Egypt, 
which  contained  twelve  palaces  and  fifteen  hundred  subterranean 
apartments,  the  gods  were  made  to  speak  in  a  voice  of  thunder ;  and 
Pliny,  who  lived  at  this  time,  informs  us  that  some  of  the  palaces  were 
so  constructed  that  their  doors  could  not  be  opened  without  the  peals 
of  thunder  being  heard  in  the  interior.  Darius  Hystaspes  used  to 
impress  the  divinity  of  his  character  upon  his  subjects  by  the  bursts 
of  thunder  and  flashes  of  lightning  which  accompanied  their  devotions; 
and  it  is  thought  that  in  the  subterraneous  and  vaulted  apartments  of 
the  Egyptian  labyrinth,  the  reverberated  sounds  arising  from  the  mere 
opening  and  shutting  of  the  doors  themselves  afforded  a  sufficient 
imitation  of  ordinary  thunder  to  impose  upon  the  credulous  wor- 
shipers. Sir  David  Brewster  conjectures  that  the  method  used  in  our 
modern  theatres  was  known  to  the  ancients.  This  is  to  shake  a  piece 
of  sheet  iron  horizontally,  so  as  to  agitate  the  corner  in  a  direction  at 
right  angles  to  the  surface  of  the  sheet,  by  which  the  deep  growl  of 
distant  thunder,  as  well  as  the  loud  and  explosive  bursts  which  rattle 
over  our  heads,  may  be  produced.  The  same  effect  may  be  produced 
by  sheets  of  tin-plate  and  thin  plates  of  mica,  but  the  sound  is  shorter 
and  more  acute.  Imitative  lightning  is  produced  by  throwing 
powdered  rosin,  or  the  seeds  of  lycopodium,  through  a  flame  ;  and 
rattling  rain  is  imitated  by  a  shower  of  peas  in  a  sort  of  drum. 

The  ancients  turned  to  account  the  accoustic  properties  of  certain 
kinds  of  stones  in  a  remarkable  way.  Pausanias  tells  of  a  marvelous 
stone  that  was  placed  as  a  sentinel  at  the  entrance  of  a  treasury,  and 
that  robbers  were  scared  away  by  the  trumpet  tones  which  it  sent 
forth.     Several  stones  have  this  property  of  resonance,  and  it  is  prob- 


790 


WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 


able  that  a  stone  of  this  description  was  so  suspended  as  to  be  struck 
by  a  projecting  piece  of  metal  when  the  external  door  of  the  treasury- 
was  opened.  Strong  boxes  or  safes  have  been  known  to  emit  sounds 
to  alarm  their  owners  when  broken  into  surreptitiously.  M.  Salverte 
relates  that  Louis  XV.  possessed  one  of  these,  and  that  Napoleon  I. 
was  offered  one  at  Vienna  in  1809  ;  and  there  have  been  made  similar 
boxes  which,  when  opened  by  a  false  key,  throw  out  a  battery  of 
cannon  and  shoot  the  invader. 

The  clink-stone  indicates  by  its  very  name  its  sonorous  qualities. 
The  red  granite  of  theThebaid,  in  Egypt,  po.ssesses  similar  properties  ; 
and  so  musical  are  the  granite  rocks  on  the  banks  of  the  Orinoco, 
that  their  sounds  are  ascribed  to  witchcraft  by  the  natives.     In  Brazil, 

travelers  have  seen 
large  blocks  of  basalt 
which  emitted  very 
clear  sounds  when 
struck ;  and  the 
Chinese  employ  this 
stone  in  the  fabrica- 
tion of  musical  in- 
struments. But  the 
most  celebrated  of 
these  acoustic  won- 
ders is  the  "Jabel 
Nakous,"  or  "Moun- 
tain of  the  Bell,"  a 
low  sandy  hill  in  the 
peninsula  of  Mount 
Sinai.  Sir  A.  Smith 
distinctly  heard 
sounds  issuing  from 
the  celebrated  granite 
statue  of  Memnon,  in  the  morning,  which  sounds  are  ascribed  by  others 
to  the  same  cause  as  the  sound  in  granite  rocks. 

The  speaking  heads  of  the  ancients  were  constructed  for  the  purpose 
of  representing  the  gods,  or  of  uttering  oracular  responses.  The 
speaking  head  of  Orpheus,  at  Lesbos,  is  one  of  the  most  famous,  and 
had  the  credit  of  predicting,  in  the  equivocal  language  of  the  heathen 
oracles,  the  bloody  death  which  terminated  the  expedition  of  Cyrus  the 
Great  into  Scythia.  Odin,  who  imported  into  Scandinavia  the  magical 
arts  of  the  Ea.st,  possessed  a  speaking  head,  said  to  be  that  of  the  sage 
Minos,  which  uttered  responses. 


SPEAKING    HEADS STATUES    OF   MEMNON. 


MISCELLAMEOUS    WONDERS.  791 

There  is  an  anecdote  related  of  Rubini,  the  great  tenor  singer,  which 
illustrates  the  peculiar  power  of  the  human  voice.  In  an  opera  by 
Pacini,  called  "  II  Talismano,"  in  which  Rubini  was  singing,  he  had  to 
sing  a  phrase  in  which  a  high  B  flat  occurs,  which  he  was  accustomed 
to  attack  and  hold  out  with  great  power,  to  the  delight  of  his  audience. 
The  public  flocked  to  hear  this  wonderful  note,  and  never  missed  calling 
for  a  repetition  of  it.  Rubini  had  already  sung  the  note  on  seven  pre- 
vious occasions,  each  time  twice,  and  on  one  evening,  when  an  admiring 
audience  waited  for  the  production  of  the  wonderful  note,  Rubini  was 
dumb.  He  opened  his  mouth,  extended  his  arms  and  tried  to  utter  the 
note  which  would  not  come.  The. audience  cheered,  applauded  and 
encouraged  him  in  every  way,  but  the  obstinate  B  flat  refused  to  be 
sounded.  One  more  effort,  and  the  force  of  his  powerful  lungs  over- 
came the  obstacle,  and  the  B  flat  rung  among  the  audience  with  brilliant 
vigor ;  but  something  in  the  mechanism  of  his  voice  had  given  way, 
and,  though  feeling  acute  pain,  he  continued  the  scene,  forgetting  his 
suffering  in  the  triumphant  conquest  he  had  obtained.  When  he  left 
the  stage,  he  saw  the  surgeon  of  the  theatre,  who  examined  him,  and 
found  that  in  the  exertion  of  producing  the  obstinate  note,  he  had  actu- 
ally broken  his  collar-bone.  Exercising  a  little  caution  in  his  acting, 
he  positively  sung  through  the  remainder  of  the  season  with  a  broken 
clavicle,  very  few  of  the  audience  discovering  that  he  had  suffered  any 
injury  in  his  endeavor  to  please  them. 

Another  authentic  instance  of  the  power  of  sound  took  place  during 
the  rehearsal  of  the  music  for  the  Duke  of  Wellington's  funeral.  The 
rehearsal  took  place  in  one  of  the  parish  churches  near  to  St.  Paul's 
Cathedral,  the  whole  available  space  being  filled  with  singers,  and  during 
a  passage  in  unison  in  an  anthem  written  for  the  occasion,  called  "A 
Prince  is  Fallen  in  Israel,"  at  one  note  sung  loudly  by  all  the  voices, 
some  six  or  eight  of  the  gas-glasses  echoed  the  sound,  and  burst  into 
fragments.  Cheron,  a  celebrated  French  bass  singer,,  could  break  a 
tumbler  into  a  thousand  pieces,  by  sounding  into  a  thin  glass  the  funda- 
mental note  it  naturally  gave  out.  Ivanoff,  the  Russian  bass,  could  also 
do  the  like. 

Sir  David  Brewster  says  buildings  have  often  been  thrown  down  by 
violent  concussions  of  the  air,  occasioned  either  by  the  sound  of  great 
guns,  or  by  loud  thunder,  and  most  serious  effects  upon  human  and 
animal  life  have  been  produced  by  the  same  cause.  Most  persons  have 
experienced  the  stunning  pain  produced  in  the  ear,  when  placed  near  a 
cannon  that  is  discharged.  Deafness  has  frequently  been  the  result  of 
such  sudden  concussions,  and  if  we  may  reason  from  analogy,  death 
itself  must  often  have  been  the  consequence. 


792  WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 

Bells  were  not  always  made  in  the  shape  or  of  the  material  with 
which  we  are  most  familiar.  The  earliest  church  bells  are  said  to  have 
been  used  at  Nola,  in  Campania,  and  it  is  to  this  fact  that  the  Latin 
name  for  a  bell,  canipana,  and  our  own  campanile,  owe  their  origin. 
They  are  first  heard  of  about  the  year  400,  before  which  date  rattles 
were  used.  In  the  year  610  we  hear  of  bells  in  the  city  of  Sens  ;  the 
army  of  Clothaire,  king  of  France,  having  been  frightened  away  by  the 
ringing  of  them.  In  960  the  first  peal  of  bells  was  hung  in  England, 
at  Croyland  Abbey,  in  Lincolnshire.  They  were  six  in  number.  In 
those  early  times,  it  was  the  custom  to  bless  the  church  bells  by  a  sort 
of  baptism  ;  after  which  it  was  believed  they  had  power  to  drive  away 
evil  spirits,  avert  tempests  and  extinguish  fire ;  and  on  many  bells  in- 
scriptions are  found,  generally  in  old  Latin  rhymes,  which  accord  with 
this  belief  The  great  bell  of  Ghent,  which  played  so  prominent  a  part 
in  the  civil  struggles  in  the  Netherlands,  and  which  bore  the  name  of 
Roland,  was  famous  for  an  inscription  of  this  nature. 

One  of  the  smgle  bells  that  have  become  celebrated  on  account  of 
their  great  size  is  that  at  Moscow,  the  largest  in  the  world,  weighing 
four  hundred  and  thirty-two  thousand  pounds.  Big  Ben,  in  the  tower 
of  the  Houses  of  Parliament,  London,  weighs  fifty-six  thousand  pounds. 
The  bell  at  Florence,  notwithstanding  its  great  weight,  is  elevated  two 
hundred  and  seventy-five  feet  from  the  ground.  Big  Ben  is  raised  to 
the  height  of  nearly  two  hundred  feet.  The  enormous  bell  at  Moscow 
was  presented  to  the  cathredral  by  the  Empress  Anne.  In  1731,  the 
beam  to  which  it  was  fastened  was  burnt,  and  this  marvelous  bell  falling, 
a  fragment  was  broken  out  of  it,  leaving  an  opening  large  enough  to 
admit  two  persons  abreast  without  stooping.  Its  tone,  however,  was 
not  affected.  It  has  been  thought  that  the  custom  of  ringing  tunes 
upon  bells  was  peculiar  to  England  ;  but,  in  fact,  the  Cathedral  of  An- 
twerp, celebrated  for  its  magnificent  spire,  has  a  peal  of  ninety-nine 
bells,  on  which  the  most  elaborate  music  is  played  every  half-hour.  It 
is  an  interesting  fact  that  the  peal  of  bells  in  the  clock-tower  of  the  old 
Royal  Exchange,  London,  was  chiming  "  There  is  nae  luck  aboot  the 
house,"  when  the  building  was  on  fire,  and  fragments  of  the  tune  were 
heard  as  one  by  one  the  bells  fell  from  their  places  into  the  ruins. 

The  most  celebrated  bell  in  our  country  is  not  remarkable  for  size, 
but  it  has  a  history,  and  there  arc  historic  associations  connected  with 
it  which  render  it  an  object  of  peculiar  interest.  Hanging  in  Indepen- 
dence Hall,  Philadelphia,  is  the  famous  old  Liberty  Bell,  which  rang 
out  with  no  uncertain  sound  when  the  Declaration  of  Independence 
was  signed,  and  the  patriotic  founders  of  the  nation  declared  that  the 
people  should  be  free.     The  bell  bears  this  inscription  taken  from  the 


MISCELLANEOUS    WONDERS. 


793 


book  of  Leviticus  :  "  Proclaim  liberty  to  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  land." 
A  crack  disfigures  the  bell,  and  it  is  never  rung,  but  it  is  a  relic  which 
is  sacredly  treasured. 

A    SINGULAR    OCCUPATION. 

Snake-charming  is  a  very  ancient  art,  and  we  find  occasional  allu- 
sions to  it  in  the  Old  Testament,  as  well  as  in  classic  writers.  But  it  is 
in  India  that  the  art  of  snake-charming  has  attained  the  highest  degree 
of  success,  its  secrets  being  so  well  handed  down  that  it  is  commonly 
practised  by  the  Hindoos  at  the  present  day. 

The  Indian  snake-charmers  wander  from  village  to  village,  and  from 
town  to  town,  with  their  snakes  carried  in  baskets.  They  exhibit 
their  skill  chiefly  for  the  amusement 
of  the  people,  but  often  turn  it  to 
useful  account  in  luring  dangerous 
serpents  from  their  lurking-places  in 
houses,  banks,  or  old  walls.  The 
chief  agency  in  the  charm  is  music, 
and  this  of  the  most  indifferent  kind, 
consisting  of  dismal  tunes  slowly 
played  on  a  pipe  something  like  a 
flageolet.  The  Hindoo  conjurer 
afTects  also  to  exercise  a  spell  on 
the  reptiles  by  means  of  the  voice 
alone,  but  this  is  believed  to  have  no 
foundation  in  fact. 

The  mode  of  exhibition  by  the 
snake  charmer  is  usually  the  follow- 
ing :  setting  down  his  basket  of 
snakes,  which  has  been  covered  with 

cotton  wool,  he  produces  his  pipe,  the  old  liberty  bell. 

and  performs  upon  it  a  few  droning  notes.  The  snakes  come  out  from 
the  basket  upon  the  ground,  and  as  the  juggler  continues  playing, 
seem  much  delighted,  erecting  themselves  about  half  their  length  from 
the  ground,  and  keeping  time  by  graceful  undulatory  motions  of  the 
head  and  neck.  At  times  twenty  of  the  serpents  may  be  seen  thus 
dancing  together,  with  hundreds  of  natives  looking  on.  After  the 
dancing  has  continued  some  time,  the  juggler,  seizing  one  or  more  of 
the  snakes,  will  coil  them  round  his  head  and  neck,  playing  with  them 
fearlessly,  and  apparently  having  them  under  his  entire  control. 

The  .snakes  which  generally  form  the  subject  of  exhibition,  are  the 
kind  most  dreaded  of  all — the  cobra  di  capello.  It  has  often  been 
supposed  that  before  the  juggler  exhibits  his  snakes  he  has  carefully 


794 


WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 


extracted  the  poison-fangs,  and  hence  that  his  tricks,  daring  as  they 
sometimes  are,  may  be  performed  in  perfect  safety.  This,  however,  is 
not  ahvays  the  case.  Cobras  from  which  the  fangs  have  been  drawn 
are  frequently  among  the  snakes  which  the  charmers  carry,  but  it  has 
been  proven  again  and  again  that  in  many  of  them  the  venomous 
powers  are  still  unimpaired.  The  possession  or  the  abstraction  of  these 
powers  does  not  affect  the  peculiar  sensibility  of  the  snakes  to  the 
influence  of  the  monotonous  music  of  the  Hindoo  pipes  ;  and  in  this 


AN    ORIENTAL    SNAKE-CflARMER. 

undoubted  susceptibility  consists  the  secret  of  the  power  and  control 
of  the  conjurer  over  the  reptiles. 

Many  fatal  accidents  have  arisen  from  persons  having  vainly  imagined 
that  the  jugglers'  snakes  have  been  rendered  harmless.  A  traveler  thus 
relates  his  own  narrow  escape  :  among  my  drawings  is  that  of  a  cobra 
di  capello,  which  danced  for  an  hour  on  the  tabic  while  I  painted  it.  I 
frequently  handled  it,  to  observe  the  beauty  of  its  spots,  and  especially 
the  spectacles  on  the  hood,  not  doubting  that  its  fangs  had  been  pre- 
viously extracted.  But  the  next  morning  my  chief  servant,  a  devout 
Mussulman,  came  to  me  in  great   haste  and  desired  I  would  instantly 


MISCELLANEOUS    WONDERS.  795 

retire  and  praise  the  Almighty  for  my  good  fortune.  Not  understanding 
his  meaning,  I  told  him  that  I  had  already  performed  my  devotions. 
Mahomet  then  informed  me  that,  while  purchasing  some  fruit  in  the 
bazaar,  he  saw  the  man  who  had  been  with  me  on  the  preceding  evening 
entertaining  the  country  people  with  his  dancing  snakes.  The  peasants, 
according  to  the  usual  custom,  sat  on  the  ground  round  the  charmer, 
when,  cither  from  the  musie  stopping  too  suddenly,  or  from  some  other 
cause  of  irritation,  the  vicious  reptile,  which  I  had  so  often  handled, 
darted  at  the  throat  of  a  young  woman,  and  inflicted  a  wound  of  which 
she  died  in  about  half  an  hour. 

It  is  a  remarkable  peculiarity  in  the  cobra  di  capello,  and  in  most 
poisonous  reptiles  of  this  class,  that  they  seem  to  have  a  great  reluct- 
ance to  put  into  operation  the  deadly  powers  with  which  they  are 
endowed.  The  cobra  scarcely  ever  bites  unless  excited  by  actual  injury 
or  extreme  provocation ;  and  even  then,  before  it  darts  upon  its 
aggressor,  it  always  gives  him  timely  notice  of  his  danger  in  a  way  not 
to  be  mistaken.  It  dilates  the  crest  upon  its  neck — a  large  flexible 
membrane,  having  on  the  upper  surface  two  black  circular  spots,  like  a 
pair  of  spectacles  ;  it  waves  its  head  to  and  fro  with  a  gentle  undulatory 
motion,  the  eye  sparkling  with  intense  lustre,  and  commences  a  hiss  so 
loud  as  to  be  heard  at  a  considerable  distance — so  that  the  juggler 
always  has  warning  when  it  is  perilous  to  approach  his  captive.  The 
snake  never  bites  while  the  hood  is  closed  ;  and  so  long  as  this  is  not 
erected,  it  may  be  approached  and  handled  with  impunity.  Even  when 
the  hood  is  spread,  while  the  creature  continues  silent  there  is  no  danger. 
Its  fearful  hiss  is  at  once  the  signal  of  aggression  and  of  peril.  Though 
the  cobra  is  so  deadly  when  under  excitement,  it  is  appeased  with 
astonishing  rapidity  even  from  the  highest  state  of  exasperation,  merely 
by  the  droning  music  of  the  juggler's  pipes. 

A    STORY    OF    A    DIAMOND. 

The  diamond  has  always  enjoyed  an  undisputed  pre-eminence  among 
precious  stones,  not  only  on  account  of  its  rarity,  but  also  from  its  un- 
equalled brilliancy.  Some  of  these  stones  have  been  sold  for  almost 
fabulous  prices,  and  many  of  the  most  celebrated  diamonds  known  to 
exist  have  changed  hands  from  time  to  time  under  strange  and  romantic 
circumstances. 

Among  the  jewels  formerly  in  the  regalia  of  England  was  a  diamond 
of  great  beauty  and  value,  with  which  is  connected  a  very  remarkable 
history.  It  was  once  the  property  of  Charles  the  Bold,  last  Duke  of 
Burgundy,  who  wore  it  in  his  hat  at  the  battle  of  Nancy,  in  which  he 
lost  his  life.  The  diamond  was  found  on  the  field  after  the  battle  by  a 
Swiss,  who  sold  it  to  a  priest  for  a  trifle,  and  it  afterwards  became  the 


796  WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 

property  of  a  French  nobleman  named  De  Sancy.  The  treasure  re- 
mained in  the  possession  of  his  family  for  more  than  a  century,  when 
one  of  his  descendants,  who  was  captain  of  the  Swiss  guard  under  Henry 
III.  of  France,  was  commissioned  by  the  king  to  raise  a  new  force  from 
the  same  nation.  Henry  at  length  found  himself  unable  to  pay  his  sol- 
diers, and  in  this  emergency  he  borrowed  the  diamond  from  the  Count 
de  Sancy,  that  he  might  place  it  in  the  hands  of  the  Swiss  government 
as  a  pledge  for  the  fulfilment  of  his  engagements. 

The  count  entrusted  the  diamond  to  one  of  his  most  faithful  followers 
for  conveyance  to  the  king ;  but  the  messenger  and  the  treasure  dis- 
appeared, to  the  great  consternation  both  of  Henry  and  De  Sanc\'. 
The  most  diligent  search  was  made,  but  without  furnishing  any  clue  to 
the  mystery.  So  strong  was  De  Sancy's  confidence  in  the  perfect 
probity  of  his  servant,  that  he  felt  convinced  some  misfortune  must  have 
happened  to  him  ;  and  he  persevered  in  his  inquiries,  until  he  at  length 
discovered  that  his  follower  had  been  waylaid  and  murdered  by  a  band 
of  robbers,  and  the  body  concealed  in  a  neighboring  forest. 

De  Sancy  ascertained  the  locality,  and  instituted  a  careful  search, 
which  resulted  in  the  discovery  of  his  messenger's  remains.  He  next 
gave  directions  to  have  the  body  opened  ;  when,  to  the  astonishment 
of  all  but  De  Sancy  himself,  the  treasure  was  discovered.  It  was  now 
clear  that  the  poor  fellow,  on  finding  himself  beset  beyond  the  possi- 
bility of  escape,  had  swallowed  the  diamond  rather  than  that  it  should 
fall  into  the  hands  of  the  robbers.  The  story  has  been  commemorated 
in  the  appellation  the  diamond  has  ever  since  borne  of  "  the  Sancy." 
The  diamond  was  purchased  for  the  Crown  of  England  ;  but  James  II. 
carried  it  with  him  in  his  flight  to  France  in  1688.  Louis  XV.  is  said 
to  have  worn  it  at  his  coronation.  In  1835  it  was  purchased  by  a 
Russian  nobleman  for  four  hundred  thousand  dollars. 

GREEK    FIRE. 

"Greek  fire" — or,  as  it  was  sometimes  called,  "Saracen  fire" — was 
the  most  important  war  material  men  had  before  the  invention  of  gun- 
powder. Twice  the  city  of  Constantinople  was  saved  by  the  use  of  it. 
It  is  said  to  have  been  invented  by  a  Syrian,  who,  deserting  from  the 
service  of  the  caliph,  revealed  his  secret  to  the  emperor.  The  ingredi- 
ents, if  not  also  the  mode  of  darting  the  fire,  were  kept  a  secret  for  up- 
wards of  four  hundred  years,  and  it  is  quite  uncertain  now  what  were 
actually  the  component  parts  of  that  which,  Joinville  says,  "  came  flying 
through  the  air  like  a  winged,  long-tailed  dragon,  about  the  thickness 
of  a  hogshead,  with  the  report  of  thunder  and  the  velocity  of  lightning  ; 
and  the  darkness  of  the  night  was  dispelled  by  this  deadly  illumination." 
It  is  generally  considered,  however,  that  "  the  fire  "  was  composed  of 


MISCELLANEOUS    WONDERS.  797 

naptha,  mingled  in  certain  proportions,  now  unknown,  with  sulphur, 
and  with  pitch  obtained  from  evergreen  fir.  This  mixture,  ignited  and 
blown  or  pumped  through  long  tubes  of  copper,  which  were  mounted 
in  the  prows  of  galleys,  and  fancifully  shaped  into  the  form  of  monsters, 
produced  a  thick  smoke  with  a  loud  explosion,  and  a  flame,  fierce  and 
obstinate,  which  no  amount  of  water  could  put  out.  When  used  for  the 
defence  of  walls,  it  was  poured  in  large  boilers  from  the  ramparts,  or 
was  hurled  on  javelins  by  means  of  tow  which  had  previously  been 
steeped  in  the  intlammable  material.  Against  it  the  bravest  soldiers 
went  in  vain  ;  their  imagination  recoiled  from  a  thing  so  subtle  and  ter- 
rible. Horses  fled  from  it  in  dire  fright;  ships  were  burnt  by  it ;  there 
was  no  way  of  standing  against  it. 

The  Greek  emperors,  sensible  of  the  enormous  advantage  v/hich  an 
offensive  weapon  of  such  a  kind  gave  them,  invested  it  with  a  mysteri- 
ous history,  and  appealed  to  the  superstition  of  their  subjects  for  the 
preservation  of  the  secret  of  the  manufacture.  They  said  that  an  angel 
had  revealed  the  composition  of  Greek  fire  to  the  first  Constantine,  for 
the  express  purpose  of  maintaining  the  superiority  of  the  empire  over 
the  Barbarians ;  and  that  whoever  betrayed  the  secret  to  foreigners 
would  incur  not  only  the  penalties  of  treason  and  sacrilege,  but  the 
special  vengeance  of  the  Almighty.  In  the  twelfth  century,  however, 
we  find  it  used  by  the  Mahometans  in  their  wars  with  the  Christians  ; 
and  from  that  time  it  came  into  pretty  general  use,  until  the  invention 
of  gunpowder  put  it  out  of  date,  and  caused  an  entire  revolution  in  the 
art  of  war. 

WONDERS    OF    VEGETATION. 

Some  striking  resemblance  in  vegetation  to  the  human  form  is  by  no 
means  an  uncommon  phenomenon,  and  many  are  the  legends  to  which 
wonders  of  this  kind  have  given  rise.  There  is  the  story  of  the  man- 
drake, for  example,  which  is  said  to  shriek  when  it  is  pulled  out  of  the 
ground.  Axicenna  relates  that  a  Jew  at  Metz  had  a  mandrake  pre- 
served in  spirits  which  had  a  human  head,  and  the  legs  and  body  of  a 
cock.  This  may  have  been,  for  a  book  might  be  filled  with  similar 
marx'els ;  but  what  shall  ^\'e  srty  when  the  same  authority  informs  us 
that  the  mandragore  of  Metz  lived  five  weeks,  and  was  fed  on  grains  of 
lavender  and  earthworms  ? 

1  he  accompanying  sketch  represents  three  of  the  most  remarkable 
vegetable  oddities  which  have  been  noticed,  and  it  will  be  seen  from 
our  account  of  them  that  there  is  no  reason  to  believe  that  the  repre- 
sentations, which  are  copied  from  old  prints,  are  exaggerated. 

The  turnip  with  a  human  face  grew  in  a  garden  at  the  village  of 
Weidan,  between  Bonn  and  Juliers,  in  Germany.     It  will  be  observed 


I 


798 


WONDERS    OF    THE    WHOLE    WORLD. 


that  the  leaves  resemble  hair  standing  up,  or  feathers  such  as  ladies 
wear  when  attired  in  court  costume.  On  the  round  part  of  the  root 
there  are  marks  resembling  eyes,  nose  and  mouth.  By  a  very  slight 
effort  of  imagination,  the  entwined  roots  will  be  thought  to  resemble 
arms  and  legs ;  and  the  whole  bears  a  very  close  resemblance  to  a  fe- 
male figure  adorned  with  a  head-dress,  sitting  cross-legged,  with  her 
arms  folded. 

The  radish  represented  in  the  next  figure  grew  in  a  sandy  soil  at 
Haarlem,  and  was  painted  from  life.  From  this  picture  an  engrav- 
ing was  made,  from  which,  again,  our  copy  is  taken.  Another  radish, 
exactly  resembling  a  human  hand,  was  in  the  possession  of  a  curiosity 


CURIOSITIES    OF   VEGETATION. 

seeker,  who  declared  that  the  fingers  were  quite  perfect,  and  that  a  large 
sum  had  been  offered  for  it  and  refused. 

Equally  remarkable  was  the  root  of  the  parsnip  shown  in  our  engrav- 
ing, which  represented  the  back  of  a  hand  so  perfectly  that  it  could  not 
be  surpassed  by  the  best  painter.  This  root  was  bought  of  a  market 
woman  in  the  usual  way,  and  passing  from  one  person  to  another,  at 
last  fell  into  the  hands  of  an  engraver.  One  writer  testified  to  ha\'ing 
seen  a  parsnip  which  exactly  resembled  a  man,  but  wc  are  not  aware i 
that  any  drawing  of  it  was  ever  published. 

On  the  way  from  Porto  Santo  to  the  summit  of  the  Peak  of  Teneriffe, 
is  situated  the  considerable  town  of  Orotava.  It  is  now  of  little 
importance  compared  with  the  towns  on  the  coast,  and  indeed  it  is  best 
known  as  the  summer  retreat  for  the  wealthier  inhabitants  of  Porto 
Santo,  being  about  six  thousand  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea.     It 


MISCELLANEOUS    WONDERS.  799 

was  formerly  the  capital  and  court  of  the  principal  kingdom  of  the 
Guanches.  It  is  everywhere  known  as  the  place  where,  until  1867, 
grew  the  famous  dragon  tree  celebrated  for  its  great  antiquity. 
Humboldt  considered  it  to  have  been  five  thousand  or  six  thousand 
years  old.  Sir  John  Herschcl  supposed  it  to  be  the  oldest  tree  in  the 
world.  Other  writers  make  it  so  old  as  to  have  witnessed  some  of  the 
last  revolutions  which  the  surface  of  the  planet  underwent  previous  to 
the  advent  of  man. 

Its  inmiense  hollow  trunk  was  used  centuries  ago  as  a  temple  by  the 
Guanches.  The  victorious  Portuguese,  finding  it  suited  for  this  pur- 
pose, dedicated  it  in  the  beginning  of  the  fifteenth  century  to  Christian 
worship.  It  subsequently  suffered  greatly  from  natural  causes,  as  well 
as  from  the  ruthless  vandalism  of  travelers  and  curiosity  hunters.  In 
the  beginning  of  the  present  century  it  lost  an  immense  arm,  and  decay 
was  rapidly  telling  upon  it  when  it  fell  into  the  hands  of  its  last 
proprietor,  who  did  all  he  could  to  preserve  this  patriarch  of  the 
vegetable  world.  A  terrible  hurricane  which  swept  over  this  part  of 
the  island  in  the  autumn  of  1867,  threw  it  down  and  completely 
destroyed  it. 

The  youngest  trees  of  this  species  consist  of  simple  stems  of  equal 
diameter  throughout,  marked  with  transverse  scars  produced  by  the 
bases  of  the  former  leaves,  and  terminating  in  a  round  head  of  radiating, 
sedge-shaped,  stiff"  leaves.  For  twenty  years  or  so  from  its  springing 
from  the  seed,  the  dragon  tree  retains  this  appearance,  growing  only 
in  height.  It  then  flowers,  and  after  flowering,  a  whorl  of  three  or 
more  branches  is  produced,  each  repeating  the  appearance  and  passing 
through  the  history  of  the  original  stem.  This  now  increases  in  size, 
the  external  transverse  markings  disappear,  and  a  rough,  irregular  outer 
surface  is  formed  with  numerous  perpendicular  fissures  and  scars. 
Another  period  of  flowering  arrives — -for  another  twenty  years  the  tree 
has  been  simply  vegetating  and  preparing  nourishment  for  the  vigorous 
production  of  flowers  and  fruit — and  now  every  branch  bears  its  clusters 
of  flowers,  which  are  in  time  changed  into  glistening  vermilion  berries. 
Then  each  branch  produces  a  whorl  of  branches,  and  by  the  numerous 
vascular  bundles  which  it  sends  down  towards  the  ground,  and  on  the 
outside  of  the  old  stem,  greatly  increases  it  in  size. 

THE  DEAF  AND  DUMB  ALPHABET. 

There  is  always  a  number  of  persons  who,  having  lost  the  power 
of  hearing,  commonly  through  some  form  of  disease,  have  also  lost 
the  power  of  speech,  and  are  compelled  to  make  use  of  signs.  That 
the  deaf  and  dumb,  who  are  unable  to  articulate  a  single  sylla- 
ble, should  yet   be  able  to   talk  as  accurately  as  though  they  could 


800  WONDERS    OF   THE    WHOLE    WORLD. 

speak  with  tongue  and  lips  as  other  people  do,  shows  the  benevolent 
interest  taken  in  those  who,  for  any  reason,  are  unibrtunate,  and  com- 
paratively helpless.  The  hands  are  made  to  speak.  As  far  as  possible, 
the  form  of  the  letter  made  by  the  hand  corresponds  with  that  of  the 
letter  in  the  alphabet,  and  it  will  be  noticed  that  in  many  of  the  mute 
letters  there  is  a  resemblance  to  the  original  letter  intended  to  be  repre- 
sented. By  the  use  of  these  signs  mutes  are  able  to  converse  as  readily 
as  if  their  vocal  powers  were  unimpaired. 

By  constant  practice  the  hand  at  length  forms  the  various  signs  with 
great  rapidity.  In  many  instances  it  is  unnecessary  to  spell  a  word  out, 
letter  by  letter,  but  by  contractions  and  simple  signs  which  stand  for 
words  or  phrases  the  conversation  is  expedited,  and  is  not  by  any  means 
the  slow  process  one  would  suppose  it  to  be.  A  skilled  interpreter  of 
the  deaf  and  dumb  alphabet  can  translate  a  discourse  delivered  by  a 
public  speaker,  who  is  deliberate  in  his  utterance,  so  that  a  company  of 
mutes  would  get  a  very  good  idea  of  the  meaning.  Of  course  words 
could  be  spelled  out  in  the  sign  language  in  only  a  few  instances,  yet 
by  signs  well  understood,  each  carrying  a  separate  idea,  the  meaning 
of  the  speaker  could  be  discovered. 

It  is  happily  true  that  they  who  cannot  speak  audibly  are  not  shut 
out  from  all  communication  with  their  fellows.  Great  interest  has 
recently  been  taken  in  the  education  of  mutes,  and  the  effort  to  teach 
them  to  speak  audibly  has  been  successful,  although  the  process  is 
purely  mechanical. 

WONDERS    REVE.^LED    BY   THE    MICROSCOPE. 

The  philosophers  of  the  present  day,  and  especially  M.  Ehrenberg, 
have  forced  us  to  believe  the  marvelous  fact,  that  whole  mountains  are 
chiefly  formed  by  the  mineralized  remains  of  a  class  of  beings,  so 
minute  that  they  cannot  be  distinguished  without  the  aid  of  the  micro- 
scope. In  our  own  country.  Professor  Bailey,  of  West  Point,  by  the 
same  means,  has  not  only  confirmed  the  minute  observations  of 
Professor  Ehrenberg,  but  has  found  that  other  minerals,  not  suspected 
by  the  former  philosopher,  are  also  composed  of  remains  of  these  more 
than  tiny  insects.  This  is  not  the  least  of  the  wonders  which  the 
sciences  of  the  present  day  have  brought  to  light ;  and  it  is  now  not 
only  well  understood  that  formations  of  limestone  and  chalk  are  the 
works  of  infusoria,  but  also  that  they  are  contained  in  the  hardest 
stones,  as  flint,  chalcedony,  opal  and  emery. 

Professor  Bailey  says,  that  the  fresh  water  infusoria  are  seen  in 
the  mountain  brooks  around  West  Point,  the  bottoms  of  which  are 
covered  in  the  first  warm  days  of  spring  with  a  ferruginous-colored 
mucous  matter,  about  a  quarter  of  an  inch  thick,  which,  on  exanjina- 


MISCELLANEOUS    WONDERS. 


801 


ONE-HAND   ALPHABET. 

BCD 


E 


SIGNS   USED   FOR   LETTERS   BY   THE   DEAF   AND   DUMB. 
51 


802  WONDERS    OF   THE   WHOLE    WORLD. 

tion  by  the  microscope,  proves  to  be  filled  with  millions  and  millions 
of  these  exquisitely  beautiful  silicious  bodies.  Every  submerged  stone, 
twig,  and  spear  of  grass,  is  enveloped  by  them  ;  and  the  waving^ 
plume-like  appearance  of  a  filamentous  body,  covered  in  this  manner, 
is  often  extremely  elegant. 

If  some  water  is  taken  out  of  a  pond,  from  near  the  edge  or  close  to 
the  flags  and  grasses  which "  grow  close  to  the  side,  it  will  usually  be 
found  to  contain,  during  the  summer  months,  a  number  of  large  globu- 
lar animalcules.  A  common  magnifying  glass  will  just  distinguish 
some  specks  which  appear  to  move  very  slightly,  but  a  good  micro- 
scope proves  that  these  small  points  are  animalcules  in  the  form  of 
transparent  orange-shaped  masses.  Each  consists  of  a  fine  membrane 
covered  with  lace  markings,  and  at  the  edge  there  is  a  delicate  fringe 
of  moving  hairs  (ciliae)  which  causes  the  animalcule  to  turn  round  and 
round,  and  occasionally  to  move  forwards.  These  hairs  are  found  all 
over  the  globular  mass,  and  they  move  with  great  rapidity,  so  that  the 
animalcule,  which  is  called  a  volvox,  is  never  still.  Inside  the  mem- 
brane, and  as  it  were  in  the  middle  of  the  creature,  are  several  others 
of  the  same  shape,  and  possessing  the  same  lace-like  markings  and  fine 
ciliae.  These  revolve  and  turn  about,  and  there  may  be  even  others 
inside  them  having  the  same  construction  and  power  of  motion.  They 
clearly  float  in  water  and  within  each  other.  There  is  no  mouth,  and, 
in  fact,  no  opening  whatever  in  the  skin  of  the  volvox,  and  a  \ery 
highly  magnifying  power  shows  that  the  outside  membrane  is  without 
any  passage  by  which  food  can  get  within.  It  shows  that  the  lace-like 
markings  where  they  cross  each  other,  have  small  swellings,  some  being 
larger  than  others.  The  smallest  swellings  are  animalcules  with  a  deli- 
cate round  body  full  of  granules,  and  from  their  outside  the  hairs  pro- 
ject which  are  the  ciliae.  Every  small  swelling  has  its  animalcule  and 
two  ciliai,  and  the  cross-markings  between  the  swellings  are  evidently 
the  means  of  communication,  for  there  is  an  extraordinary  regularity  in 
the  general  movement  of  the  hairs  so  as  to  produce  a  constant  and  very 
slow  twisting  round  of  the  whole  volvox.  Volvox  is,  then,  a  family  or 
colony  of  animalcules,  each  being  independent  and  united  to  the  others 
by  the  fine  membrane  and  the  cross-markings.  When  the  larger  swel- 
lings are  examined  they  do  not  appear  to  be  simply  large  animalcules, 
but  there  are  three,  four  or  more  of  the  smaller  kind  collected  together 
and  encircled  by  a  layer  of  the  thin  membrane. 

Several  specimens  of  the  volvox  may  be  examined  in  a  drop  of  water 
at  once,  and  nothing  is  more  beautiful  than  their  regularity  of  ornament, 
their  color,  transparency  and  complexity,  or  more  wonderful  than  their 
graceful  rotation.     If  left  in  a  proper  glass,  and  if  fresh  water  is  sup- 


MISCELLANEOUS   WONDERS.  803 

plied,  the  volvox  grows  larger,  and  the  single  animalcules  on  the  cross- 
markings,  in  many  instances  turn  to  those  of  the  larger  kind.  The  in- 
side animalcules  increase  in  size,  and  after  awhile  the  outside  membrane 
bursts  and  breaks  up.  Each  of  the  round  creatures  within  becomes 
a  volvox  and  bursts  in  its  turn.  But  the  animalcules  of  the  outside 
mcMiibrane,  those  formed  at  the  cross-markings,  escape  from  the  colony 
and  swim  about  as  free  creatures.  They  are  then  recognized  as  round, 
green  creatures,  very  active,  and  not  at  all  like  the  old  volvox.  During 
some  ime  they  remain  in  this  shape,  but  at  last  they  begin  to  enlarge, 
snci  ti  eir  outside  skin  begins  to  have  hairs  upon  it  and  lace-like  mark- 
ings.    Finally  they  turn  to  the  great  globular  animalcules. 

The  rapidity  with  which  the  volvox  grows,  and  produces  animalcules 
within  it  and  on  its  outside,  which  are  again  to  become  like  the  parent, 
is  one  of  the  most  wonderful  things  in  nature.  Some  of  these  pieces 
are  as  large  as  an  apple,  but  usually  they  are  of  the  size  of  a  small  pea. 
The  stuff  looks  like  pure  white  of  egg;  it  is  quite  transparent,  slightly 
tinged  with  green,  and  when  placed  on  a  piece  of  glass  it  drains  away. 
But  the  microscope  reveals  that  it  is  a  colony  of  innumerable  animal- 
cules, each  creature  being  about  the  hundredth  part  of  a  line  in  thick- 
ness, and  the  tenth  of  a  line  in  length.  The  centre  of  the  mass  is  hollow 
and  contains  water,  and  the  animalcules  are  embedded  in  the  jelly. 
Their  numbers  are  enormous,  for  they  are  placed  in  close  rows,  one 
over  the  other.  They  have  movable  hairs  upon  one  end,  and  they  pro- 
duce a  great  whirl  amongst  the  small  grains  and  minute  animalcules 
which  come  near  them.  There  are  about  nine  thousand  two  hundred 
and  sixteen  of  these  creatures  in  the  space  of  a  square  line,  and  in  the 
space  comprised  by  a  mass  measuring  an  inch  in  height,  breadth  and 
length,  or  a  cubic  inch  as  it  is  called,  there  are  about  eight  million. 

One  of  the  most  wonderful  animalcules  is  in  the  shape  of  a  wine- 
glass with  a  bell  mouth.  The  bottom  of  the  body  is  attached  by  a 
long  thread  to  substances  in  the  water,  and  the  rim  is  covered  with  the 
long  hairs  called  cilias.  Several  round  grains  are  seen  in  the  inside  of 
the  body,  which  is  very  transparent,  and  inside  the  delicate  thread  there 
is  one  long  muscular  fibril.  When  the  hairs  begin  to  move,  the  creature 
stretches  its  thread  out  and  anchors.  As  soon  as  it  cannot  move  any 
more  the  hairs  produce  a  whirlpool  all  round  the  rim  of  the  glas.s-shaped 
body,  and  the  minute  particles  in  the  water,  and  small  animalcules  of 
different  kinds  are  guided  into  the  creature's  stomach.  When  too 
large  a  piece  comes  in  contact  with  the  hairs,  the  thin  fibre  in  the 
thread  pulls  the  body  back  violently  and  curls  itself  up  like  a  spiral 
spring,  or  in  cork-screw  fashion.  After  awhile  the  animalcule  sets  its 
ciliae  at  work  again,  and  the  spiral  shape  of  the  thread   is  undone. 


804  WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 

When  the  animalcule  is  well  nourished  it  begins  to  split  in  two,  and 
each  division  becomes  a  separate  creature.  If  the  thread  should  happen 
to  break  the  animalcule  must  go  forward  until  checked,  and  it  is  very- 
common  to  see  them  swimming  about  without  this  attachment.  After 
awhile  they  seem  to  lose  it  altogether  and  to  become  fixed  before  pro- 
ducing another  elastic  cable. 

The  achromatic  microscope  shows  an  ordinar>^  hair  to  be  indented 
with  teeth  resembling  those  of  a  coarse  round  rasp,  but  extremely 
irregular  and  rugged.  And  these  incline  all  in  one  direction,  from  the 
origin  of  the  hair  towards  its  extremity  ;  so  that  if  a  hair  be  drawn 
between  the  finger  and  thumb  from  the  end  to  the  root,  it  will  be  dis- 
tinctly felt  to  give  a  greater  resistance  and  a  different  sensation  to  that 
which  is  experienced  when  drawn  the  opposite  way.  By  the  aid  of  the 
microscope,  shells  can  be  measured  to  the  thousand  part  of  an  inch. 
Crystals  can  be  obtained  from  an  imponderable  quantity  of  a  substance, 
and  those  so  characteristic  that  poisons  can  be  thus  detected  when  the 
substance  for  examination  is  too  small  to  be  submitted  to  tests.  Sir 
David  Brewster  has  detected,  with  a  microscope,  a  fine  down  of  quartz, 
the  filaments  of  which  could  not  exceed  the  one  third  of  a  millionth 
part  of  an  inch.  Professor  Kelland  has  shown  in  Paris,  on  a  spot  no 
larger  than  the  head  of  a  small  pin,  by  means  of  powerful  microscopes, 
a  specimen  of  distinct  and  beautiful  writing,  containing  the  whole  of 
the  Lord's  Prayer  written  within  this  minute  compass.  The  microscope 
detects  the  invisible  ingredients  which  adulterate  our  food,  our  drink, 
and  our  medicijies.  It  tells  the  murderer  that  the  blood  which  stains 
him  is  that  of  his  brother,  and  not  of  the  other  life  which  he  pretends 
to  have  taken  ;  and,  as  a  witness  against  the  criminal,  it,  on  one  occa- 
sion, appealed  to  the  very  sand  on  which  he  trod  at  midnight. 
Hundreds  of  adulterations  have  been  discovered,  the  detection  of 
which  was  beyond  the  power  of  chemistry.  Three  distinguished 
chemists  are  known  to  have  asserted  it  was  impossible  to  detect  the 
presence  of  chicory  in  coffee ;  whereas,  by  the  use  of  the  microscope, 
the  differences  of  structure  in  the  two  substances  can  be  promptly 
discerned,  no  matter  to  what  extent  they  may  be  pulverised,  mixed,  or 
even  roasted.  The  microscope  detects  the  most  minute  stains  ;  even 
of  the  millionth  j^art  of  a  grain  we  can  have  the  most  perfect  view. 
And  by  the  microscope  it  has  been  found  that  in  certain  Bohemian 
schists  there  are  fifty-one  millions  of  animalcules  to  the  cubic  inch, 
each  skeleton  weighing  no  more  than  the  two  hundred  millionth  part 
of  a  grain. 

The  art  of  photography  shows  us  much  that  is  both  curious  and 
amusing.     For  example,  wc  are  looking  through  the  glass  at  a  lovely 


MISCELLANEOUS    WONDERS.  805 

river  scene.  The  glow  of  a  tropical  sun  is  gleaming  in  the  sky  and  in 
the  waters,  but  as  we  look  the  scene  changes.  The  clouds  which  had 
previously  seemed  to  hang  in  the  tropical  sky,  appear  to  move  and 
to  assume  a  dusky  hue,  the  waters  look  sombre,  the  landscape  begins 
to  wear  a  deeper  green,  gradually  the  light  dies  away,  and  there  remains 
the  cool  and  quiet  of  an  evening  on  the  banks  of  the  Potomac  or  the 
Hudson.  This,  like  the  invisible  photograph,  is  but  the  application,! 
with  the  additional  artistic  effects  afforded  by  photography,  and  other 
improved  means,  of  an  old  principle.  The  apparatus  employed  is  a 
revolving  cylinder,  the  edge  or  rim  of  which  is  strongly  colored  with 
the  required  hues,  which  are  reflected  upon  the  photographic  plates 
according  to  the  effect  required. 

Next  to  the  above  in  curious  interest,  is  what  may  be  called  micro- 
scopic photograph}',  or  the  reduction  of  large  objects  into  such  small 
dimensions  that  the  picture  is  invisible  to  the  naked  eye.  One 
photographer  produced  a  family  group  of  seven  full  length  photographs 
in  a  spot  the  size  of  a  pin's  head ;  and  he  states  that  it  is  only  a  ques- 
tion of  trouble  to  include  ten  thousand  portraits  in  a  square  inch.  It 
was  suggested  that  a  diplomatic  despatch  might  be  conveyed  in  a  spot 
no  bigger  than  a  full  period.  Since  that  time  the  idea  has  been  worked 
out  in  a  variety  of  ways,  a  full  page  of  one  of  our  largest  newspapers 
having  been  potographed  in  so  small  a  space.  The  enlargement  of 
photographs,  though  less  wonderful  to  the  common  apprehension  than 
their  reduction  to  the  infinitely  small,  is,  practically,  not  less  interesting 
and  curious.  By  means  of  the  solar  camera,  photographic  cartes  are 
magnified  to  the  size  of  life.     The  effect  is  very  striking  and  beautiful. 

But  the  most  striking  photographs  of  this  topographical  character 
are  those  which  have  been  taken  in  balloons  floating  some  four  thousand 
feet  above  the  earth.  The  first  experiments  of  this  kind  were  made 
by  Mr.  Negretti  in  Coxwell's  "  Mammoth  "  balloon  in  the  summer  of 
1863.  They  were  regarded  with  much  interest  at  the  time,  as  several 
problems  were  involved  in  success  or  failure — such,  for  example,  as  the 
difficulty  of  operating  at  all  in  a  moving  tent,  and  the  question  whether 
the  actinic  power  of  the  solar  rays  would  be  as  effective  up  aloft  as  on 
the  surface  of  the  earth.  It  was  not  only  the  onward  motion  of  the 
balloon  that  created  a  difficulty,  but  its  rotating  motion,  to  obviate 
which  a  good  deal  of  ingenuity  in  constructing  and  working  the 
apparatus  was  needful. 

One  more  of  the  surprising  effects  of  photography  remains  to  be 
mentioned  here — viz.,  its  application  to  illustrate  geometrical  figures 
and  problems.  This  followed  rapidly  upon  the  discovery  of  the 
principle  of  the  stereoscope.     Every  one  who  has  gone  through  the 


g06  WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 

eleventh  book  of  Euclid  is  aware  of  the  i^reat  difficulty  which  is 
superadded  to  that  of  the  problem  itself  by  the  number  of  lines  crossing 
each  other  on  a  flat  surface.  By  producing  these  lines  on  stereoscopic 
slides,  they  are  made  to  appear  as  if  the  figure  was  made  of  wires 
stretchino-  from  point  to  point  in  space.  Planes  are  seen  to  intersect 
each  other  with  as  much  distinctnesses  if  they  were  sheets  of  card- 
board inclined  at  various  angles  ;  and  solid  angles  and  pyramids  have 
their  edo-es  and  angular  points  in  such  tangible  relief  that  a  model 
could  not  afford  a  better  illustration  of  the  text.  The  letters,  too, 
are  so  contrived  as  to  appear  to  belong  to  the  points  to  which  they 
refer,  and  to  stand  out  at  the  proper  distances  from  the  spectator. 

Before  concluding  this  article  we  may  also  notice  some  remarkable 
instances  of  grotesque  or  caricature  photography.  When  the  lamented 
Lincoln  was  president,  his  photographic  portrait  was  exhibited,  and  to 
the  naked  eye  appeared  as  if  pitted  with  the  small-pox.  On  examining 
the  dots  with  a  microscope,  they  were  found  to  consist  of  portraits  of 
generals,  politicians,  divines,  poets,  actresses  and  other  well-known 
characters  suitably  placed.  Jeff  Davis  would  be  found  in  the  presi- 
dent's eye ;  McClellan  on  the  tip  of  his  nose  ;  Miss  Cushman  on  his 
lips  and  so  on.  All  these  likenesses  were  said  to  be  very  striking,  and 
the  whole  caricature  was  regarded  as  a  felicitous  performance.  Some- 
thino-  of  the  same  comic  character  was  done  in  Rome,  when  well-known 
figures,  suggestive  of  a  satirical  application,  were  published  with  the 
heads  of  public  characters.  Thus  the  face  of  Antonelli  appeared  on  the 
shoulders  of  Fra  Diavolo ;  and  the  queen  of  Naples  was  made  to  figure 
as  Moll  Flagon.  Even  the  Pope  himself  was  not  spared.  The  speedy 
result,  however,  was  a  Papal  edict  against  the  enormity,  by  which  the 
photographic  artists  were  subjected  to  the  lo.ss  of  their  places  and  in- 
struments, a  fine  of  one  hundred  dollars  and  a  year  in  the  galleys  !  The 
models  who  dared  to  sit  for  such  figures  were  denounced  in  the  .same 
penalties. 

Instantaneous  photography  is  now  rapidly  coming  into  use.  By 
means  of  a  very  sensitive  plate  and  an  instantaneous  slide  an  impres- 
sion can  be  made  of  animals  in  motion,  and  a  correct  likeness  obtained. 
The  fastest  trotting  horse  can  be  made  to  show  the  exact  position  of 
his  feet  as  he  darts  past  the  instrument.  It  is  something  to  say  that 
the  photographic  art  has  been  so  perfected  that  an  impression  can  be 
taken  with  the  quickness  of  a  flash  of  lightning. 

Moving  photographic  figures  have  been  popularized  by  the  produc- 
tion of  a  toy  called  the  Wheel  of  Life.  The  idea  is  an  old  one,  and 
the  process  consists  in  producing  an  appearance  of  motion  by  the  re- 
currence of  certain  images  on  the  retina  of  the  eye.     The  principle  is 


MISCELLANEOUS    WONDERS.  80T 

simply  this :  the  retina  retains  for  a  short  time  any  impression  made 
upon  it ;  if,  therefore,  a  second  impression  can  be  produced  before  the 
first  has  died  out,  the  two  combine  to  form  an  uninterrupted  sense  of 
vision.  Famihar  instances  of  this  law  will  occur  to  everyone.  The 
appearance  presented  by  the  spokes  of  a  wheel  in  rapid  motion  ;  the 
circle  of  fire  produced  by  a  spaik  at  the  end  of  a  stick,  when  the  stick 
is  whirled  round,  are  cases  in  point.  It  is  only  fair  to  state  that  we  are 
indebted  to  the  ingenuity  of  one  of  our  own  countrymen  for  the  enjoy- 
.able  manner  in  which  the  Wheel  of  Life  is  now  presented  to  the  public. 
One  marvel,  however,  suggests  another,  and  there  is  reason  to  believe 
that  our  winter  evenings  will  soon  be  enlivened  by  another  adaptation 
of  the  same  idea.  A  clever  designer  has  prepared  diagrams  which 
represent  persons  in  the  act  of  swimming  and  skating,  a  cat  springing 
upon  a  rat  at  the  moment  of  its  disappearance  down  a  hole,  a  ball  leav- 
ing a  cannon's  mouth,  and  fish  swimming  in  a  stream.  The  most  curi- 
ous of  these  is  the  appearance  of  men  swimming.  They  are  all  alike 
seen  horizontally,  the  diagram  being  placed  at  the  bottom  of  the  Wheel 
of  Life  as  in  a  tray. 

CURIOSITIES    OF    GLASS-MAKING. 

Of  the  manufacture  of  glass  it  has  been  said  that,  although  perfectly 
transparent  itself,  not  one  of  the  materials  of  which  it  is  made  partakes 
of  that  quality.  Its  origin  is  uncertain.  Josephus  claims  the  discovery 
for  the  Israelites  ;  Pliny  assigns  it  to  the  Phcenicians,  and  states  that 
the  first  glass-houses  were  erected  in  Tyre,  where  the  only  staple  of 
the  manufacturer  existed  for  many  ages.  Herodotus  and  Theophrastus 
likewise  confirm  the  fact  of  the  use  of  glass  having  been  known  in  the 
earliest  periods  of  civilization,  and  of  the  establishment  of  glass-works 
in  Egypt  and  Phoenicia,  and  even  in  India,  where  rock  crystal  was 
employed  in  its  composition. 

The  art  of  making  glass  is  reputed  to  have  been  discovered  by 
accident.  Pliny  states,  some  Phoenician  mariners  who  had  a  cargo  of 
tiitnim  (salt,  or,  as  some  have  supposed,  soda)  on  board,  having  landed 
on  the  banks  of  the  Belus,  in  Palestine,  and  finding  no  stones  to  rest 
their  pots  on,  placed  under  them  some  masses  of  nitruvi^  which,  being 
fused  by  the  heat  with  the  sand  of  the  shore,  produced  a  liquid  and 
transparent  stream.  Now  the  sand  which  lay  about  half  a  mile  round 
the  river  was  peculiarly  well  adapted  for  the  making  of  glass.  The 
Sidonians,  in  whose  country  the  discovery  was  made,  took  it  up,  and 
in  process  of  time  carried  the  art  to  such  perfection  that  they  are  even 
said  to  have  invented  glass  mirrors.  Yet  the  manufacture  of  glass  was, 
a  few  \'ears  since,  unknown  at  Sidon,  where  it  is  reputed  to  have  been 
first  invented.     The  above  account  by  Pliny  is,  in  substance,  corrobor- 


808  WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 

ated  by  Strabo  and  by  Josephus ;  yet  it  was  long  asserted  that  the 
ancients  were  unacquainted  with  glass,  properly  so  called.  Nor  did 
the  denial  entirely  disappear  even  when  Pompeii  presented  evidence  of 
the  skill  of  the  ancients  in  glass-making. 

The  process  of  manufacture  detailed  by  Pliny  appears  to  have  been 
very  much  the  same  as  that  practised  at  the  present  time.  And  Sir 
George  Gardner  Wilkinson  gives  the  representation  of  two  glass- 
blowers  inflating  a  piece  of  molten  metal,  by  means  of  hollow  tubes,, 
taken  from  a  painting  of  Beni  Hassan,  executed  during  the  reign  of. 
that  monarch,  who  lived  about  three  thousand  five  hundred  years  ago ; 
and  adds  that  glass  vases,  if  we  may  trust  to  the  Theban  paintings,  are 
frequently  shown  to  be  used  for  holding  wine  as  early  as  the  Exodus,, 
about  one  thousand  four  hundred  years  before  the  Christian  era.  Such, 
was  the  skill  of  the  Egyptians  in  glass-making,  that  they  succes.sfully 
counterfeited  the  amethyst  and  other  precious  stones  worn  as  orna- 
ments for  the  person.  Winckelman,  a  high  authority,  is  of  opinion 
that  glass  was  employed  more  frequently  in  ancient  than  in  modern 
times  ;  it  was  used  by  the  Egyptians  not  only  for  drinking  vessels,  but 
for  mosaic  work,  the  figures  of  deities  and  sacred  emblems,  in  which 
they  attained  excellent  workmanship  and  surprising  brilliancy  of  color. 
The  remains  of  Alexander  the  Great  are  said  by  Suetonius  and  Strabo 
to  have  been  delivered  to  Augustus,  when  he  was  in  Egypt,  in  a  glass- 
case  in  which  Seleucus  had  deposited  them  after  removing  them  from 
a  golden  urn.  Gla.ss  was  used  by  the  Egyptians  for  coffins,  and  in 
1847  a  process  was  patented  in  England  for  making  coffins  of  glass. 
It  would  be  reasonable  to  suppose  that  the  Hebrews  brought  glass,  and 
a  knowledge  of  its  manufacture,  out  of  Egypt,  were  not  the  evidence 
of  liJstory  so  explicit  that  it  was  actually  discovered  and  wrought  at 
their  own  doors. 

Archimedes  is  stated  to  have  constructed  an '  orb  of  glass  for 
scientific  purposes  ;  and  optical  glass  has  been  found  at  Nineveh,  in  a 
microscope  glass.  There  is  also,  in  the  British  Museum,  a  perfect  and 
beautiful  goblet, excavated  by  Layard  from  among  fhe  ruins  of  Nineveh. 
It  has  a  name — probably  that  of  the  contemporary  sovereign,  or  of  the 
maker — engraved  upon  it ;  and  from  the  characters  employed,  and  the 
locality  in  which  it  was  found,  it  is  believed  to  be  of  date  seven 
centuries  before  the  Christian  era,  and  probably  the  most  ancient  piece 
of  manufactured  glass  in  existence. 

In  the  reign  of  Tiberius,  glass-works  were  first  established  near 
Rome,  and  various  sums  were  paid  for  vases  or  goblets.  Glass  was 
not  only  an  article  of  luxury  or  ornament  in  the  palaces,  but  employed 
to  decorate  altars  and   the  tombs  of  the  dead.     Many  fragments  have 


MISCELLANEOUS   WONDERS.  809 

been  found  in  the  catacombs,  showing  it  to  have  been  used  likewise 
by  the  early  Christians  in  their  places  of  worship.  In  the  above  reign 
a  Roman  artist  had,  according  to  Pliny,  his  house  demolished  (accord- 
ing to  others,  he  was  beheaded)  for  making  glass  malleable.  The 
Pompeian  and  Roman  architects  are  known  to  have  used  glass  in  their 
mosaic  decorations ;  of  these,  remains  have  been  found  among  the 
ruins  of  the  villa  of  the  Emperor  Tiberius,  in  the  island  of  Capri. 
Several  specimens  are  also  yet  to  be  seen  in  Westminster  Abbey^ 
cemented  into  the  sides  of  the  tomb  of  Edward  the  Confessor  in  flat 
pieces,  the  under  layer  reddish  and  opaque,  and  the  upper  white  and 
transparent,  gold  leaf  between,  and  the  whole  fixed  into  one  substance. 

The  clear  glass  resembling  crystal  was  so  costly,  that  Nero  gave  for 
two  cups  of  no  extraordinary  size,  with  two  handles,  nearly  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty  thousand  dollars.  Glass  vessels  are  made  to  imitate 
precious  stones,  cut  by  the  lathe  in  the  style  of  cameos  in  relief,  by 
Roman  artists.  In  the  British  Museum  are  preserved  many  fragments 
of  vases  of  white  opaque  enamel  glass  upon  blue  and  amethyst 
grounds.  White  crystal  glass  without  lead,  cut  to  imitate  rock  crystal, 
was  then  known ;  and  a  few  pieces  of  this  cut  glass,  considered 
Roman,  have  been  found  in  the  old  Roman  wall  of  the  city  of  London. 

The  following  curious  anecdote  is  related  by  the  German  traveler 
Kohl,  in  his  work  on  Russia.  The  Emperor  Nicholas  wished  to  illu- 
minate the  Alexander  column  in  a  grand  style.  The  size  of  the  round 
lamps  to  be  used  for  the  purpose  was  indicated,  and  the  glasses  bespoken 
at  the  manufactory,  where  the  workmen  exerted  themselves  in  vain,  and 
almost  blew  the  wind  out  of  their  bodies  in  the  endeavor  to  obtain  the 
desired  magnitude.  The  commission  must  be  executed — that  was  self- 
evident  ;  but  how  ?  A  great  premium  was  offered  to  whoever  should 
solve  this  problem.  Again  the  human  bellows  toiled  and  puffed. 
Their  object  seemed  unattainable  ;  when  at  last  a  long-bearded  Russian 
stepped  forward,  and  declared  that  he  could  do  it — he  had  strong  and 
sound  lungs,  he  would  only  rinse  his  mouth  first  with  a  little  water  to 
refresh  them.  He  applied  his  mouth  to  the  pipe,  and  puffed-  to  such 
purpose  that  the  vitreous  ball  swelled  and  puffed  nearly  to  the  required 
dimensions,  up  to  them,  beyond  them.  "  Hold  !  hold  !  "  cried  the 
lookers-on,  "  you  are  doing  too  much;  and  how  did  you  do  it  all?" 
"  The  matter  is  simple  enough,"  answered  the  long  beard  ;  "  but,  first, 
where  is  my  premium  ?  "  And  when  he  had  clutched  the  promised 
bounty,  he  explained.  He  had  retained  some  of  the  water  in  his 
mouth,  which  had  passed  thence  into  the  glowing  ball,  and  there  be- 
coming steam  had  rendered  him  this  good  service. 

Venice  possessed  the  art  of  glass-making  almost  as  early  as  the  foun- 


810  WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 

dation  of  the  city  itself.  An  immense  trade  in  beads,  imitations  of 
pearl  and  precious  stones,  was  carried  on  with  the  coasts  of  Asia  and 
of  Africa,  and  extended  to  India  and  to  China.  The  revival  of  art  in 
Italy  improved  the  design  and  colors  of  Venice  glass  ;  her  mirrors,  her 
table-Mass,  of  variegated  colors  and  spiral  stems,  her  bottles  and  cups, 
obtained  high  reputation,  and  for  a  time  supplied  the  wants  of  Europe, 
Africa  and  Asia.  Judging  from  curious  specimens  extant,  the  Venetian 
glass-blowers  must  have  been  skilful  artists.  A  glass  Venetian  knife- 
handle,  with  a  coating  of  white  transparent  glass,  including  differently- 
colored  glass  fused  into  one  variegated  mass,  is  very  beautiful,  and  the 
Venetian  ball  is  a  similar  specimen  of  ingenuity.  But  the  white  glass 
of  Venice  was  far  inferior  in  pellucid  refractibility  to  modern  English 
crystal  glass.  The  finest  ancient  Venetian  glass  is  rather  celebrated  for 
its  lightness  than  crystalline  beauty.  The  Venetians  also  originated 
the  modern  style  of  glass  engraving  :  the  first  specimen  was  scratched 
with  a  diamond,  or  broken  steel  file,  but  the  engravings  produced  by 
copper  and  lead  wheels  are  far  superior.  The  Venetians  also  revived 
the  curious  ancient  art  of  forming  mosaic  glass  pictures,  and  in  the 
present  day  Venice  is  unrivalled  for  its  cheap  and  excellent  glass  bugles 
and  beads.  The  Venetians  were  celebrated  for  their  filagree  spirally 
twisted  white  and  colored  enamel  glasses,  cased  in  transparent  glass, 
much  used  in  the  stems  of  wine-glasses  ;  inillefiorc  glass — ends  of  fancy- 
colored  tubes,  cut  sectionally  at  right  angles  with  the  filagree  cone,  to 
form  lozenges  and  tablets,  massed  together  by  transparent  glass  ;  and 
vitro  di  trlno — fine  lace-work,  intersected  with  white  enamel  or  trans- 
parent glass,  in  diamond-shaped  sections,  the  centre  of  each  having  an 
air-bubble,  executed  almost  with  the  precision  of  engine-lathe  turning. 

In  the  manufacture  of  glass  the  Bohemians  followed  the  Venetians, 
and  the  art  is  still  largely  practised  in  that  country.  The  glass  works 
of  Bohemia  at  this  day  afford  subsistence  to  more  than  thirty  thousand 
persons.  Glass  was  first  used  by  the  Italians  for  cameos  and  intaglios, 
by  impressing  it  while  warm  into  a  mould  of  tripoli,  the  glass  being 
sometimes  baked  with  plaster  of  Paris  ;  thus  are  made  copies  of  antique 
gems.  The  more  ancient  productions  were  only  partially  enclosed,  as 
we  see  in  the  picture  of  a  duck  described  by  Winckelmann,  or  the  ara- 
besque mosaic  in  the  British  Museum,  the  paintings  being  neither  com- 
pletely enclosed  nor  protected  from  the  air.  Among  the  celebrated 
ancient  specimens  is  the  Naples  Vase,  exhumed  at  Pompeii,  1839.  It 
has  white  enamel  figures  upon  a  dark  blue  transparent  ground,  being 
raised  or  embossed  out  of  the  white  exterior  coating  by  first-rate  en- 
gravers, probably  Grecian  artists  working  in  Rome,  about  seventy  years 
after  the  Christian  era.     The  mode  of  casting,  or  placing  two  or  more 


MISCELLANEOUS    WONDERS.  811 

coats  of  glass  upon  each  other,  and  then  cutting  out  the  design,  is  very 
curious. 

There  is  also  a  beautifully  engraved  glass  vase,  by  a  Bohemian  artist, 
the  subject  from  Le  Brun's  painting  of  the  conquest  and  final  overthrow 
of  the  Persians  at  the  battle  of  Arbela,  by  Alexander  the  Great.  For 
depth  of  workmanship  and  artistic  execution,  as  a  modern  intaglio  en- 
graving, this  vase  was  unrivalled.  It  has  been  stated  that  the  artist 
lost  his  sight  through  its  execution. 

THE   \yONDERS    OF   POISON. 

The  mysterious  power  by  which  life  is  sustained  is  only  to  be  equalled, 
in  point  of  interest,  by  the  nuriierous  materials  which  exist  in  every  de- 
partment of  nature  capable  of  destroying  it.  The  atmosphere  has  its 
gases  and  floating  germs,  which  oftentimes  produce  disease  and  cause 
death.  The  same  poison  which  drove  the  first  settlers  from  the  Pala- 
tine Mounts,  has  given  its  fevers  and  agues  to  inhabitants  of  various 
parts  of  the  globe — -from  the  ditches  of  Holland  to  the  dense  jungles 
and  low  swamps  of  the  tropics.  And  the  land  of  Tusculum,  in  bygone 
ages,  witnessed  death  from  pestilential  effluvia,  as  the  banks  of  the 
Ganges  do  now. 

That  subtle  agent  of  death,  carbonic  acid,  issues  from  the  lungs  of 
the  healthy  human  being  at  the  rate  of  one  thousand  three  hundred 
and  ninety-three  cubic  inches  per  hour,  as  if  contending  with  the  fabled 
stream  of  death.  The  vegetable  world  has,  pervading  some  of  its 
beautiful  members,  insidious  juices  which,  when  taken  into  the  .system, 
speedily  prove  fatal.  The  earth  has  embedded  in  its  strata  substances 
equally  as  destructive  to  life ;  while  Nature  has  armed  several  species 
of  the  animal  kingdom — creeping,  walking  and  flying — with  poison- 
darts  of  a  formidable  nature  as  instruments  of  defence,  which  can 
seriously  affect  the  natural  progress  of  life,  and  in  many  instances 
prove  fatal  to  its  continuance.  Poison  exists  everywhere,  and  lack  of 
knowledge  of  the  insidious  enemy  often  proves  a  source  of  death. 
Poisonous  fungi  have  been  mistaken  for  edible  ones  ;  aconite  root  for 
horse-radish  ;  fools'  parsley  for  common  parsley;  while  man\'  of  those 
agents  which  man  has  artificially  prepared  to  alleviate  suffering,  and 
ward  off  the  attacks  of  disease. — in  the  hands  of  the  careless,  the  igno- 
rant and  the  vicious — have  oftentimes  proved  a  terrible  source  of  death. 
Poisons  may  be  introduced  into  the  system,  by  swallowing,  by  the 
breath,  through  the  medium  of  the  lungs,  and  from  the  surface  of  the 
body. 

Claude  Bernard  has  shown  that  the  more  active  poisons  destroy  life, 
by  attacking  particular  organs  or  tissues,  es.sential  to  it.  Thus  the 
wourali  poison  paralyzes  the  motor  nerves  ;  strychnia  attacks  the  sensi- 


812  WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 

tive  portion  of  the  nervous  system,  and  excites  fatal  reflex  action  ;  while 
digitalis,  veratria  and  several  other  poisons,  act  on  the  muscular  tissue 
throughout  the  body. 

Different  effects  are  oftentimes  produced  by  the  same  substances,  on 
man  and  animals.  Thus  Beck  asserts,  that  sweet  almonds  kill  dogs^ 
foxes  and  fowls,  while  aloes  are  destructive  to  dogs  and  foxes,  pepper 
to  hogs  and  parsley  to  the  parrot.  The  influence  of  the  same  poison 
on  different  individuals,  is  indeed  wonderful.  Some  are  as  peculiarly 
susceptible  to  their  action  as  others  are  cailous  to  them.  Many  people 
cannot  take  opium,  others  are  severely  affected  by  the  smallest  doses 
of  mercury,  and  Epsom  salts  even  have  been  known  to  produce  alarm- 
ing symptoms  of  irritant  poisoning. 

The  hornet  is  one  of  the  most  venomous  insects  found  in  this 
country,  though,  as  a  rule,  the  sting  of  either  the  hornet,  bee  or  wasp 
does  not  cause  much  inconvenience.  Instances  have,  however,  beea 
known  where  great  fever  and  constitutional  disturbance  have  been 
produced  by  them.  Bees  have  proved  more  formidable  in  an  indirect 
than  direct  way ;  namely,  from  gathering  honey  from  the  flowers  of 
poisonous  plants.  Xenophon  tells  us,  that  during  the  retreat  of  the  ten 
thousand,  a  number  of  Greek  soldiers  were  violently  affected  by  honey 
which  they  had  eaten  near  Trebizond.  In  1834  a  specimen  of  this 
honey,  which  still  retained  its  poisonous  qualities,  was  discovered.  In 
1790  an  extensive  mortality  was  produced  amongst  those  who  had  par- 
taken of  honey  collected  in  the  neighborhood  of  Philadelphia.  It  was 
afterwards  ascertained  that  the  honey  had  been  chiefly  collected  from 
a  poisonous  flower. 

The  scorpion  is  one  of  the  most  venomous  insects  in  southern  coun- 
tries. Its  sting  causes  great  local  inflammation,  with  more  or  less  fever^ 
trembling  and  pain.  Animals  sometimes  die  from  the  effects  of  the 
scorpion's  sting.  The  bite  of  the  common  viper  rarely  proves  fatal  to 
human  life,  though  its  venom  is  sufficiently  powerful  to  kill  the  lower 
animals.  The  Abbe  Fontana,  who  investigated  this  poison  in  every 
possible  point  of  view,  found  it  harmless  when  swallowed.  It  is  a  yel- 
lowish, viscous  liquid,  neither  acid  nor  alkaline,  and  without  definite 
taste.  The  bite  of  the  viper  is  not  hurtful  to  another  viper,  or  to  cold- 
blooded animals,  as  leeches  and  frogs. 

The  bite  of  the  copra  di  capello  is  exceedingly  dangerous,  and  rapidly 
proves  fatal.  A  keeper  at  the  Zoological  Gardens,  in  London,  was 
bitten  on  the  no.se  by  a  cobra,  and  died  in  ninety-five  minutes.  There 
was  no  swelling,  though  there  was  a  slightly  pinkish  hue  of  the  eye- 
lids, difficulty  of  breathing,  stupor,  paralysis  of  the  limbs  and  speedy 
coma.     The  chief  />ost  niortcvi  appearances  were  a  dark,  fluid  state  of 


MISCELLANEOUS    WONDERS.  813 

the  blood,  which  emitted  a  sour  and  sickly  smell,  and  intense  conges- 
tion of  the  internal  organs.  The  bite  of  the  rattlesnake  is  also  rapidly 
fatal.  Sir  Everard  Home  mentions  a  case  of  a  man  accidentally  bitten 
twice  in  the  hand  by  a  rattlesnake,  kept  for  the  purpose  of  exhibition 
in  London.     He  died  eighteen  days  after  being  bitten. 

Besides  the  above-mentioned,  there  are  other  animal  poisons.  The 
rabid  dog,  excited  either  to  intense  ferocity,  or  unusual  docility,  by  the 
virulence  of  the  poison  circulating  through  his  system,  can  communi- 
cate this  disease  known  as  hydrophobia,  to  man  and  other  animals ; 
and,  dumb  with  madness  and  thirst,  longs  in  vain  for  one  drop  of  water 
to  cool  his  parched  throat.  The  horse  also,  under  certain  conditions, 
becomes  affected  with  two  diseases,  known  as  glanders  and  farcy,  both 
of  which  are  communicable  to  man.  A  case  is  on  record  of  a  man 
who  died  of  glanders.  The  nurse  who  attended  him  inoculated  her 
hand,  and  died  also  in  a  few  days.  Two  kittens  inoculated  from  the 
nurse,  became  likewise  affected.  Bites  received  in  personal  combats 
between  human  individuals  have  been  known  to  exhibit  every  symptom 
•of  poison.  The  saliva  and  tartar  of  the  teeth  are  mentioned  as  the 
deleterious  substances  in  these  cases. 

Many  cases  are  on  record  proving  the  poisonous  nature  of  various 
species  of  fish.  Some  are  constantly  poisonous  ;  others  only  occa- 
sionally so.  The  conger  eel,  yellow-billed  sprat,  land  crab,  mackerel, 
oysters  and  mussels,  are  amongst  those  enumerated.  The  latter 
{mussels)  not  unfrequently  produce  severe  symptoms,  such  as  violent 
oppression  and  agony  ;  swelling  of  the  face  ;  a  scarlet  efflorescence  over 
the  body  ;  insatiable  thirst  and  vomiting.  In  fatal  cases  there  is  cold- 
ness of  the  extremities,  delirium,  hiccough,  and,  occasionally,  coma. 
The  treatment  of  poisoning  in  such  cases  mainly  consists  in  the  free 
use  of  emetics  and  purgatives. 

Diseased  meat  and  dissecting  wounds  are  also  productive  of  fatal  re- 
sults. The  most  speedily  fatal  case  on  record,  from  a  dissecting  wound, 
is  that  of  a  gentleman  who  died  forty  hours  after  the  receipt  of  the  in- 
jury. Not  unfrequently  severe  symptoms  arise  from  inhaling  the 
effluvia  which  results  from  the  decomposition  of  the  body,  and  in  cer- 
tain instances  will  give  origin  in  others  to  the  same  disease  which 
proved  fatal  to  the  subject. 

A    WONDER    OF    INTRIGUE. 

In  the  year  i//!,-  ^n  extraordinary  case  was  tried  in  the  Court  of 
King's  Bench,  Guildhall,  by  Lord  Chief  Justice  Mansfield.  The  ques- 
tion was,  whether  a  distinguished  person,  known  as  the  Chevalier  d'Eon, 
at  one  time  ambassador  from  the  Court  of  France  to  that  of  England, 
was  a  man  or  a  woman.     The  case  was  brought  into  court  in  conse- 


814  WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 

quence  of  certain  heavy  bets  that  had  been  made  as  to  the  point  at 
issue.  A  great  deal  of  evidence  was  given.  Lord  Mansfield,  one  of 
our  most  acute  judges,  summed  up  carefully,  and  the  jury,  without 
hesitation,  found  for  the  plaintiff,  thereby  solemnly  recording  their 
belief  that  D'Eon  was  a  woman.  Nevertheless,  in  i8iO,  when  the 
chevalier  died,  at  the  advanced  age  of  eighty-two,  it  was  proved  that 
he  was  a  man.  At  any  time  between  those  two  dates,  and  for  some 
years  previous  to  the  earlier  one,  public  opinion  was  divided  on  this 
strange  problem,  though  latterly  the  verdict  of  the  jury  had  been 
received  as  a  sufficient  settlement  of  the  question.  How  the  mystifi- 
cation originated,  and  why  it  was  carried  on,  will  appear  from  the 
following  account  of  D'Eon's  career. 

Charles  Genevieve  Louis  Auguste  Andre  Timothee  d'Eon  de 
Beaumont  was  born  in  1728,  at  Tonnerre,  in  the  Province  of  Burgundy. 
The  family  is  enrolled  in  the  genealogical  books  of  France  as  an  ancient 
and  illustrious  one.  His  father  and  grandfather  were  both  intendants 
of  their  municipality,  and  his  mother,  Francoise  de  Charenton,  was  the 
daughter  of  M.  de  Charenton,  commissary  of  the  French  armies  in 
France  and  Italy.  It  may  be  said,  under  these  circumstances,  that 
Charles  d'Eon  was  born  to  good  fortune.  He  was  educated  in 
conformity  with  his  prospects,  and  took  his  degrees  as  doctor  of  civil 
and  of  canon  law,  became  advocate  of  the  Parliament  of  Paris,  and  was 
appointed  Censor  of  Belles  Lettres  and  History.  He  was  besides  an 
extraordinary  adept  in  riding  and  fencing. 

While  engaged  in  all  these  employments  and  studies,  and  also  making 
a  name  in  literature  by  his  occasional  publications,  D'  Eon  became 
known  to  the  Prince  of  Conti,  and  was  introduced  by  him  to  the  Court 
of  Louis  XV.  At  that  time,  1755,  the  king  was  anxious  to  reconcile 
the  Court  of  St.  Petersburg  to  his  policy,  and  secure  its  alliance  in  the 
war  against  Prussia.  In  order  to  negotiate  with  success,  secrecy  and 
easy  access  to  the  sovereign  of  Russia  were  essential.  How  it  was 
brought  about,  and  what  strange  circumstances  had  preceded  the 
daring  attempt  we  know  not,  but  D'Eon,  disguised  as  a  woman,  weni. 
to  St.  Petersburg  as  reader  of  the  French  language,  and  secretary  to 
the  wife  of  the  great  Chancellor  Woronzoff,  who  had  married  a  Russian 
princess  nearly  related  to  the  Empress  Elizabeth.  The  intrigue 
succeeded  so  well  that  he  was  sent  again  the  following  year  in  his 
proper  character  as  a  man,  in  conjunction  with  the  Chevalier  Douglas, 
and  with  an  avowed  diplomatic  mission.  As  a  consequence  of  these 
negotiations,  Elizabeth  joined  the  armies  of  France  and  Austria  with 
eighty  thousand  men,  who  were  to  have  taken  the  field  in  aid  of  the 
King  of  Prussia.     D'Eon,  returning  to  Paris,  was  dispatched  to  Vienna 


\ 


MISCELLANEOUS    WONDERS.  815 

to  communicate  the  plan  of  operations  agreed  upon  by  Russia,  and 
the  famous  battle  of  Prague  was  fought  while  he  was  in  that  capital. 
He  hastened  with  the  news  of  victory  to  Paris,  and  the  king  rewarded 
him  with  a  commission  as  lieutenant  of  dragoons. 

In  1759,  after  a  third  visit  to  the  Court  of  Russia,  D'Eon  joined  his 
regiment  in  Germany,  with  the  rank  of  captain,  and  with  an  appointment 
as  aide-de-camp  to  the  Count  and  Marshal  de  Broglio,  In  the 
engagement  at  Ultrop  he  was  twice  wounded  ;  and  at  the  siege  of 
Ostervitch,  with  only  fourscore  dragoons,  and  forty  hussars,  he  com- 
pletely routed  a  Prussian  battalion,  and  took  the  commanding  officer 
prisoner.  In  1762  he  was  on  the  point  of  going  as  ambassador  to 
Russia,  when  the  death  of  Peter  III.  changed  the  relations  between 
the  two  courts.  So  great,  however,  was  the  king's  confidence  in  D'Eon, 
that  he  was  sent  to  London,  in  September  of  the  same  year,  as 
secretary  of  embassy  to  the  Duke  de  Nivernois.  The  circumstances 
which  followed  proved  the  wisdom  of  this  appointment ;  for  it  is 
doubtful  if  the  Peace  of  1763  would  have  been  ratified  if  D'Eon,  by 
his  address,  had  not  rescued  the  minister  from  the  very  serious 
dilemma  in  which  his  dishonorable  conduct  had  placed  him.  On  the 
duke's  return  to  Paris,  he  showed  his  sense  of  the  value  of  D'Eon's 
services,  by  procuring  for  him  the  appointment  of  Minister  Plenipo- 
tentiary to  the  Court  of  Great  Britain.  Somewhat  later,  the  king  also 
granted  him  a  handsome  pension. 

About  the  time  of  the  first  election  which  took  place  after  the  Peace 
of  1763,  doubts  began  to  be  circulated  about  the  sex  of  the  Chevalier 
d'Eon.  From  that  period  to  1771,  when  the  trial  took  place  to  which 
we  have  alluded,  there  was  much  speculation  afloat  on  this  subject,  both 
in  the  press  and  in  society.  One  day  the  Chevalier  was  found 
mysteriously  wanting,  and  it  had  been  given  out  by  himself  that  a 
conspiracy  existed  against  him.  His  name  was  continually  before  the 
public  in  some  enigmatical  shape.  The  rage  for  betting  on  the  ques- 
tion, whether  he  was  a  man  or  a  woman,  took  possession  of  the  public  ; 
and  after  six  years  of  ridiculous  anxiety  on  this  point,  Mr.  Hayes,  a 
surgeon  in  Leicester  Fields,  brought  an  action  against  one  Jacques,  a 
broker  and  underwriter,  to  recover  the  sum  of  ;^700.  The  plaintiff 
alleged  that  Mr.  Jacques  had  received  premiums  of  fifteen  guineas  per 
cent.,  for  every  one  of  which  he  stood  engaged  to  return  one  hundred 
guineas  whenever  it  should  be  proved  that  the  Chevalier  d'Eon  was  a 
woman.  This  proof,  Mr.  Hayes  contended,  he  now  possessed  ;  and, 
after  a  good  deal  of  hard  swearing,  he  gained  his  cause.  Other  sums, 
to  an  immense  amount,  depended  on  this  suit ;  and  we  now  know  that 
the  witnesses  who  decided  it  were  perjured. 


^16  WONDERS  OF  THE  WHOLE  WORLD. 

It  cannot  fail  to  strike  the  reader  that  D'Eon  himself  had  it  in  his 
power  to  settle  the  dispute  at  once  ;  but  he  remained  in  the  background, 
allowed  the  secondary  evidence  full  power,  and  otherwise  acted  in  an 
equivocal  manner.  All  this  is  easy  to  understand  on  the  hypothesis 
that  he  was  interested  in  the  bets  and  policies  ;  but  this  he  absolutely 
denied  in  writing,  and  owing  to  his  denial,  the  winners  of  the  cause 
never  touched  a  farthing  of  the  money.  The  reason  of  this  would 
require  a  legal  explanation  which  it  is  not  necessary  to  enter  upon. 

From  the  period  of  this  extraordinary  trial  to  the  end  of  his  life, 
D'Eon  was  placed  in  a  more  equivocal  position  than  ever  by  the  action 
of  the  French  Court.  Affecting  to  believe  that  he  was  really  a  woman, 
that  Government  continued  his  pension  on  condition  of  his  wearing  the 
apparel  becoming  to  his  se.x.  The  reader  may  imagine  the  daily 
awkwardness  of  this  to  a  man  of  the  highest  accomplishments,  moving 
in  the  best  society. 

Before  the  French  Revolution  broke  out,  the  Chevalier  d'Eon  lived 
for  several  years  in  obscurity  with  Lord  Ferrers  at  Staunton  Harold,  and 
allowed  the  world  to  believe  that  he  was  a  woman.  Sometimes  he  would 
exhibit  his  skill  in  fencing,  and  on  one  memorable  occasion  he  engaged 
in  a  match  with  the  celebrated  Chevalier  de  Saint  George,  before  the 
Prince  of  Wales,  at  Carlton  House.  The  destruction  of  monarchy  in 
France  and  other  occurrences  had  deprived  him  of  his  sole  means  of 
support  in  old  age,  and  the  English  papers  of  1791  and  subsequent 
years  contain  advertisements  of  his  exhibitions  of  fencing.  These 
entertainments  seem  to  have  been  very  attractive,  as  the  chevalier 
retained  the  costume  to  which  he  had  so  long  been  accustomed.  Some- 
times, indeed,  he  came  out  in  character,  as  at  Ranelagh  and  the  King's 
Theatre,  when  he  appeared  upon  the  stage  dressed  in  armor,  with  a 
casque  and  feather,  representing  Minerva,  or  the  Maid  of  Orleans.  In 
spite  of  his  exertions  in  this  way,  old  age  and  distress  overtook  him, 
and  he  died,  after  having  been  bedridden  for  two  years.  Without  a  doubt 
the  career  of  the  Chevalier  d'Eon  is  one  of  the  strangest  on  record. 
That  a  man  learned,  elegant  and  polite  ;  a  soldier,  a  statesman,  an 
ambassador ;  in  fine,  a  man  of  superior  accomplishments,  should  have 
passed  one-half  of  his  life  in  the  character  proper  to  him,  and  lingered 
away  the  other  half  in  that  of  an  obscure  and  neglected  old  woman,  is 
a  case,  perhaps,  without  a  parallel. 


)k> 


<J 


FOURTEEN  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 

LOAN  DEPT. 

This  book  is  due  on  the  last  date  stamped  below,  or 

on  the  date  to  which  renewed. 

Renewed  books  are  subject  to  immediate  recall. 


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